One of my favorite scary movies has always been Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, so when I first heard Stephen King had written a sequel to the novel that film was based on, I couldn't help but wonder what approach the inevitable movie adaptation would take since the movie and book of The Shining are in many ways quite different. Yet, Director Mike Flanagan set out to do the impossible and craft a faithful adaptation of King's novel while also making a satisfying sequel to Kubrick's film.
Dan Torrance (played by Ewan McGregor) is still traumatized by the events he experienced as a child at The Overlook Hotel. To try and numb the effects and suppress his Shining ability, he has become an alcoholic. After reaching rock bottom, he relocates to a small town in New Hampshire and soon meets Billy Freeman (played by Cliff Curtis). Billy recognizes Dan's troubles all too well and helps Dan secure lodging and introduces him to the local chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous. There, Dan meets Dr. John Dalton (played by Bruce Greenwood) who helps Dan get a job at the local hospice as a overnight orderly. At the same time, Dan is surprised to find himself connecting through his Shining ability to a young girl named Abra (played by Kyliegh Curran), whose Shining ability may be even more powerful than Dan's. Things take a dark turn when her abilities are also picked up by a group of psychic vampires known as the True Knot that feed on the "steam," the Shining ability of others, especially kids. Their leader, Rose the Hat (played by Rebecca Ferguson), picks up on Abra first when Abra finds herself connected to the True Knot's latest victim, a young boy named Bradley Trevor (played by Jacob Tremblay). Since the shining ability has become increasingly rare, someone as powerful as Abra makes for an enticing target for the starving True Knot. Dan becomes Abra's best hope of not only saving her from their clutches but also destroying the True Knot once and for all, leading to a showdown at the condemned and boarded up Overlook Hotel.
Director Mike Flanagan, who also wrote the screenplay, manages to walk a fine line with this movie, at once crafting a largely faithful adaptation of Stephen King's original novel while also functioning as a genuine sequel to Stanley Kubrick's iconic original film. Yet, the film works brilliantly. It helps that much of the story of this film is so different and separate from the first film so it really only required minor tweaks for much of the film. For example, Dick Halloran survived in the original novel and died in Kubrick's film and therefore appears in this as a ghost to Dan or in the novel the Overlook burned down and therefore the climax took place at the lot where the hotel once stood, whereas in this film we actually get to see the Hotel still standing, although abandoned and showing worn down. The other hurdle was the film does feature a number of flashbacks to Dan's childhood shortly after his time at the Overlook. Since almost 40 years had passed since the original film, reuniting the cast was not a realistic option and instead wisely recast the roles with actors that could make the roles their own, while also remaining familiar to fans of the first film. Also, since he re-cast the roles of Wendy, Danny, and Dick Halloran, he and his talented crew methodically re-create certain iconic moments from the first film for this one as flashbacks, which actually works for quite well in the film. Flanagan does a good job streamlining the book's narrative, trimming a few extraneous details from the novel but otherwise remaining reasonably faithful to the story, with the biggest change being the ending (which I will not spoil here). It is clear Flanagan is a fan of Kubrick's original film too, as he sneaks in little nods to the first film throughout this one for his fellow fans to enjoy throughout and even strategically re-uses some iconic music cues from the first film as well which helps bridge between the two films.
Ewan McGregor does quite well as Dan Torrance. He really captures Dan's struggles, both with his shining ability as well as his substance abuse. He really captures Dan's arc from hitting rock bottom to putting his life together to his growing bond with Abra and need to help protect her from the True Knot. Rebecca Ferguson is magnificent as Rose the Hat (named as such because she compulsively wears a top hat as a signature of sorts), creating a formidable villain for Dan and Abra to go up against, along with her fellow members of the True Knot. She is vicious and nasty, yet so cool and seductive, which she needs to be to lure her victims into her trap. She has no qualms about killing kids and consuming their "Steam" to prolong her life. From her first greeting with her catchphrase of "Well, hi there," I was fascinated by her character. She is absolutely terrifying, but Ferguson really brings her to three dimensional life. Rose has needs and wants, the primary one being finding those with the Shining to keep her group fed. Kyliegh Curran is great as Abra, giving her character a real strength and cunning all her own. At the tender age of thirteen, she shows a great resourcefulness and skill with her power, even using it to trap Rose the Hat on her own on two separate occasions when Rose was using her own psychic abilities to try and track Abra and managing to inflict real, actual physical damage in the process. Kyliegh is fantastic in the role and reals shows just how clever and capable Abra is on her own. Cliff Curtis does well in the role of Billy Freeman, who takes Dan under his wing and helps him get his life together. It's a warm and sensitive performance that hits just the right note. I also have to single out Jacob Tremblay as Bradley Trevor. He may only be in a couple scenes, generally agreed upon as the hardest scenes in the movie to watch, but he absolutely sells those moments when he is in the clutches of the True Knot.
Overall, Doctor Sleep was, for me at least, a worthy follow-up to Kubrick's original film. It helps that it has it's own separate story to tell rather than re-hashing the original film, adding such magnificent characters as Rose the Hat and Abra. We do get to see the Overlook Hotel again though as Dan weaponizes it's evil to try and fight the True Knot and I will admit I did get chills seeing that iconic setting again. Yet, the film stands on it's own as well as a genuinely satisfying film from beginning to end. I loved every minute, even if it does have a lengthy run-time of two and a half hours (and a director's cut that clocks in at a full three hours!). I never felt that it ran long and loved every minute of the film. But with such an engaging plot and compelling characters, how could I not?
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