The Shining has a varied history from novel to film. In 1980, Stanley Kubrick adapted Stephen King’s 1977 classic book and it was quickly cemented as a horror masterpiece. Without question, this is the quintessential King adaptation to rule them all. But King hated the movie. He felt that Kubrick took too many liberties with the story. The version that everyone has seen is not what the author visualized originally. So, several decades later, he wrote the sequel to The Shining in Doctor Sleep. The punch and fear of the original project had been lost along the way, but we’re now in the Stephen King renaissance and everything must be adapted.
Enter Mike Flanagan (Haunting of Hill House) who is the new vunderkind of approachable horror. He takes a very personal approach to projects with both writing and directing. This is an uphill climb for Flanagan. Not only does he have to release an unnecessary sequel to arguably one of the best thrillers of all time, but he also has to please the fans by marrying the concepts of King and the visuals created by Kubrick.
Doctor Sleep tells the continued story of Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor). He has dealt with the personal and external demons, that he collected at the Overlook Hotel, and now just hopes to enjoy a quiet life, free from addiction. However, on the other side of the country, there is a growing group of soul vampires that call themselves the True Knot. This roving group seeks out children who have strong powers in the Shine, and they seek to steal it from them in the most malicious ways. Both Dan and the True Knot are soon drawn to a gifted young girl named Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran), one for the purpose of harvesting her and one to help her find her way.
At just over 2 1/2 hours, Flanagan sees no need to rush the plot along and it’s a stronger picture for it. The movie picks up soon after Danny and his mom have escaped the nightmarish scenario of the first story and shows what he has gone through to get past the haunting terrors. Meanwhile, we get to see just as much of the nefarious True Knot, lead by Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson). The lack of mystery takes away any semblance of lasting fear, but it makes for a far better plot that still has the ability to keep the viewer unsettled.
The matronly character of Rose the Hat could have easily been a farcical performance with almost anyone else, but Rebecca Ferguson owns every minute she’s on screen. Her take on a vagabond vampire with a timeless hunger makes for one of the best cinematic villains of the year. She is evil, yet somehow approachable.
This movie could be faulted for not being a straight horror and distancing itself from The Shining, as it clearly does. Abra is an overpowered prodigy that seemingly has the upper hand. In this way, Doctor Sleep is a stand-alone story of a man who was once gifted and seems to only have enough power to be a mentor to someone new and teach her how to protect herself. Though, to satisfy the audience, the bookends of heavy Shining references will keep those horrors literally locked in the back of your head.
I wish there was more time dedicated to who Dan Torrance is. The story focuses so much on his addictions, that it pigeon-holes him thematically exactly to how his father was. I wanted to see more about his uses and abuses of his abilities and what happens as age takes over and the literal magic of youth wanes away.
Yes, we’re out of October, but Mike Flanagan has written and directed the best commercial thriller of the year. He managed to walk a fine line and balanced out iconography developed by Kubrick and the world created by King. I’d recommend this to those who have an affinity for The Shining, or even as a character study for those who have never seen/read it. B+
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