Review: Doctor Sleep
Doctor Sleep, directed by Mike Flanagan, tells the tale of Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor) now an alcoholic adult coping with the trauma he suffered from the events of the Overlook Hotel and from his deranged father. But when an EVIL group of people who feed off other children’s “shine” set their sights on a girl who telepathically connects with Dan, it’s up to Torrance to drop the bottle and use his powers that once brought terror to his family now for good.
This was an intriguing film going into it. When the film was announced to be both a faithful adaptation of Stephen King’s novel of the same name AND a direct sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, I was pretty skeptical as to how they were going to pull it off. Kubrick’s Shining remains to be one of my all time favorite films, but I also acknowledge how it derives heavily from King’s original source novel.
Director Mike Flanagan has dabbled with King’s books before with Netflix’s Gerald’s Game (though to middling results in my opinion) and he knows how to generate legitimate scares with Oculus and The Haunting of Hill House. His take on Doctor Sleep unfortunately is exactly how I’d imagine it’d play out. As a King adaptation, it follows the novel faithfully enough, but as a sequel to Kubrick’s film it misses what makes that film iconic entirely.
Flanagan goes into great lengths to replicate what Kubrick has done with The Shining. The cinematography is very reminiscent of the first film, right down to the exact same angles and framing used for certain shots from the first film. But while technically it’s impressive the amount of detail Flanagan puts in recreating The Shining, he misses the point of the first film as a whole.
Kubrick’s film instills a lot of dread and suspense leading up to the film’s explosive third act, with the scares being unconventional and left to the audience’s imagination. This film acts like a typical horror film, but with less jump-scares. The scares are clever at times but almost all of it is straight forward; Flanagan’s spirits are very tangible and real, whereas Kubrick’s left the door wide open for interpretation.
It doesn’t help that the characters in this film are pretty uninteresting. Grown up Danny Torrance is not as uniquely interesting to watch as his father, as much as Ewan McGregor tries in this film. The villain in the film aren’t all that threatening with the leader, played very well by Rebecca Ferguson, being very underwhelming as a whole. The story was typical King, there were a lot of unintentionally funny moments, and the last act of the film devolves into pure fan service that cheapens the film even more.
Overall Flanagan’s attempt to bridge two starkly different worlds was admirable but ultimately flawed. This is a well made film that lacks the nuance and attention to detail that Kubrick’s film had. Fan’s of King’s novel and Flanagan’s work will no doubt get what they want here, but for people looking for a faithful sequel to Kubrick’s Shining will be left disappointed.
Final Verdict: 5/10