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‘Doctor Sleep’ Movie Review

Shine On, You Crazy Danny

By Will LasleyPublished 4 years ago 3 min read
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Doctor Sleep, based on Stephen King’s book of the same name, is a sequel to The Shining (in the movie’s case, the 1980 film version). A now-grown Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor) has become a distraught alcoholic. He still sees his old friend Dick Halloran (now played by Carl Lumbly) from time to time, in the form of “shining” (the ability to communicate using one’s mind) from the afterlife. After a man named Billy Freeman (Cliff Curtis) meets him and takes him in, Dan joins AA and begins to repair his life. Soon, however, Dan discovers a girl (Kyliegh Curran) who can shine more powerfully than anyone he, or the evil psychic superhumans hunting her (led by Rebecca Ferguson), have ever experienced, and Dan feels the need to protect her from them.

While just about every horror fan can agree that Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is a masterpiece, Stephen King famously hates it. He feels like it betrays the spirit of the book, and as one who loves both the book and the movie, I can kinda understand what he’s talking about. Kubrick’s film is a lot more psychologically ambiguous, and, as is customary with Kubrick, it has a very icy tone. The book also has more focus on the family dynamic, rather than Jack’s self-destruction. Director Mike Flanagan was faced with the near-impossible task of pleasing both King and fans of the movie. However, he somehow managed to pull it off. King was pleased with the movie, and I certainly was too.

I was quite impressed with Doctor Sleep. A large part of this is thanks to Ewan McGregor, who knocks it out of the park. His role required him to display a wide array of emotions, and McGregor was able to run the gamut, but with a great degree of subtlety. I was also very impressed by Kyliegh Curran, who plays the young girl, Abra. She is also given some incredibly powerful moments, and she succeeds with flying colors. Rebecca Ferguson and Cliff Curtis are both seasoned character actors, and they play their parts well, with Curtis as charming and likable as ever, and Ferguson being suitably sinister. And I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that Carl Lumbly (who many people my age will remember as the voice of Martian Manhunter in Justice League) picks up the torch from Scatman Crothers rather flawlessly. Halloran is still a prominent part of Danny Torrance’s life, so it was imperative that he be continued properly, and Lumbly is most certainly up to the task.

Obviously, The Shining is a practically unsurpassable horror film, so any movie made to continue that story had no chance of being in the same league. But Doctor Sleep is still a very solid flick. Director Mike Flanagan clearly loves the Kubrick film, and he has done his best to emulate the style. We do get some classic tracking shots and other little nods. But the good thing is that, while the trailers may have made it appear this way, the movie doesn’t rely entirely on nostalgia. The characters actually don’t even return to the Overlook Hotel until the third act of the film, and I really liked what they did with it. In fact, there is an allusion to some events from King’s original novel that Kubrick omitted. One thing that could have failed just as easily as it might have succeeded is the recreations of certain iconic moments from the Kubrick film. For the most part, these recreations succeed. The creative team made the decision to use lookalike actors instead of digitally imposing the faces of the original actors onto the performers. This was probably the wiser decision, as the latter might have been a bit distracting. This technique (mostly) paid off. There were a couple of times where I felt they could have done a slightly better job of filming the actors at an angle which might show the resemblance a bit more, but this is only a minor nitpick. One of the lookalikes (whom I won’t mention) is actually someone with whom audiences might be familiar, but under extremely different circumstances. This will probably amuse viewers once they see the end credits.

Even though Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is practically unsurpassable, Mike Flanagan has managed to adapt Stephen King’s sequel in a way that honors both his novel and Kubrick’s masterpiece. The atmosphere is rich, the performances are stellar, and there’s just the right amount of nostalgia to rope you in.

SCORE: 4.5/5

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About the Creator

Will Lasley

I’m an actor and director of stage and screen. But I also dabble in standup, and on this site, horror movie criticism. I’m just a guy who loves horror movies, and I like to share that love with the world.

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