Movie Review: Doctor Sleep

Doctor Sleep *** ½ / *****

Directed by: Mike Flanagan.

Written by: Mike Flanagan based on the novel by Stephen King.

Starring: Ewan McGregor (Danny Torrance), Rebecca Ferguson (Rose the Hat), Kyliegh Curran (Abra Stone), Cliff Curtis (Billy Freeman), Zahn McClarnon (Crow Daddy), Emily Alyn Lind (Snakebite Andi), Selena Anduze (Apron Annie), Robert Longstreet (Barry the Chunk), Carel Struycken (Grampa Flick), Catherine Parker (Silent Sarey), James Flanagan (Diesel Doug), Met Clark (Short Eddie), Zackary Momoh (David Stone), Jocelin Donahue (Lucy Stone), Dakota Hickman (Young Abra), Carl Lumbly (Dick Hallorann), Thomas Downing (The Bartender), Bruce Greenwood (Dr. John), Alex Essoe (Wendy Torrance), Roger Dale Floyd (Young Danny), Jacob Tremblay (Bradley Trevor), Chelsea Talmadge (Deenie), Violet McGraw (Violet).

 

It couldn’t have been easy to write the screenplay for Doctor Sleep. Writer/director Mike Flanagan had to someone find a way to make a sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 masterpiece, The Shining, based on the Stephen King novel, but which Kubrick made a lot of changes to. But he also had to adapt the novel that Stephen King wrote as the sequel to his version of The Shining – which makes a point (too big of one really, it can be distracting while reading it) that King hates Kubrick’s version of events, and making it all but impossible for any adaptation of his book to also be a sequel to Kubrick’s film. And yet, with some bumps along the way, Flanagan mainly pulls it off – he even managed to do Kubrick one better in one (and only) area – he even got King himself to express how much he likes this film.

 

The adult Danny (Ewan McGregor) is still traumatized by the events of his childhood at the Overlook Hotel – and has pretty much been drinking to dull his memories of that time, and dull his own powers, ever since. Eventually, he hits rock bottom – jumps on a bus, and ends up in a small New Hampshire town, where he makes some new friends, and gets a job as a hospice orderly – where he can use his powers to help ease the transition into whatever is next for the residents there. He is still haunted by his past – literally in some cases – as he talks to his old friend Dick (Carl Lumbly, stepping in for Scatman Crothers), and has quite literally locked away the demons of the Overlook away in his mind.

 

The other major thrust of the story has to do with the group of people known as The True Knot, led by Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson, oozing menace, charm, sexuality and danger in the films best performance). They track down kids who “shine” and breath in their steam. “Eat well, stay young, live long” is their basic motto – and they will do anything to do just that. The two stories are connected by young Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran), who has a powerful shine. She and Danny have never met in person – but have been communicating for years. When Abra finds herself on Rose the Hat’s radar – you know what’s it’s going to lead to a showdown – and you know where said showdown will take place.

 

It is in the final third of the book that Flanagan twists and goes directly into Kubrick territory. We had hints of this all along – not just with Dick, but the ghosts from the Overlook coming to Danny, and flashbacks to scenes with Alex Esscoe as Wendy, who we learn died years ago. King, of course, couldn’t go back to the Hotel himself in the book – because he blew it up in his first novel, but Kubrick didn’t, and it allows Flanagan the same type of fun Spielberg had in Ready Player One last year, playing with all the things Kubrick created in that film. If you’re one of those people who scream about movies raping your childhood, and you love The Shining, then maybe stay away. For me, who considers The Shining to be Kubrick’s best film, and one of the very best films ever made, I was amused by Flanagan’s homages and references. Perhaps he goes a little too far with them – returns to the well a little too often, and stretches out one scene in particular a little too long – but I think he did it with the best of intentions.

 

It’s odd that King seemingly likes this version of Doctor Sleep – which cuts out so much of his original novel, in particular much of the stuff that read like a giant middle finger to Kubrick, and replaces it with a loving homage to Kubrick instead. But for the most part, the changes here work. Flanagan doesn’t quite fix all the problems with King’s novel – in particular, Danny still isn’t much of a lead character, and unlike what Ferguson does with the villain, McGregor can’t make him more interesting. And you almost feel like Flanagan, who is a talented filmmaker in his own right, gets kind of lost here – trying to please both King and Kubrick, you cannot help but wonder where his own vision is. But he’s crafted a fine movie – it’s too long to be sure – but it’s spooky and creepy, sometimes downright scary, and really does bridge the gap between Kubrick and King, something I would have thought impossible.