Rated R

Written and Directed by Mike Flanagan

Cast: Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran, Cliff Curtis, Zach McClarnon, and Emily Alyn Lind

Who’s ready for some more Stephen King sequel movies? Because next up on the sequel train is the follow-up to one of King’s most famous books and film adaptations, Doctor Sleep.

Doctor Sleep is the adaptation of the Stephen King novel and is a sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and the book it was based on. Dan Torrance, who is now a full-grown adult, is dealing with alcohol addiction from the trauma he experienced at the Overlook hotel thirty years ago. Amid his successful attempt to be better, Dan forms a connection with a young girl named Abra, who has the same shining that he has had ever since he was a kid. From Abra, he learns that a dangerous cult, who thrive on people’s shining ability in order to be immortal, and have now set their sights on her as their next target. The two of them then team up to battle the cult, known as the True Knot, to prevent them from doing this to more people and to protect Abra at the same time.

         In an era where any property that is remotely known is being turned into franchises, sequels, reboots, remakes, adaptations, etc.- the work of Stephen King has been one of the most popular wells to draw from within the horror genre. With the success of recent films and TV shows such as It, Pet Sematary (2019) and Castle Rock, King’s library of work has never been more popular in the entertainment industry. However, the story of the latest adaptation of King’s sequel-novel in the form of Doctor Sleep is quite different than the rest.

         Although Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of The Shining has been praised as one of the most iconic horror films of all time, King famously criticized Kubrick’s work, believing that it did not have the core of his original book. When writer and director Mike Flanagan began working on his cinematic adaptation of Doctor Sleep, he boldly asked for permission from Stanley Kubrick’s estate and Stephen King himself of his vision for the film. Miraculously, both parties gave their blessing to Flanagan’s requests, making this one of the more interesting sequels and adaptations in recent years. Though, even with that impressive feat, is Doctor Sleep a good movie at the end of the day? While the balancing act on Flanagan’s part may have left this film with an identity crisis, Doctor Sleep still has plenty of good qualities in many departments that make it a strong psychological thriller.

         Oddly enough, one of the most impressive strengths that Doctor Sleep has up its sleeves is everything in the sound department. Everything the viewer hears throughout is simply outstanding, and that goes for quite literally everything that is audible to the ears. The score from the Newton Brothers is incredible at incorporating themes from Kubrick’s original, while simultaneously creating a sense of tension and trauma that is unique to this film. The sound design and sound editing are also both terrific as they beautifully create a layered and ominous texture to the entire movie, which is undeniably great filmmaking. There are other more technical aspects in Doctor Sleep that are great as well, such as the cinematography and production design. However, none of those departments hold a candle to the Oscar-worthy job from everyone in the sound department.

         Ok, now onto the aspects of Doctor Sleep that more people are going to care about besides this big movie nerd. With how iconic the performances are in the original The Shining, along with the pure talent of its leads, there should be no surprise that the acting in Doctor Sleep is top notch. To no one’s surprise, Ewan McGregor does a superb job as Danny Torrance in his adult years. McGregor manages to capture the heavy trauma from Danny’s past and the struggles to overcome his own demons in a beautiful manner, all while keeping everything at an appropriate level of subtlety. The other star who audiences have been talking about is Rebecca Ferguson as Rose the Hat for good reason. Ferguson lavishes every second she has on screen with her perfectly villainous demeanor and an undeniable presence, making this easily one of her best and most notable performances outside of the Mission: Impossible franchise. Rounding out this impressive trio is up-and-comer Kyliegh Curran, who gives a terrific performance, especially because the character of Abra is extremely complicated and hard to pull off. Curran makes Abra’s incredible range of power seem natural as well as she breathes tons of humanity into the character.

         All three of these impressive performances were led by strong decisions made by Mike Flanagan as a filmmaker. Not only are there some jaw-dropping visuals throughout that feel unique to Flanagan instead of Kubrick; Flanagan also has a splendid knack for storytelling and pacing. Doctor Sleep is two and a half hours long, yet it all flies by without any important moments being compromised. Due to this pinpoint pacing, the viewer is undoubtedly going to leave the theater with a thorough story with several interesting storylines and themes, which is an accomplishment to say the least.

         Even though Doctor Sleep clearly has plenty of good qualities behind it, there are several issues with the film, revolving around the aforementioned identity crisis. Mike Flanagan did try his best to make this both an adaption of King’s novel and a sequel to Kubrick’s film after all, and it shows. One minute, the movie is a supernatural thriller where a young girl is trying to stop a group of immortals from torturing people. Another, the film is centered on Dan Torrance’s trauma post-The Shining akin to a character piece. In case it is not clear, Doctor Sleep is trying very hard to be two movies at once, and the blend between them is nowhere near as smooth as it should be. Not helping matters is how Flanagan also does his best to recreate and reinvoke certain aspects of Kubrick’s original, and in my opinion, it comes off as more of an imitation than a bold creative choice.

         These problems limit Doctor Sleep from reaching the heights of its iconic predecessor, which is still praised as a masterpiece to this day. With that being said, it is still an undoubtedly good movie with numerous qualities that should not be forgotten. It is worthy of a 7.5/10 rating, and any fans of The Shining or just movie-buffs, in general, should go check it out.

7.5/10