Film Review: Doctor Sleep

People have a real love/hate relationship with sequels in general, but horror fans can be tougher sells than most. That goes double when you’re talking about a sequel to a masterpiece like Kubrick’s The Shining. However, it’s hard for even diehard sequel haters to deny that Dr. Sleep looks promising on paper. It’s directed by the talented Mike Flanagan (Hush, Gerald’s Game), based on a hit novel by Stephen King, and stars the consistently great Ewan McGregor (Nightwatch), but does it actually deliver or are you better off simply re-watching The Shining instead?

The plotline of Dr. Sleep finds us catching up with Danny Torrance (McGregor) roughly 30 years after his famously traumatic experiences at the notorious Overlook Hotel. He’s about as well-adjusted as you’d expect, having become an alcoholic in an effort to suppress his ability to “shine” and see spirits. However, we eventually also see Danny (now called “Dan”) clean up his act. He learns how to control the troubling visions that still plague him, as well as to use his gifts to comfort hospice patients in their final hours (earning him the nickname “Dr. Sleep”).

Dan eventually comes into contact with a young girl named Abra (Kyliegh Curran) who has similar powers to his own. She’s being stalked by the members of the True Knot, a nefarious group of psychic vampires led by the mysterious Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson). As might be expected, Dan’s determination to help Abra and stop the True Knot eventually lead him back to the now-abandoned Overlook, but can he handle the horrors that surely await him there?

To be fair, Dr. Sleep isn’t The Shining by any stretch of the imagination, so anyone truly expecting it to be is surely going to be disappointed. However, it does a surprisingly good job of honoring not only King’s original source material, but also the immortal Kubrick film that preceded it. You actually do see iconic characters from the original in flashbacks, including Jack and Wendy Torrance, as well as several of the Overlook’s most famous ghostly residents. So much care was taken to honor the look and feel of those characters as they appeared in Kubrick’s film that it’s hard for even diehard Shining fans not to appreciate it.

Dr. Sleep is also quite interesting in its own right. McGregor does a fairly good job of depicting the adult Danny Torrance as fans may have imagined him. Also, Rebecca Ferguson and young Kyliegh Curran shine as Rose the Hat and Abra respectively, bringing some much-needed freshness to the world King created for us in his novels. Mike Flanagan’s directing style isn’t Kubrick’s, of course, but his signature ability to generate a sense of dread and suspense is a comfortable fit for the material nevertheless.

Of course, Dr. Sleep isn’t perfect, but it’s unlikely that fans of The Shining really expected it to be. There are several sequences that mess with the film’s momentum and make it feel like it’s dragging at times, but that’s a minor complaint. Overall, Dr. Sleep is pretty darned watchable thanks to stunning visual effects, intriguing characters, and plenty of attention to detail on Mike Flanagan’s part. No, it doesn’t quite match the timeless classic that came before it, but it does a better than average job of meeting the expectations many fans of the original will have going in.

In other words, Dr. Sleep should be approached with an open mind and a willingness to forgive it for trying to do the impossible. However, there’s so much about it that makes it well worth watching. Definitely add it to your running watch list and check it out!

Style: Psychological , Supernatural , Thriller , Mind Bender