Doctor Sleep

The more I think about Doctor Sleep, the more and more impressed I am by it. In the way of long-awaited sequels, it reminds me of Blade Runner 2049; a thoughtful follow up that is different from the original, but still continues the story in interesting ways. Also tremendously impressive is the immense challenge director Mike Flanagan had to make this film. It's well known that Stephen King hated Kubrick's The Shining because of its departures from the book. So this version of Doctor Sleep, in order to get made and have King's blessing, must balance the expectations of following up Kubrick's masterpiece, weave in elements from King's novel that were missed in the original film, and adapt the novel of Doctor Sleep itself. No small task. 

What we're left with is the best Stephen King film of the year (sorry It: Chapter 2) and a sequel that, while far different from the original Kubrick film, still builds upon it in interesting ways. 

I should preface this review with the fact that I'm both a Stephen King fan and Shining fan. Interestingly I've never read this set of books from King, but I do think people who exist within that subset of audiences will get far more out of Doctor Sleep than others. I imagine that people who haven't seen The Shining will be lost and people who aren't familiar with King will think many elements of this movie is weird. So, take my thoughts and score with that grain of salt!

"I like dark rum, dammit! Not red rum!"

Doctor Sleep isn't really a horror film, but that works really well for it. It's got plenty of tension, sure, but it's definitely not a descent into madness like it's predecessor (plus we already had an incredible film for that in 2019). Instead, after some intro, we meet Danny Torrance all grown up and battling inner demons and alcoholism. Makes sense...his childhood was f**ked up and combined with his gift to "shine", he's got problems that most of us don't have to work through. The film spends nearly equal time focusing on him and a group of non-humans who feed off human pain, torture, etc. via sniffing their "steam" (aka physical manifestation of shine) as they're in pain. So yeah, classic King fashion, it's weird, but it works. These non-humans are led by Rebecca Ferguson as Rose the Hat in what's probably the best villain of the year. Without spoiling anything, Doctor Sleep slowly brings all its players together and is ultimately a semi-horror/thriller battle of good vs. evil. 

Tom Cruise is going to have his
hands full in the next Mission Impossible

Probably the only thing that acts against Doctor Sleep is that it's entirely too long. At 2.5 hours, it's essentially an epic and I'm not sure it needed to be that length as it takes a lot of time building Danny's character that could have been expedited with similar results. Part of the film's strength is that it takes it's time and builds to an epic conclusion, but in hindsight it's also a largely meandering film for the first hour. Lots of time is lost in what feels like would be the first 1/4th of the novel (again, haven't read it but the film has made me highly interested to!) and the end certainly isn't rushed - which is nice - but usually if a film goes past the 150 minute mark, it needs to have a good reason to do so. I'm not so sure Sleep does. 

Doctor Sleep also retroactively helps The Shining to make more sense as it explains and builds a lot more of the mythology of this section in King's universe. We learn more about what the shine is, how it manifests, what you can/cant do with it, and more. There's never really explicit rules laid out and some of the best scenes are our main characters determining how far they can push the limits. Ewan McGregor, per usual, is fantastic as a troubled older Danny. This is a more contemplative sequel than many may anticipate as he deals with his father's downfall and alcoholism, among other demons. Ferguson is a scene stealer as Rose the Hat and is clearly having a ton of fun being evil and powerful. Child actor Kyliegh Curran makes an appearance later in the film as Abra and detached from spoilery-tidbits about her character, she was able to go toe to toe with McGregor and Ferguson, which is no small task.

Kubrick's The Shining was complimented with incredible cinematography and a very fitting and creepy original score. That's not completely missing here, but it's a significant distinction between the "artsy" original and this more-normally filmed sequel. There's still bits of trippy visuals and a hertbeat original score that is arguably (can't believe I'm saying this) overused, but it's not an incompetent film by any means regarding the actual way it was made. 

"Heeerrrrre's Obi! [Wan Kenobi]"

Much like Blade Runner 2049, I'm not so sure Doctor Sleep will do all that well at the box office. It's likely too little too late and relates heavily back to a film from a different generation. That's a shame because it's about as great as a follow up as you could hope for with a different, but still related direction for the story, a grand villain, and more lore to world build successfully. Perhaps I'm one of few, but I truly dug it.

CONS

• Way too long. Could have likely trimmed nearly 30 minutes if it had managed its time better 
• Dare I say an overuse of the "heartbeat" in the original score?
• I wish the cinematography, while good, had tried to compete with Kubrick's more

PROS

• Retroactively answers some things about The Shining while rule/myth/world building effectively
• Much different than its predecessor. Not so much horror as thriller and a character study of Danny
• Spot-on casting with Ewan McGregor as Danny. He brings the needed talent to accomplish some of the character's darker moments
• Year's best villain so far with Rebecca Ferguson as Rose the Hat, deliciously eating up everything she gets to do
• Trippy visuals, fun "magical" elements, good/great cinematography, and a fitting original score
• Builds to an exciting, intense, and awesome climax

Rath's Review Score | 8/10