Movie Review: Doctor Sleep

**Spoiler Alert** This post contains them. Read at your own risk.

My husband and I took advantage of Fandango’s Advanced Screening of Doctor Sleep on October 30th. Like The Shining, it’s also based on a book of the same name by Stephen King.

I haven’t read the book (yet) so I don’t know if the movie adaptation does it justice or not. I can only share my thoughts on how it fares as the sequel to The Shining movie.

The Shining’s Sequel

As sequel’s go, it’s a sequel. Rarely are they as good as what came first.

There are exceptions, of course. Some may argue Friday the 13th: Part 2 was a decent sequel. Even though they’re not necessarily sequels as much as a continuation of a story, very few complain about the Star Wars, Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings movies. (Well, at least parts 5 and 6 of Star Wars. There were many who weren’t nuts about 1-3.)

But most sequels follow pretty soon after the original’s release. This one took almost 40 years.

Which makes sense. The protagonist needed time to age and grow up, because that’s the premise: whatever happened to little Danny Torrance after his mother and him survived the Overlook?

What’s Up, Doc?

Like father, like son –to some extent.

Like his father, he has a temper and develops a drinking problem.

Unlike his father, he didn’t have a penchant for writing. It doesn’t seem he has an affinity for any particular line of work.

He also tried to stifle his “shine.” Sometimes more successfully than others.

I’m not quite sure why he suddenly has the impetus to try and change, but he does. Maybe because Hallorann pays him a visit? He’s disappointed to see how far Danny’s sunk.

Just about any child will tell you what’s even worse than angering a respected adult figure is disappointing them. Perhaps that was the kick Danny –now known as Dan– needed to get his rear in gear.

He hops on a bus, initially trying to outrun his problems, but then realizes he’s seeking a place to make a fresh start. He finds it in a small New Hampshire town.

That’s where he also finds friends, AA, and a way to put his shine to good use, working in a hospice where the residents nickname him “Doctor Sleep.” Thus resurrecting an old nickname his mom and dad had for him, “Doc.” In that case, it had to do with Bugs Bunny, but it’s interesting to see it come back around.

Others with the Shining

In The Shining, Mr. Hallorann tells Danny he has “the shine.” It’s the first time Danny meets someone like him.

He first becomes aware of, and then intimately acquainted with, more like him in Doctor Sleep shortly after moving to his new digs in New Hampshire. Starting with Abra Stone, a little girl with incredible magic powers, who reaches out to him.

Note: Dan still thinks of it as “the shining,” but it’s referred to as “magic” throughout the movie.

But there’s a darker force, what amounts to a band of psychic vampire gypsies called The True Knot who are led by Rose the Hat. By sucking the “steam” (a.k.a. magic/shining) –and with it their life– from others with gifts, The True Knotters can basically attain immortality.

Almost. They aren’t invincible and are susceptible to death. Against regular folks they’re pretty immune to danger and harm, though. They can sense it coming, after all. It’s not so simple when they’re pitted against others of their own kind.

Good Shine vs. Bad Shine

Whereas The Shining was a haunted house book in essence –including the haunted houses of people’s souls– Doctor Sleep examines the never ending conflict between good vs. evil. What makes people pick one side over the other? Even those with magic powers.

There was good vs. bad in The Shining too. It’s basically in all stories really, isn’t it?

However, it’s more the central theme in Doctor Sleep, which is also more ambitious in scope than the The Shining was.

The Setting

It’s not as intimate as it was in The Shining. The viewer doesn’t get to spend the majority of time with the Torrances in the Overlook.

It bounces from East Coast to West and points in between. Not to the point it’s like watching a tennis match and your head is constantly turning from side to side to watch the action. It’s just that the movie doesn’t take place in one spot or with one set of characters like The Shining.

However, it does end up in one very familiar –and important– place.

The Overlook Revisited

If you liked the haunted hotel in The Shining, good news. You do get to check back in to it in Doctor Sleep. It’s haunted Danny Torrance most of his life, as has its spirits. But now he needs it to help him and Abra battle Rose the Hat.

When it became clear the movie was headed back here, I perked up. It couldn’t come fast enough. (Literally. The movie’s run time is 151 minutes –or two hours, thirty-one minutes– long.)

