DOCTOR SLEEP Lets Kubrick’s Vision Shine On | Movie Review
What is it?
A sequel (also based on a novel) to the incredibly famous Stanley Kubrick film adaptation of Stephen King’s original spooky novel “The Shining”.
Heeeere’s Danny
The supernatural story of DOCTOR SLEEP follows Danny (portrayed with ease and style by Ewan McGregor) thirtyish years after The Shining after he cleans himself up after some rough years. Things take a turn though as Danny ends up connecting with a girl (also a good performance) who has the same ability as he has, but even more powerful.
He helps her to protect herself after she gets on the radar of a group of evil immortal(ish) folks who power themselves by torturing and consuming “steam” from people (mostly children) with the shining ability.
“the horror is to be found in moments like some involving the villains and their prey”
Characters are really well fleshed out, and that goes for both the heroes and the villains (gracefully led by Rebecca Ferguson). It’s enough to make me want to go read the books to discover even more about them. The film gets a bit long at two and a half hours, and while I liked a lot of what was done with it, it definitely feels a bit split between being its own thing and being a product of fan-service.
While the film isn’t particularly scary, the horror is to be found in moments like those involving the villains and their prey that might even be a little hard to watch for some, and cause you to later realise a few things that took place off camera that are pretty harsh. Aside from any negatives, the film is still good though, and has a few moments from director Mike Flanagan (Oculus, Haunting of Hill House, ) that make a viewing worthwhile regardless, showing that he really is a master of horror.
Verdict:
DOCTOR SLEEP was never gonna hold up when compared to THE SHINING, but that’s pretty okay. While the fan-service won’t go down well with everyone, I was equally impressed at a couple of pretty bold decisions that were taken for the film, and am happy that we got another peak into Stephen King’s strange and wonderful mind.
