Doctor Sleep Uses Its Shine To Produce A Worthy Sequel To The Shining

      Making a sequel to a successful film is by no means an easy task as the challenge is presented to not only match the standard set by it's predecessor, but to exceed expectations while being surprising. Making a sequel, however, to a cult classic that's been engraved in Cinema history with a legacy that spans nearly 40 years, is an even harder and daunting task as the filmmakers must live up to the legacy of the original film, while providing a story that serves as being a worthy continuation of the first film. In the case of Doctor Sleep, the filmmakers behind it faced the challenge of building upon the legacy of Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror classic The Shining, along with adapting Stephen King's sequel novel to the big screen in a fashion, that not only honors the first film but tells it's own story. Gone from the sequel is Jack Nicholson and Shelly Duvall's characters with the sequel focusing on a now grown and recovering alcoholic Danny Torrance, played by Ewan McGregor and his struggle with dealing with his special abilities referred to as "the shine". Whereas most horror sequels pale in comparison to their predecessors as the same tricks and scares are bound to be less thrilling and effective the second time around, Doctor Sleep proves to be the rare exception to the rule and genuinely surprises as not just being a good horror film, but a sequel worthy of being placed in the same sentence as The Shining. While Doctor Sleep never tops The Shining in terms of quality, it holds it's own and stands as being a terrific effort to match the quality of it's predecessor.

      The plot for Doctor Sleep takes place decades after the events of The Shining, and centers around a now adult Danny (played by Ewan McGregor), constantly tortured by memories from his past finds himself struggling with alcoholism. While coping with his inner demons, he ends up being tracked down by a teenage girl named Abra (Played by Kyliegh Curran), who convinces him to help her find the people responsible for horrific acts of violence against children, especially upon realizing that they both may be targeted themselves. Doctor Sleep doesn't set out to remake The Shining nor lean on it for comfort. Instead it manages to co-exist as it's own story, while respecting the past and making numerous callbacks to it's predecessor. While Stanley Kubrick's masterful directing can never be surpassed, director Mike Flanagan does a fantastic job of crafting a story that feels like a love letter to fans of not just Stanley Kubrick but Stephen King as well. Doctor Sleep feels like a natural sequel to The Shining with audiences believing the state of Dan's character in the film. What's impressive about Doctor Sleep is how it starts off being a separate story connected to The Shining with the films third act essentially mirroring the climax of the first film. The film was clearly made with love and admiration on Flanagan's part to make the fans of The Shining proud, along with making a film that's closer to what Stephen King's vision of the film looks like. That wasn't the case with The Shining as it's common knowledge that both King and Kubrick clashed over the direction of that film with King praising the films visual look, but ultimately being displeased with the end result. Doctor Sleep feels like King's attempt to make the story in the way he envisioned the first one to be, while acknowledging the legacy that The Shining left with audiences with numerous callbacks. The film is a true sequel to the original as the performances, the directing, the writing, and films cinematography are top notch, and made from a place of love with respecting the legacy of The Shining.

      The films acting performances are a huge part of why the sequel succeeds the way it does in regards to being a stellar sequel. It was always going to come down to the casting of Danny, that would make or break the story in terms of audiences accepting it as a continuation of The Shining and luckily with Ewan McGregor, he proves to be a perfect choice for the role. McGregor is great here and effectively brings the character of Dan to life, making the audience empathize with him while rooting for his character to use his shine again. This sequel is Dan's story and Flanagan, King, and McGregor tell it in such a compelling and richly satisfying fashion with McGregor's performance being the key. Rebecca Ferguson does a terrific job playing the films main female antagonist Rose The Hat. She excels at being creepy, intense, and brilliant with her role as she steals the film when McGregor isn't on the screen. Kylie Curran impresses as Abra Stone and works well with McGregor when both are on screen together. Curran succeeds in making audiences care about her character while helping to draw a parallel between her and Danny's character in The Shining. Cliff Curtis is likable as Dan's loyal and caring friend Billy Freeman. With a limited role, Curtis impresses in terms of how effective he makes his character appear. Other strong supporting roles in the film include Zahn McClarnon in a creepy role as Crow Daddy, Emily Alyn Lind as Snakebite Andi, Selena Anduze as Apron Annie, Robert Longstreet as Barry The Chunk, Carel Struycken as Silent Sarey, Bruce Greenwood as Dr. John, and Zackary Momoh as David Stone. Along with the films directing and writing, the performances from the cast are key to making the story work with everyone bringing their A game to the story and adding freshness and energy to it. The true standout performances come from Mcgregor, Ferguson, Curran, and the side characters of the cult group called The True Knot.

