Doctor Sleep Review
R: Disturbing and violent content, some bloody images, language, nudity and drug use.
Runtime: 2 Hr and 31 Minutes
Production Companies: Intrepid Pictures, Vertigo Entertainment
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Director: Mike Flanagan
Writers: Mike Flanagan
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran, Cliff Curtis, Jacob Tremblay
Release Date: November 8, 2019
Because I'm tired and have to catch up on some guild responsibilities, sleep, reviews, etc. this review will be provided by my co-Captain, editor in chief, horror freak geek, Myan! This will officially be the first—history in the making—non-Rendy Rendy Review. Take it away Myan!
I’ll preface this review with two quick disclaimers:
1) I have read a good chunk of Stephen King’s works, but I have yet to read the Doctor Sleep novel. Therefore, I’m not aware of any potential differences or story changes.
2) This isn’t a cheap-thrills horror movie. Please don’t walk into this expecting tons of jump scares and nonstop action. Don’t be like the guy in my audience who complained it wasn’t “horror” enough because someone wasn’t yelling “BOO!” on screen every 10 seconds.
Anyway, we need to talk about Mike Flanagan.
Flanagan has made a solid name for himself in the world of horror/mystery, but my interest was piqued when he helmed the film adaptation of Gerald’s Game. Stephen King adaptations are hit or miss, but Flanagan did a fantastic job bringing that particular story to life. Then came The Haunting of Hill House, which everyone and their mother talked about last year because it was the “scariest” thing on Netflix (great series, but not as terrifying as social media wanted you to believe).
I’m only running through Mike’s recent resume entries because this film is essentially the culmination of those two titles. The best way to describe Doctor Sleep is like a very long episode of Hill House had a baby with Gerald’s Game… and that baby can astral project.
The story takes time to set itself up, cutting from location to location to establish the main characters and their situations. Rebecca Ferguson is utterly enchanting as Rose The Hat. She is pure magic and you fully enjoy it, no matter how sinister she is as the central antagonist. Ewan McGregor is captivating as Dan Torrance and his performance has you rooting for his recovery as he tries to overcome his personal demons (pun intended). The themes touching on alcoholism and mental health are well-written where Dan’s struggle is palpable—and perhaps relatable for some. Rounding out the main cast is Kyliegh Curran, who puts on a hell of a show as the aptly-named Abra despite certain questionable aspects of her dialogue, which I’ll expand on later. The trio is truly entertaining to watch, but the pair that shines the most (another pun, I’m so sorry) is Ferguson/Curran. The two share some of the most breathtaking sequences and their dynamic is incredible, even providing some light comedic relief in the midst of the madness.
The film kicks into high gear with the appearance of a wild Jacob Tremblay. Seriously, Tremblay emerges in a random cameo and ends up jump-starting the heft of the plot. After that series of events unfolds, Doctor Sleep becomes a thrilling roller coaster ride where the leads play a suspenseful game of cat-and-mouse that bears enough twists and turns to keep you on your toes. Everyone is battling through their own internal issues, but select characters are also struggling with minds that aren’t even theirs, which must be a whole new league of frustration. The story is executed well and the way that Dan, Abra, and Rose cross paths is handled efficiently.
One thing I kept anticipating was a random uncredited cameo from Kate Siegel. Flanagan puts his wife in just about everything he helms, so it was shocking to not see her on screen this time. However, Violet (the girl in the opening scene) and nearly all of the actors in Rose The Hat’s gypsy crew were previously in Hill House. Meanwhile, Gerald’s Game got some representation in the form of Bruce Greenwood and Carel Struycken. Oh, how proper it is that Doctor Sleep features actors from the two projects that clearly inspired Flanagan’s vision for it.
While I thoroughly enjoyed Doctor Sleep, there were a few things that took me out of the moment and made me go, “Right, this is a movie based on a book.” For starters, the beginning of the film is tedious, bouncing back and forth between characters to establish their individual stories. I know it’s necessary in order to introduce the proper players in this game, but it was a hassle for someone with an attention span as irritating as mine. Luckily, the payoff is ultimately worth it.
Abra’s vocabulary and awkward stiffness seemed borderline silly and it kind of diminished the significance of her being a child in the middle of this wild ride. At a certain point, there’s almost nothing human about her, but this is where Stephen King comes into play extra heavy. Aside from IT, the children in King’s novels rarely sound their age. They typically sound like 30-year-old adults that may or may not go home and get their taxes done after their dilemmas are resolved. It might be true to the novel, but it’s a pet peeve of mine. It’s okay to give kids/teens in your stories their proper personality attributes. They don’t need to be robots.
Last, but definitely not least, is the Overlook Hotel. While this movie is the ONLY one that should have ever referenced The Shining, way too many other films, TV shows, and god knows what other mediums have remade their own little “Shining” moments, usually for comedic purposes or as a way to be ~cool and cultured~. Because other directors and writers felt the incessant need to recreate scenes from Kubrick’s classic for literally no viable reason, the thrill of seeing the Overlook in Doctor Sleep was just about nonexistent. The ironic thing is that Doctor Sleep should’ve been the only film ever to remake scenes from The Shining, but for some god forsaken reason, everyone else decided to do it beforehand.
I totally agree with what Myan said. Although I am not that familiar with Mike Flanagan’s work outside of the second Ouija movie—which is one of the primary reasons why I asked her to handle this review—he does a great job delivering the slow burning tension from his features, which is present in Doctor Sleep. This follow-up to The Shining does a great job at being an elaborate and imaginative thriller. It hits some of the same emotionally chilling and disturbing elements as The Shining in its own way, featuring some of my personal favorite scenes of this entire year that left me breathless. I kept whispering to Myan in a giddy childish manner, “This is too cool!” It was fantastically doing its own thing, not even reminding me of the classic Kubrick film, and then Flanagan had to bring up his VHS copy of The Shining and walk us down memory lane. If it wasn’t for other filmmakers and pop culture tainting the sanctity of the original—even Spielberg himself draining the milk during last year’s Ready Player One—I would’ve been more forgiving, for it’s most definitely earned. Flanagan did a fantastic job with this adaptation in the same vein as Villeneuve did with Blade Runner 2049… but I love this more than Blade Runner 2049.
Doctor Sleep is further proof that Mike Flanagan knows how to handle his Stephen King content. The cast is magical, the plot is thrilling, and the supernatural aspects are expertly portrayed. The initial pacing is a little tedious, but the payoff is worth it for fans of suspense and psychological thrillers.
