"Doctor Sleep" Review

"The Shining" is easily a top 10 horror film for me. Needless to say, I was fairly excited to see how the director, Mike Flanagan, would helm "Doctor Sleep". It's safe to say he delivered an extremely good sequel to the 1980 classic.

Starting with the positives, my biggest positive has to be Mike Flanagan's writing and directing. I was a big fan of the characters in "Doctor Sleep". Dan Torrance is portrayed as a struggling alcoholic, much in the vein of Jack Torrance. I enjoyed the parallels between him and his father. I am also a big fan of all the small moments that are shown in Dan Torrance's life such as him working at the hospital and attending AA meetings. Ewan McGregor is fantastic as an adult Danny Torrance. The antagonists in the film are also extremely well-developed and fleshed-out. We spend a lot of the with them from the beginning of the film; we understand their motives. They are brutal; this film "goes there" when it comes to violence with children. Unlike "The Shining" that focuses on the Torrance's family struggles, "Doctor Sleep" expands greatly on the concept of shining. Newcomer, Kyliegh Curran, who plays Abra Stone also delivers a solid child-performance. She had a lot to do in the film and made the most with her screentime. As for the more technical aspects. I loved the use of lighting in the 3rd act. I thought it was shot beautifully. I also really loved the pounding drum "heartbeat" that is present throughout the film. I enjoyed the little nods to "The Shining". I think that they were just subtle enough to not become annoying. It felt similar to how "Halloween" (2018) handled callbacks to the originals.

My only major negatives would be any "recastings" of the original cast. Seeing a young Danny Torrance, Jack Torrance, and Wendy Torrance took me out of the movie. I especially didn't like the extended scene with Jack Torrance. Another minor negative is that "Doctor Sleep" was super loud. I'm not 100% sure if it was the film itself or just the theater, but it got so loud at points that my seat was shaking. I wasn't watching in D-Box either. If it was like 95% as loud it would have been perfect. Super nitpicky, I know.

Overall, I think "Doctor Sleep" is a great sequel to "The Shining". It obviously isn't as good as "The Shining", but it never was going to be in the first place. I feel that Mike Flanagan did an extremely good job adapting Stephen King's book while also directing a sequel to Stanley Kubrick's film.

8.5/10