      The directing and writing by Michael Flanagan works extremely well here giving the film a supernatural/psychological thriller feel to it. Flanagan stays true to the themes of the original film in regards to addiction, family, magic, and mental illness while incorporating themes into the story involving loneliness, self-reflection, the loss of loved ones, and justice. The films main message that Flanagan drives home, is that ones past will find them regardless of how hard they try to keep it hidden. Flanagan directs this film like an old-school style thriller with setting up a dark and serious tone while eliminating the gore and cheap jump scares, that's become a tired old trend in today's horror style of filmmaking. The films visual look is perfect with its cinematography presenting an eerie atmosphere with a score that gives a commanding presence. Flanagan's true craftsmanship as a director shows with the films final 30 minutes, which serves as an amazing callback to Kubrick's film as well as bringing Danny Torrance's character arc full circle. Watching the film. one genuinely gets the impression that the writer-director is a huge fan of the source material, and therefore gives his all into bringing this story to the big screen. The cinematography has moments where it mimmic's Stanley Kubrick's long take and camera panning technique used in his previous films. The films sound and visual effects are at its most effective when the story shifts to its supernatural moments. Those are the moments where the film comes alive, and is essentially at its most impactful. The film is long with a running time that spans 150 minutes, but the story always maintains a steady pace and never feels drawn out or boring. Knowing that as hard as he could've tried that Kubrick's masterful style of directing could never be matched, Flanagan doesn't try to and instead goes his own direction with Doctor Sleep with a script that's written as a distant sequel, but becomes firmly lined up with its predecessor by the films phenomenal third act. In terms of directing, Flanagan deserves major props for being courageous enough to take a classic film like The Shining and present a sequel, that stands on its own as being creepy and highly effective while being written, directed, and acted with both heart and passion.

      The films screenplay by Flanagan does a fine job of covering Danny's journey since the first movie, as well as giving audiences a broader idea of what "the shine" is and showing others that carry such magic. The film is not scary but remains suspenseful and thrilling through the exploring of such a unique concept that's surrounded by dark and sinister twists in the story involving young children being abducted and killed by the dangerous cult group called The True Knot. The main difference between The Shining and Doctor Sleep is whereas The Shining played out more like a classic horror movie thriller, Doctor Sleep plays out like a fantasy horror film in a vein similar to The Ring. Both movies are different but compliment each other through connecting storyline's and parallels. The progression of the films plot and character development feels believable and convincing making the story feel like a part drama, part horror movie with a supernatural edge to it that often feels hypnotic. The dialogue by the main characters often reaches the level of brilliance with McGregor's character delivering a chilling yet powerful monologue such as the one he delivers to Abra in which he says: "You need to listen to me. The world's a hungry place. A dark place. I've only met two or three people like us. They died. When I was a kid, I bumped into these things. I don't know about magic. I, I always called it "the shining." The films antagonists make for strong and creepy villains with them being giving a demon style presence, that makes the audience both fearful and devastated upon seeing them pursue others and absorbing their shine.

     In the end Doctor Sleep proves to be both a compelling horror story on its own, while serving as being a great sequel to The Shining. What holds it back though from being on the same level as its predecessor, is the chilling vibe moments that Kubrick created with the original. The use of new actors in the roles of characters brought back from the previous film, also slightly robs the film of its maximum impact despite the performances not being bad (The Grady twins being played by different actresses for example with no disrespect to actor Carl Lumbly, whose effective in the role of Dick Hallorann). One wishes that instead of casting Alex Essoe in the role of Danny's mother Wendy Torrance, that Flanagan could've brought back Shelly Duvall in the role through the use of CGI (Much like how Edward Furlong's John Connor was briefly revived in Terminator: Dark Fate). The film is packed with powerful moments of nostalgia, which takes audiences right back to The Shining such as the moments of action that occurs at the Overlook Hotel as well as the reprisal of the infamous bathtub sequence, the gushing of blood in the hall, the use of the ax from the first movie, the reappearance of the Grady twins despite different actresses playing them, and the usage of the maze once again with the same style cinematography being reused. Doctor Sleep makes endless efforts to meet the legacy of its predecessor head on, while distancing itself far enough to make its own footing on the franchise. It has all the basic fundamental elements that a sequel needs in order to thrive with the audience immediately becoming invested in Danny's story, largely thanks to the films writing and McGregor's performance. Rebecca Ferguson proves to be a captivating antagonist in the story as well as Kyliegh Curran in a surprisingly brilliant performance, that makes the audience care about her character. Doctor Sleep may disappoint some horror fans for not being scary or frightening enough, but what it excels at is providing a well-executed psychological thriller, that is richly entertaining, masterfully told. and surprises as being a rare sequel that lives up to the hype. The film is further proof that creativity and risk taking in Hollywood isn't extinct gone just yet. Doctor Sleep earns its stripes as being a solid sequel for fans of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, as well as fans of Stephen King's best-selling novel.

Final Verdict: SEE IT