By Nadia Ranaputri
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| Image source: IMDB |
Director: Mike Flanagan
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran, Cliff Curtis, Zahn McClarnon, Carl Lumbly, Bruce Greenwood, Jacob Tremblay.
Stephen King is on a roll this year, with three of his novels being adapted into films in the same year. First, it was the unfortunately dull Pet Sematary (although I would still highly recommend King's novel), then the rather solid IT Chapter Two, and now, we get yet another King adaptation that's had a near 40 year gap with its predecessor. The novel itself is three decades apart from the original. At first, it probably seems nearly impossible to follow up with a sequel that is just as iconic as the original novel, or even Kubrick's film adaptation, for that matter. There's a reason The Shining, both film and novel, is regarded as one of the most iconic horror story that is still appreciated today. Kubrick's film had it all: a brilliant performance by Jack Nicholson, a splendid visual canvas, a vast set design, and of course, a can full of ghosts. With such a wide space of a hotel, you'd think that they would drench the entire thing with ghosts and ghouls popping out here and there, but that isn't the case with The Shining. There's something far more ambiguous, a sense that something is on edge and is waiting to be awakened. Decades later, Stephen King marks the return of Danny Torrance in his sequel, Doctor Sleep, which was a very poignant character study of overcoming trauma and recovery. Now, director Mike Flanagan is bringing this story to life, mixing in the ambiguity of Kubrick's film and the intricacy of King's novel.
Taking place decades after the events of The Shining, Doctor Sleep tells the story of the now adult Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor), who like his father Jack, is a heavy alcoholic when we first see him. Haunted by the ghosts that inhabit the Overlook, Dan seeks alcohol as a way to draw out the demons of his past. Despite his attempts to hide his "shine", Dan eventually finds a new purpose in using his ability when he moves to a small town, whilst also starting his journey to sobriety. Meanwhile, a cult-like group called the True Knot, led by Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson), prey on innocent children who possess the shine by torturing them and feeding on their shine, or "steam" as they call it. During this time, Dan forms an unlikely telepathic bond with Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran), a young girl with a more powerful shine than him, and perhaps the most powerful one that he's ever seen. Rose the Hat eventually takes notice of Abra's powerful shine, prompting Dan to help protect Abra from being captured by the True Knot; and fully call upon the ability that he's been repressing since his childhood.
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| Image source: IMDB |
Ewan McGregor is fantastic as Dan Torrance. McGregor adds so much to this role, and some of that also comes from Flanagan's outstanding directing and script. Even if Dan's journey as an adult is heavily integrated with his traumatic childhood, his characterization in Doctor Sleep brings many new layers and development to his character. While Jack Nicholson's performance as Jack Torrance in The Shining was one that portrayed a man who's on edge, McGregor's performance as Danny was one that portrayed a much more restraint person, one with a guarded expression, as if he's afraid of reacting to such things. McGregor also adds much needed charisma into Dan. But once the film really shifts its gears, that's when McGregor truly shines. Alongside him is newcomer Kyliegh Curran as Abra Stone, and she too is stellar. Abra is the complete opposite of Danny, yet she couldn't be a more perfect partner in crime. Abra is more open and confident with her gift than Dan ever was, and Curran's performance brings a fine dose of levity and heart. But the standout here is definitely Rebecca Ferguson as the film's antagonist, Rose the Hat. She can swiftly shift from charming to menacing when she needs to; and when that happens, Ferguson's performance is nothing more than top notch.
Doctor Sleep is no Terminator: Dark Fate. It's a compelling story that justifies its existence. Stephen King had masterfully crafted the continuation of Dan's story in his novel, and it has set the perfect basis for the film to adapt upon, and director Mike Flanagan knows that; very, very well. Let's talk about Mike Flanagan for a second, because he's able to take the reigns from Kubrick effortlessly. If you're familiar with any of his previous works, be it Oculus, Gerald's Game (another Stephen King adaptation), or The Haunting of Hill House, you know he's perfect for the job. If anyone could do the sequel to The Shining justice, it's Flanagan. Doctor Sleep, much like the child portion of It, feels so much like a character study that happens to be sprinkled with bits of horror over it. It essentially takes laser focus on Dan Torrance's struggle to prevent himself from turning into his father. Doctor Sleep follows the reigns of those character focused Stephen King adaptations like The Shawshank Redemption, or even its own predecessor, The Shining. It takes its sweet time to really flesh out his character, because if we're to root for him, we have to know his character inside out, and the more fleshed out our protagonist is, the more we care for him. And in return, we're just as invested in his journey as an adult as we were when he was a child in The Shining. Danny's personal struggles are deeply explored here. He doesn't want to end up like his father, but eventually succumbs to alcoholism to draw out the literal ghosts of his past.
If you compare both Doctor Sleep and The Shining, they both have vastly different color palettes. The Shining has a much more vibrant color compared to Doctor Sleep, which is ironic considering that it's a horror film about a man's downfall into insanity. You notice that Doctor Sleep doesn't really follow the same style this for the most part, since it's emphasizing on someone who's already at rock bottom rather than one who's in the process of gravitating towards it. The cinematography too, is simply stunning. It takes a similar approach to the way The Shining did it, which was with most characters front and center whenever it chose to focus on their arc. Doctor Sleep however, does have more versatility in their shots. Some scenes have an effortless camera tilt that gives the shots a little more flair, and isn't always static. The interesting thing here is that they emit a feeling of wonder, yet at the same time, tension. It even gave a scene like a character gliding in the air a bit of a horror-fantasy feel. This is helped wonderfully by the haunting score of The Newton Brothers, which doesn't overstay its welcome too much. In fact, this is also possibly one of the film's homages to The Shining. There's a lack of that tension-filled music that usually indicate an oncoming dire threat or jumpscare. While some scenes have those, it's also reliant on silent tension of the scene itself (it's instead replaced with the constant sound of a steady heartbeat), which helps make the scenes so much more unsettling.
