Doctor Sleep (2019 film)

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Doctor Sleep
After 39 years...
Genre: Horror Directed by: Mike Flanagan Produced by: Trevor Macy Jon Berg Based on: Doctor Sleep by Stephen King Starring: Ewan McGregor Rebecca Ferguson Kyliegh Curran Cliff Curtis Cinematography: Michael Filmognari Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures Release date: October 20, 2019 (Regency Village Theater) November 8, 2019 (United States) Runtime: 152 Minutes 182 Minutes (Director's cut) Country: United States Language: English Budget: $45 million Box office: $72 million Franchise: The Shining Prequel: The Shining

Doctor Sleep is a 2019 American film directed and edited by Mike Flanagan. It is based on the 2013 Stephen King novel of the same name. It is a sequel to King's 1977 novel The Shining and the 1980 film of the same name. The film (which also serves as a sequel to The Shining, directed by the late Stanley Kubrick) is set decades after the events of what happened in the original novel.

Plot

After the events of The Shining, Danny Torrance (portrayed by Ewan McGregor) is still traumatized by the events in the Overlook Hotel when he was a child. His hope for peace soon becomes broken when he meets Abra, a teen girl who shares the same extrasensory gift of the "shine" as him. Together, they ally to stop the True Knot, a cult whose members try to become immortal by feeding off the shine of innocents.

Why It Sleeps Again (in a Good Way)

1. It stays faithful to the 2013 book it was based on.
2. The performances, such as Ewan McGregor's performance of Danny Torrance, are amazing, and Rebecca Ferguson's performance as Rose the Hat is just terrifying.
3. On top of that, the characters are well-written; for instance, Danny Torrance started as a child who rode his tricycle on the Overlook Hotel (as seen in this and the first film) to become the main protagonist where he struggles with alcoholism and has to defend Abra, who is a teen girl who shares the same extrasensory as him (which is the gift of the "shine"), and survive against Rose the Hat and her cult.
4. Moreover, Rose the Hat is also an entertaining villain. She is the leader of the True Knot, a cult that feeds on people with psychic powers to stay immortal.
5. Great soundtrack by The Newton Brothers, as it's enough to be creepy in a good way, making it feel like a horror soundtrack.
6. The opening scene, which recaps young Danny Torrance riding on his bike at the Overlook Hotel, is also a really good way to introduce the film's prequel.
7. Similar to other A24 horror films and The Shining, instead of using cheap and uninteresting jumpscares that make the film feel like the clichés are lacking, the film heavily uses atmospheres to try to be scary, which does an impressive job of it.
8. Outstanding editing and directing by Mike Flanagan. The way how the film is so well-edited and directed makes it watchable enough. Even Stephen King himself appreciates him as a filmmaker.
9. The Warner Bros. Picture logo adapting its 80s style logo and using a creative twist is well done, especially since it could throw back to the Warner Bros. Picture logo of the time.
10. The one scene where Rose (and the True Knot) kills Bradley Trevor is intense and disturbing.
11. The cameo of Danny Lloyd, Dan Torrance's actor in the original film, as a spectator during Bradley Trevor's baseball game is an excellent reference to his most iconic role, considering that he had retired from acting.
12. Because of how good the writing and directing from Mike Flanagan is, the scenes from the film manage to be horrifying, especially the nightmare scenes.
13. Grady Sisters makes a cameo in this film.
14. The Overlook Hotel's filming set is incredible, and it even resembles the film's prequel since most of the scenes in the prequel were shot there.

Bad Qualities

1. The runtime of 152 minutes, and 182 minutes (if you watch the director's cut), can make the audience feel like the pacing is a bit slow. However, the latter is longer to get through since it's over three hours long.
2. The race change of Abra Stone.
3. The marketing focuses too much on the movie being a sequel to The Shining; consequently, newcomers with no interest in the aforementioned film/book have to view it to fully understand what is going on, similar to other films, such as Terminator: Dark Fate.

Trivia

• Because the film was released in 2019, it marks the first time that two films based on novels by Stephen King from Warner Bros. Pictures were released in one year, after It Chapter Two.

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