Doctor Sleep

The ever-beautiful Rebecca Ferguson and a favorite from the Fargo series, Zahn McClarnon team up to bring us some somewhat scary, but more so eerie/creepy moments in this adaptation of King's Doctor Sleep. For the most part, and with the help of Ewan McGregor who plays an alcoholic, grown-up version of The Shining's Danny Torrence, they pull it off.

While Doctor Sleep is a rather drawn-out and, mostly, slowish-moving film, it still has enough to it, to not lose one's attention. The story-line is solid and engaging, although those unfamiliar with the book and looking for outright horror and gore, will find little satisfaction. There are a couple of scenes which can be construed as "horrific", but in my opinion, Doctor Sleep is not really a "horror flick" by definition. To me, it is more like an intense drama about good vs evil, with a couple of well-done 'end-of-life' scenes thrown in. :)

What I most enjoyed about it, is that in this day and age where practically every story ever has already been made into a movie, this one's plot was just a bit off the beaten path and came across as slightly new and original in its approach, while still pretty seamlessly tying it in to the well-known classic: The Shining.

If I had to add one con, it would be a somewhat minor one, in that, at times, the girl who plays Abra (Kyliegh Curran), who also possesses 'the shining', and who can communicate with Danny, delivers her lines in almost a stone-like manner, and at other times as if she is rapidly reading. It occurred one too many times, and I found that it took me out of the movie for just a bit.

While good, the scenes leading up to the ending are a bit predictable, and the 'showdown' (remember, good vs. evil) leaves a little to be desired. For the most part, however, I can live with it, seeing as Rebecca Ferguson saves it by just being in it, and King and the creators do their best to come full circle. In short, like the entire film itself, it is satisfying-enough to where one can feel as if watching it, was time well spent.

Danny Torrance (from "The Shining") is a grown-up alcoholic adult (Ewan McGregor) that has fought his demons along his life and used his abilities to lock them up in boxes in his brain. He joins an AA group, moves to another town and befriends Billy Freeman (Cliff Curtis). Meanwhile a dangerous group of predator creatures led by Rose The Hat (Rebecca Ferguson) hunt down people that "shine" like Danny to feed with their steam and remain immortal. When Dan knows the powerful girl Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran), he decides to protect her from the predators.

"Doctor Sleep" is a dramatic fantasy film that uses the adult life of Danny Torrance from Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece "The Shining" in a full of action story that slightly recalls "Near Dark". Rebecca Ferguson and her costumes with the hat is gorgeous and stylish. If the viewer expects a sequel of "The Shining" of even a horror movie, he or she will be disappointed. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Doutor Sono" ("Doctor Sleep")

Note: On 23 December 2024, I saw this film again.

As far as Stephen King adaptations go, Mike Flanagan's DOCTOR SLEEP undoubtedly has to count among the small - but distinct - group of excellent ones. For a director to achieve this is a rare feat - as any Stephen King fan can sadly attest to after dozens of mediocre to downright terrible adaptations over the last four decades - and what's even more impressive is that it marks the second time Flanagan managed to pull this off, since he already knocked it out of the park with his Netflix adaptation of King's previously considered to be unfilmable novel GERALD'S GAME.

Now the reason why those two films work so well is actually quite simple: like Frank Darabont and Rob Reiner before him, Flanagan gets that the most intriguing aspect of King's stories is not the horror. He's the rare director adapting a story by the writer who gets that it's not the supernatural, not the gory thrills or creeping chills that make those books so immersive and so well loved (though of course those are elements that we King fans also greatly enjoy): it's the meticulous worldbuilding and the deeply human characters.

King's novels - and Dr. Sleep is no exception - are so immersive because they're usually less about the horror itself and much more about the journeys he sets his characters on in confronting that horror, the world they inhabit and the people they meet along the way - and the strong bonds and friendships they forge. So in order for the adaptations to work on screen, it's crucial to retain the warmth and the humanity the writer infuses his protagonists with. The director's cut of DOCTOR SLEEP (which is the only cut I've seen), perfectly captures that aspect of King's writing. It has that special "King tone" - for lack of a better word - which so rarely survives the Hollywood treatment of his works.

My only - minor - gripe is that Flanagan focused his considerable talent on what I consider to be a somewhat mediocre book. If latter-day King is what he had to choose from, I wish he had picked BAG OF BONES or DUMA KEY instead, as his storytelling instincts would have been perfectly suited for both of those (admittedly also flawed) novels. There's some great stuff in there that could make for fantastic, haunting, beautifully Gothic genre films if a writer/director with Flanagan's old-school approach to storytelling and deeply humanist sensibilities were to tackle it.

But never mind my nitpicking; DOCTOR SLEEP is a treat for King fans as well as genre fans in general, and it's a shame it wasn't a bigger success at the box office. The movie is beautifully photographed, the cast - especially Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran and Zahn McClarnon - are wonderful, and the deliberate pacing works perfectly for the story. So let's give it up for Mike Flanagan (who's apparently already busy adapting King's Lovecraftian novel REVIVAL); in the absence of Rob Reiner and Frank Darabont, he's perhaps the greatest hope for us King fans.

Finally got to see my most anticipated film of the year and I'm happy to tell you it's everything I wished for and more. Flanagan has done an amazing job adapting the book from Stephen King and giving lovers of the Kubrick film adaptation of "The Shining" (1980) a cinematic sequel. Now i read the book and while I enjoyed it for the most part, I found parts of it underwhelming. I feel in this film adaptation, Flanagan takes elements from the novel and manages to make them more darker and serious which in turn really helped address some issues I had with the book. He does make some serious changes though and while I embraced them I'm not sure how others who read the book will feel about them. "The Shining" (1980) to me and I'm sure a lot of you, is a masterpiece in filmmaking. I for one prefer it over the novel and with this film, it most certainly feels like a sequel to Stanley Kubrick's version and a love letter to that film. The last 30 mins or so are absolutely amazing and kudos to Flanagan for pulling it off. Ewan McGregor does a great job as an adult Danny Torrance and Rebecca Ferguson captivates as Rose the Hat. The film sets a great tone with some stunning visuals and the score completely grabs you. How much you enjoy this film really depends on what you want out of it. There's practically no gore here and no cheap jump scares. What you'll get though is expert filmmaking from someone who you can tell really loves the source material he's pulling it all in from. Everything struck a balance for me that I was tremendously pleased with, top horror film of the year.

This is easily one of the better film adaptations of a Stephen King novel, and also one of the better films I've seen this year. Yet again, professional film critics have proven they mostly have no idea about the cinema of the fantastic (fantasy, SF, and horror). If you're a fan of the genre, you'll love this film - ignore the critics.