And when they got there, it was interesting to watch Danny revisiting major places. Like the apartment they lived in, which had been left as is: chopped up doors and all. Or the ballroom’s bar. Like his dad, he has a conversation with the bartender –someone who’s very familiar.  Even the famous elevators make an appearance!

The Shining vs. Doctor Sleep

They’re two different beasts with a common thread: Danny Torrance.

If I’d gone into this not thinking of it as a sequel to The Shining, I would’ve been less disappointed. Yes. I was disappointed.

I didn’t like the recreations of famous scenes. Couldn’t they just have used the original ones as the flashbacks instead? (Well, there were flashbacks that weren’t tied to famous scenes too, so I guess I answer my own question. No. They couldn’t.)

Plus, that would’ve robbed Carl Lumbly of the chance to play “Dick Hallorann.” He did a fantastic job. For a second I thought they’d resurrected Scatman Crothers!

Which is something else important to note: even though I wasn’t a fan of the scene recreations, they took great care with staging and casting them.

Speaking of acting overall? Brilliant. All the characters and the actors who portrayed them were sensational. No complaints there. Not one.

But even the Overlook looked different. Very similar and close enough, but with minor differences. Like the lobby. Never saw the one that was in the original. The entry they do show is dinky.

However, as its own thing? Doctor Sleep‘s not a half bad movie. Even as far as sequels go.

Is it scary? No. There were two scenes in the hotel that got me. I jumped.

And there was a scene that was disturbing and hard to watch –yet also familiar.

Glimmers of NOS4A2

The True Knot clan has a penchant for sucking the steam from young magicians. It’s more pure. It hasn’t had time to be tainted.

But to attain it, they have to take it –meaning the kids and their lives. And the more fear they can generate in the process, the more potent the steam.

They really only show two kids they take, but one in particular was a very uncomfortable scene to watch. The vampirism and accomplishing immortality by killing kids also felt somewhat familiar and reminded me an awful lot of NOS4A2. Not unsurprisingly. Joe Hill is the offspring of Stephen King, after all. Apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree –or the tree is keeping the apple close.

Whatever the case, it just felt a little worn.

Overall

I went into this with low hopes. The trailers looked disjointed, complex and too ambitious. How were they going to tie all that together into an interesting story line? Even if they could, would it make sense?

Still, it was the sequel to The Shining and I was able to snag tickets to see it ahead of its release date. I had to go.

What I loved about The Shining was missing in Doctor Sleep. The Overlook and its ghosts belonged to each other. Together they preyed on unsuspecting victims whenever they could.

Doctor Sleep expanded the bubble. No longer was it about a haunted place and its influence on a man struggling with boredom and alcoholism, or about tormenting a boy with gifts. Now it added in a whole bunch of people with special powers who team up for no good.

I like the more intimate, personal stories. Like when X-Files stayed to singular investigations rather than chasing down agents of a larger conspiracy organization. Wasn’t a fan of that aspect of the series.

Doctor Sleep has more moving parts, characters and sub-plots. Which is both a sign of the times and perhaps a sign of Stephen King’s maturing as an author.

But it had personal side too. Danny Torrance, understandably, has a lot of demons to face when he grows up. And, when he’s ready, he does. His dad tried to kill him and his mom. That’s going to generate complex feelings, because it was his dad. He loved him. He understood his dad succumbed to forces greater than himself –and ultimately forgives him.

Because of the complexity of Dan’s struggles, because we did return to the Overlook, because it was fun to see parts of The Shining woven into Doctor Sleep (like an interview scene in each that takes place in the same office), and because the acting was superb, I couldn’t help myself. I liked this movie, even despite the disappointing parts.

I can’t give it a five out of five skulls, but I can say it’s four and half out of five skull worthy.

Another Sequel?

This is where a major spoiler comes in.

Dan destroys both the Overlook and himself in the process. His story is done. But Abra’s isn’t. Are there more like The True Knot? Certainly there are more like Abra. Where will her story lead?

Check-In

Did you get to see it during the advanced screening too? If so, what did you think?

If not, are you planning on seeing it? I’d love to know what you think when you do.