Sequels are always a tricky business for filmmakers -you have to be faithful to the original source, but serve up something fresh at the same time. Imagine how tough the task if you’re creating a follow-up to a movie that’s close to forty years old. Oh, and tack on this fact – the movie is a masterpiece of its genre.
Such is the plight of Mike Flanagan in taking on ‘Doctor Sleep’, the much anticipated sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror classic, ‘The Shining’. And, given the hefty task, I think Flanagan does an amazing job. Not that ‘Doctor Sleep’ is a perfect movie, but given the expectations? This is a chiller that even Stephen King, the author of both tales (even though he’s famously on record for despising the late Kubrick’s offering) has to be impressed with.
For starters, this picture is much more faithful to what was in print than the cinematic version of ‘The Shining’ was; Kubrick took massive creative liberties to create one of the most horrifying effective motion pictures of the 20th century….but one that was not necessarily ‘by the book’, if you will. Here, with ‘Doctor Sleep’, a marvelous juggling act is performed by all involved in both embracing the roots of the novel and paying homage to the movie that preceded it. The result is a smart, moody and……yep, rest assured, King fans…..frightening flick.
The hook of ‘Doctor Sleep’ is really quite simple; whatever happened to the kid in ‘The Shining’, and just HOW much of what went down at the Overlook Hotel screw him up? The answer to the second question, in short, is…….lots. We find a now-adult Danny (Ewan McGregor) as an alcoholic drifter, still haunted by his past and constantly on the run in an attempt to escape the demons. Settling in a small New Hampshire town, Danny stumbles across a young girl named Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran), who has the same gift of ‘the shining’ that Danny possesses. So strong is Abra’s abilities, however, that she has drawn the attention of a vicious cult, (led by a woman named Rebecca Ferguson) that finds individuals like Abra and uses their powers as a means to live forever.
Danny joins the battle, of course, with the final showdown at….where else?….the decaying ruins of the Overlook Hotel. Thus, the kick of nostalgia that fans of ‘The Shining’ have been waiting close to four decades for.
A film as much about battling addictions and dealing with trauma as it is about things that go bump in the night, ‘Doctor Sleep’ is a cut above similar fare. I guess you can go home again.
