Doctor Sleep Is A Superhero Movie with A Hint Of Horror

Director: Mike Flanagan
Writers: Stephen King (based on the novel by), Mike Flanagan (screenplay)
Stars: Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran, Cliff Curtis, Zahn McClarnon

Stanley Kubrick’s classic Stephen King adaptation, ‘The Shining’, was hugely popular among the legions of horror fans. Forty years on, before the sequel hit the big screen, I decided to watch the talked about classic. For myself I was left with a lot of questions, not only about the characters but also about the hotel and it’s origins. I must say I wasn’t a big fan, and strangely enough, I learnt that either was King himself. Stephen King hated the classic 1980 film Stanley Kubrick made of ‘The Shining’; a fact that made it hard for writer-director Mike Flanagan to get King’s seal of approval to film ‘Doctor Sleep’. Readers may remember the author burned down the Overlook Hotel, the scary place that compelled caretaker Jack Torrance to try to kill his wife and young son.

For those not familiar with Mike Flanagan’s work, he’s the man behind Netflix’s successful horror show The Haunting of Hill House. ‘Doctor Sleep’ answers one main question that fans of ‘The Shining’ had, what ever happened to the boy in the story. What I was impressed by is how this film started, in 1980, where Danny Torrance and his mother are trying to live there life after escaping the clutches of psychopath Jack Torrance. ‘Doctor Sleep’ is certainly not a betrayal of ‘The Shining’, partly because it is so full of references to its predecessor, from the hexagonal-patterned carpet to the fact that one character’s house number happens to be 1980.

Back in 1980, Danny Torrance was a kid with the gift of telepathy, or “shining”. Considering that he met a cook who was also telepathic, it’s logical to assume that quite a number of other people could have the gift too. ‘Doctor Sleep’ tells us about those people. It’s a logical assumption, that Danny would have a tough time recovering from everything he witnessed in The Shining.

Danny has grown up a hard drinking drifter who regularly rounds off his evenings with a bar fight, a fling with a stranger, or both. Dan gets a job in a hospice where he uses his telepathy to soothe the dying, where one of the patients nicknames him Doctor Sleep. Just as he helps them find peace, he finds some peace himself.

This is when the story becomes less about horror, and more about supernatural adventure, reminding me of the X-men if I am going to be honest. A gang of psychic predators called the True Knot, track down children with extraordinary powers. When they locate their victims, they butcher them and absorb their life force. The leader of the True Knot is Rose the Hat, played by Rebecca Ferguson with a formidable mix of earthy seductive charm and cold blooded instincts. Some disappointing things to acknowledge is Rose got her nickname because she likes to wear a hat. Secondly her menacing posse isn’t that menacing, they are supposedly mass murderers with terrifying abilities, but after a creepy opening sequence in which they snatch a young girl, they spend most of their scenes sitting around campfires in the woods, complaining. The sequel to The Shining should definitely have a way more scares and a lot more horror than this one.

As the story continues the True Knot find there next target, a 13-year-old girl named Abra played by Kyliegh Curran, who has been in telepathic contact with Dan. This is when the plot becomes reminicent of the X-Men franchise for me, as a battle brews between the heroes (Dan and Abra) and the superhuman outsiders (The True Knot). For those who are going to watch ‘Doctor Sleep’ anticipating a scare fest of gore, well you won’t get it here. Flanagan begins to recreate the world of The Shining before going down his own path ignoring the connections to the rest of King’s work. ‘Doctor Sleep’ may lead to a bunch of sequels or spin-offs, but I feel the story of the Torrance family has fallen short of being an effective terrifying thriller.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

neillfrazer@hotmail.com