Stand By Me returns to cinemas to celebrate its 40th anniversary

If you’re a lover of Rob Reiner’s work, you should make sure you run, not walk, to your local cinema this March to see the ever-thoughtful Stand By Me celebrate its 40th anniversary in theaters.

For one week only, fans of Reiner’s 1986 masterpiece will be able to see it on the big screen beginning Mar. 27 via Columbia Pictures. And if you haven’t seen this coming-of-age drama before, now is the best time to do so.

An adaptation of Stephen King’s novella The Body (which has a new audiobook version set to release on Mar. 24), Stand By Me is set in the late summer of 1960 and follows a gang of 12-year-old boys from Maine. Stand By Me’s hero, Gordie LaChance (Wil Wheaton), is an aspiring writer who learns from his best buddy Vern (Jerry O’Connell) that a dead body has been found in the woods alongside some railway tracks. Despite being a day’s walk away, the boys can’t deny their curiosity and so gather the rest of their friends, Terry (Cory Feldman) and Chris (River Phoenix), to seek out the body themselves.

Although the premise is fairly simple, Stand By Me is a deeply moving coming-of-age story that tests the group of boys in ways they never thought possible. Still, even with the fears and losses they endure, the boys’ friendship and camaraderie remain the heart and soul of the film.

Stand By Me is a deeply personal key text for King, one that tackles many of the core themes throughout his novels, such as the effects bullies and bad dads can have on a person, and the precious nature of mortality. As haunting and raw as Stand By Me can be, it’s a film that highlights Reiner’s skill as a director and storyteller, making this classic one of the best King adaptations even decades later.