Directed by:
Mike FlanaganScreenplay:
Mike FlanaganCinematography:
Michael FimognariComposer:
The Newton BrothersCast:
Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran, Cliff Curtis, Carl Lumbly, Zahn McClarnon, Emily Alyn Lind, Bruce Greenwood, Jocelin Donahue, Alex Essoe (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Still irrevocably scarred by the trauma he endured as a child at the Overlook, Dan Torrance has fought to find some semblance of peace. But that peace is shattered when he encounters Abra, a courageous teenager with her own powerful extrasensory gift, known as the “shine.” Instinctively recognizing that Dan shares her power, Abra has sought him out, desperate for his help against the merciless Rose the Hat and her followers, The True Knot, who feed off the shine of innocents in their quest for immortality. Forming an unlikely alliance, Dan and Abra engage in a brutal life-or-death battle with Rose. Abra’s innocence and fearless embrace of her shine compel Dan to call upon his own powers as never before - at once facing his fears and reawakening the ghosts of the past. (Warner Bros. US)
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Reviews (14)
This is what a movie must look like for people who are always complaining about things from their favorite books being left out of movie adaptations. And in doing so, it's the perfect proof of how false their argument is. Doctor Sleep [very aptly titled in the three-hour director's cut] is a literal adaptation in a killer TV treatment that could practically be described as a video book. The film is nominally divided into chapters (which I last saw, perhaps, in Sphere); most of the running time is taken up with two characters locking themselves into several minutes of static dialogue consisting of two shots. Then, in the finale, the film does stray from the book's premise, but only to follow an awkward virtual tour of the Overlook Hotel with one stilted quote after another. And really any recollections of the original Shining this film awakens make it look all the worse standing next to them. Because this is the complete anti-Kubrick.
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I really like The Shining (perhaps because I’ve never read the book) and that's mainly due to the audiovisual treatment and the demonic Jack Nicholson. So I was very much looking forward to Doctor Sleep, even though I reckoned that it had been a while since 1980 and that the theme might have cooled down somewhat. All my fears were unwarranted! Doctor Sleep is in many ways different from The Shining, so it is not a mere copy reviving old (but still very timeless) material. I liked that the film focused mainly on the "enlightened people", their universe and their "hunters" (with regard to these beings I couldn't help but think of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children). As a horror film, Doctor Sleep doesn't primarily rely on scares, rather it builds an uncomfortable atmosphere with some very raw scenes. Even though it is two and a half hours long, it still keeps the tension at a decent level, in addition to artfully following the plot of the original The Shining (the final half hour). If I wasn't familiar with Stanley Kubrick's film, I'd probably feel lost in the cinema, but this way I enjoyed to the hilt the nostalgic and (still very) oppressive return to Danny and the "redrum" Overlook Hotel.
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It’s been long since a sequel made me this happy. Dr. Sleep lacks the author’s vision and unpredictability of Kubrick’s The Shining, but Flanagan builds a meaningful follow-up story that richly develops the possibilities of Kubrick’s secondary themes, smartly blending it with the events of the previous film. This smart director takes other things from the legendary filmmaker: the approach to the protagonist and the narrative style – throughout the film the adult Dan Torrance is an almost surprisingly passive figure under the control of a girl with a strong shining (in a similar way the hotel controlled his father), while the story gradually shrinks, both in time and space, with Flanagan, like Kubrick, using small time lapses to illustrate it. He also manages to imitate the main style characteristics of the previous film, likewise with the music motifs, the reliance on details of the actors during tense moments, the absence of shallow jump-scares, which are replaced by the strategically organised movement of the characters in the mise-en-scène, and the identical staging of some scenes, which both pays homage to and reinforces the narrative connection with the previous film (McGregor’s conversation with Bruce Greenwood in an office looks the same as Jack’s interview with Ullman at the beginning of The Shining; on the stairs, Rebecca Ferguson uses similar gestures as Jack Nicholson; the conversation with the barman, etc.). The long runtime isn’t a problem, either, the film works from the get go with three strongly motivated camps of protagonists (or rather, antagonists) that are slowly being brought together, plus the brilliant return to the iconic hotel, were all the sequences will be gold for the orthodox fans of the original. The Shining told the viewers that the Overlook was the only evil and dangerous place for people who shine, Dr. Sleep expands this into a vast fictional world where Danny gradually assumes the role of his mentor Halloran and his childish self is replaced by a girl who’s going through a similar development (which is highlighted by the film’s very last shot). The very positive impression is completed by a ton of welcome references, the character of the climax and the excellent actors, led by the traditionally likeable and credible McGregor, though the divine Rebecca Ferguson also deserves praise, she’s convinced me again she’s the most charismatic actress of today (and for me, maybe the past, too). If only every sequel of a famous brand was at least half as good as this one. 90%
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A difficult to adapt yet incredibly good work by Stephen King. If the screenplay were to strictly follow the structure of the original, half of the running time would be devoted to AA meetings. I therefore understand why Mike Flanagan focused much more on Abra and Rose because their storylines are far more cinematic (albeit not too personal), but poor Danny remains a secondary character. Considering that it necessarily had to follow on the film version of The Shining and less so on the book, the ending is surprisingly strong, more terrifying in terms of its logic, and respectfully faithful to the source material, despite some changes (including the biggest) being frustrating at first. From a story about overcoming one's own shadow, something different has emerged: a horror movie that is not afraid to avoid cheap scares and only uses the atmosphere to pay homage.
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A very faithful adaptation of a book I enjoyed very much, that builds on one of the best films I've ever seen. The courage of the makers of Doctor Sleep was tremendous – to continue Kubrick's story, but at the same time be true to King and make more than an epilogue to The Shining. They succeeded brilliantly, thanks largely to Mike Flanagan, who straddled the line between King and Kubrick, standing firm, and I can only thank him for it. When you see all the original and very impressively executed mind travel (and combat), the atmosphere, which is much better than the trailers suggested and relies not on scares but on honest suspense... That's exactly how I imagined it when reading the book, and yet the book lacked the film's biggest trump card – the Overlook. I could find a scene or two to fault, but overall I'm so pleased with Doctor Sleep that I can't, or rather won't. The ending is a downright treat for anyone who has not only seen The Shining, but also read it... Notto mention the amazing Ewan McGregor.
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