The Shining is very much hallowed ground when it comes to horror films but it has always come with a certain disconnect from Stephen King’s 1977 novel. In fact, there was an easily forgettable 1997 TV miniseries that tried to rectify the situation but lacked the style, acting, and production value of Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film. Whether or not it faithfully represented King’s book, the film brought an unforgettable visual style and production value which has clearly endured all these decades later. It’s a huge part of why a movie like Doctor Sleep can exist today, not only to explore new narrative paths but also to reconcile the divide between Kubrick’s and King’s beloved works.
Beyond the realm of traditional sequels, this new story serves as a conduit between the two and connects the audience to the robust ideas from the text in a much deeper and more inclusive manner. Writer/Director Mike Flanagan adapted the screenplay from King’s 2013 follow-up novel of the same name and even got King’s blessing on the final product (something Kubrick did not). After a brief introductory refresher, the story finds Dan(ny) Torrance all grown up but still dealing with the figurative and literal ghosts of his past. He’s taken to alcoholism in order to quiet the voices that torment him. Building the character from his most vulnerable position gave a lot of room for the growth arc and made him actually have to earn the audience’s sympathy. Flanagan did a wonderful job capturing what really makes this story special beyond just ghosts.
This movie was much better than I had anticipated but it is an investment. Flanagan had to lay quite a bit of groundwork in terms of establishing the mythology of the “shining” and the cult of The True Knot but the details made for a compelling catalyst in this story. It’s frightening and fucked up in a way that hits with substantial gravity. It certainly isn’t too long and it’s paced smoothly while it gains momentum, I just wasn’t expecting two and a half hours. Flanagan must have had everyone drinking the Kool-aid because things just came together so fluidly and his cast turned out some strong performances across the board.
Watching Dan face his past while attempting to get his life together was unavoidable but it worked well in weaving a broader story that gave the character purpose beyond blatant nostalgic pandering and is ultimately key to this film’s strength. This was a very tricky role to play with conviction. Successfully executing a complete character 180 is exceedingly rare but Ewan McGregor played both sides of the character’s muddied coin quite well. Seeing his arc play out is essential to the success of the entire project and his interpretation of the character made the journey worthwhile. As much as it’s about Danny, there are a lot of other characters you feel strongly about one way or the other.
Chief among those was Rebecca Ferguson as the villain, Rose the Hat. To put it simply, she was ruthless. It must have been a blast to play this character because she sure jumped into it head-on. While she is a ton of fun to watch, she’s completely terrifying and it’s the joy she exudes while being evil that makes it that much more frightening. I think it’s safe to say this was a departure for her but it resulted in perhaps the best villainous performance this year.
The appropriately named Abra was played first by Dakota Hickman and then eight years down the line by Kyliegh Curran. She is the child in the middle of the tug-of-war between Dan and Rose and the real motivator for the story. Hickman was incredibly cute but wasn’t around long enough to contribute much to the character down the line but Curran picked up on those cues and ran with them. Her confidence and recklessness are fun to behold, especially since we had seen other gifted characters be so reserved with their abilities in the past. Curran injected a youthful enthusiasm to the role which gave the story legs, perhaps beyond this movie. Cliff Curtis has been a terrific actor for many years now and he chipped in a meaningful role as Danny’s only friend, Billy. While the new characters were essential for progression, there was a certain amount of business left unfinished.
Revisiting The Overlook Hotel was an important part of that aforementioned reconciliation. The setting is such an important character in the first story and giving the devil his due was important. With today’s technology, it would have been easy to implement footage from the original film or give some of the characters a digital facelift in order to put Jack Nicholson and Shelly Duval right back in the thick of things but the filmmakers were smart to opt for authenticity. The casting director put together a really good group to resurrect some of the characters in this story with Henry Thomas as Jack Torrance, Alex Essoe as Wendy Torrance, and Carl Lumbly as Dick Hallorann.
Trying to out-style The Shining is an uphill battle but the production design by Maher Amad really brought the two films together beautifully. There is enough respect paid to the original but a clear artistic identity carved out for this new installment. Cinematographer Michael Fimognari brought an important element of scale to his shot selection. There is a lot of distance to traverse throughout the story and adequately representing both the physical and metaphysical distance paid dividends. The shot selection was creative and you definitely feel the squirmy moments a little bit extra as a result.
I was really impressed with the final result. Despite the sequel moniker, there is a very clear identity for Doctor Sleep. It was made well and told well while still taking the time and care to treat its predecessor with the reverence it deserves. I don’t expect to see this making the rounds for consideration during awards season but it should probably garner some attention for Best Adapted Screenplay and is in my ranking for Best Sequel, Prequel, or Remake.
Recommendation: If you like The Shining or even just horror films in general, go check this one out. This is the kind of horror movie that checks the majority of the important boxes.