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| Image source: IMDB |
Those who are unfamiliar with The Shining might be wondering if they have to watch its predecessor in order to understand Doctor Sleep. The answer to that is yes and no. Doctor Sleep manages to be a story of its own, and perhaps if you're really not in the mood to look to much into it, you can pretty much understand the story that Doctor Sleep is trying to tell for the most part. It's not too reliant on its predecessor, but it does act like a sequel for the first 20 minutes, since it is a flashback and it focuses on the things that happened right after the events of The Shining. Moreover, there are things that will mean a lot more if you have watched The Shining, particularly in the third act (it's a big plus if you've read the novel as well). This includes references from the dialogue and visual cues of its predecessor. Someone who is new to the Stephen King world, or new the world of The Shining in general perhaps won't bat an eye at some of its homages and references. Despite the fact that you could go in to Doctor Sleep without prior knowledge of the first film, I still highly recommend watching The Shining beforehand (if you haven't) to really grasp the overall concept of where Doctor Sleep is going towards. Other than that, the film has its own standalone story. Doctor Sleep doesn't go full Avengers: Endgame, meaning that it doesn't fully alienate the audience that aren't familiar with the previous film that came before it, but at the same time, it's giving back to those who are already familiar with The Shining, whether it is the novel or the film.
If you went in to Doctor Sleep expecting a full out horror film with jumpscares here and there, you're not going to get a lot of that here. Doctor Sleep isn't the type of film that will rely on scares to get the audience invested, but it does have scenes that really get under your skin, particularly once you see what The True Knot does to their victims. The tension is there, and it builds up ever so slowly until it's the right time for the story to really amp up its scares. It doesn't only want the audience to be afraid of the antagonist, but it also wants them to be afraid for the protagonists who are going against them. In The Shining, the very concept that even a seemingly normal man could succumb to the temptation of insanity is what makes it much more unsettling than the biggest jumpscares. We might not be scared of the ghosts that inhabit the hotel, but rather of the man who would be affected by them, and the family that watches helplessly from the sidelines. In Doctor Sleep, we're witnessing how such an event could traumatize a child to the point where its horrors would come to haunt him even until his adulthood. We're seeing how this trauma manifests and turns the child into the very person that he was trying not to become. This is what Doctor Sleep is: not a horror fest, but a depiction of a lasting trauma and how it can affect a person. That's the main essence of Doctor Sleep, and the very reason why the horrors he would endure later as an adult has clear stakes and tension, and we become fearful of what is to come for him.
If there ever really was a flaw in this film, it's something that's really only coming from the standpoint of someone who has read the novel. There is a particular arc involving a one night stand that felt brushed over, and I couldn't help but hoped for a little more on it, since that arc became one of Dan's biggest guilt that haunted him throughout the novel. I consider this as more of a nitpick than an actual complaint, though. Nevertheless, Doctor Sleep is an investing film with immense focus on the characters to drive the story and hammer it right home; which is why Dan Torrance, Rose the Hat, and Abra Stone are really the ones left on our minds long after the film ends. And that is what's at the heart of most Stephen King stories: the characters. In the end, we're invested in the characters that King has crafted, we care about their struggles, and we want them to get the ending they deserve. There's a reason why we want The Losers Club to overcome their fears and defeat Pennywise in IT, or why we want Paul Sheldon to give Annie Wilkes a taste of her own medicine in Misery. We want some of these characters to succeed because they're so masterfully crafted and given such depth. Doctor Sleep is no exception. It's obviously not going to beat what The Shining already did so masterfully, but it's damn close to it, and I'm more than happy with that.
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| Image source: IMDB |
Overall verdict: While Doctor Sleep forgoes the obvious things that pop out from the dark, it's much more focused on unsettling imagery, like when the True Knot tortures one of their victims (a scene that really made me clench my knuckles). It's also focused on character, and how vital this aspect can be in order to really drive the story. They couldn't have picked a better director in Mike Flanagan. Flanagan really understands how to emphasize humanity and the things that can truly get under your skin as oppossed to just sticking with jumpscares. Ewan McGregor is excellent as adult Dan Torrance, while Kyliegh Curran as Abra injects that much needed levity and complements McGregor's Dan in wonderful ways. The standout however, is Rebecca Ferguson as the film's antagonist Rose the Hat, who's just as interesting and just as menacing as her novel counterpart. Unlike IT Chapter Two, Doctor Sleep is a more subdued type of horror film. It's not as reliant on jumpscares and ghouls that much, but rather on character and atmosphere, which is really what's at the heart of most Stephen King stories. But the tension is still masterfully built, slowly laying out breadcrumbs until it reaches its destination. While it won't be as pitch perfect as The Shining, Doctor Sleep joins the ranks as one of the best Stephen King adaptations.
Stars: 4.6/5
You can also read my review of The Shining here
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