Echoing Kubrick and King - Why Mike Flanagan’s “Doctor Sleep” Remains A Slept-On Sequel

Four years later, Mike Flanagan’s sequel to “The Shining” remains a meticulously crafted and powerful look at childhood trauma, overcoming alcoholism, and quelling generational demons

When I first heard there was going to be a screen adaptation to the follow-up to The Shining, I couldn’t have been more excited. After all, it’s my favorite movie of all-time, and getting the chance to go back to “The Overlook Hotel” under the direction of Mike Flanagan, who oversaw the enormously popular Netflix show The House on Haunted Hill, seemed like a great fit. Throw in Ewan McGregor portraying a grown-up version of Danny Torrance, I had little reason to believe this movie would be a bust.

And fortunately – it wasn’t.

Far from it in fact.

The story takes place some forty years after the events of The Shining. Danny, who now goes by Dan, is a spitting image of his dad in the worst possible ways. Bordering on homelessness, he’s also a violent alcoholic, and seems to have no direction in his life. He’s almost looking for a reason to give up on everything. That is until he moves to a New England town where he meets essentially the Mother Teresa of the area, a man named Billy (played by the always steady Cliff Curtis), who takes him under his wing, and helps give him his own place, a job, and most importantly – a friend.

Without giving much of the plot away, Dan eventually discovers that there is a cult that seeks out people like him that possess his ‘Shining’ power, including a young girl he encounters named Abra Stone. This cult’s goal is to live forever, and to do this, they hunt down people like Dan and Abra and either “turn them” (make them part of their cult) or kill them slowly while sucking out their powers like vampires to extend their life forces.

The movie does an impressive job effortlessly swaying from past to present. We get to see characters from The Shining again, played by different actors this time. But the thing the movie does so well is center in on the topics of childhood trauma, addiction, and being haunted by the sins of the father. Dan is a compelling character (McGregor is excellent here) because of how scarred he is, and because of how desperate he is for redemption. Which might come in the form of protecting Abra from this cult.

The ambiance, tone, and use of the music from The Shining is remarkable. Trying to toe the line between getting Stephen King’s book and Stanley Kubrick’s vision right had to be a tall and intimidating task. But Flanagan is totally in control, especially when it comes to going back to “The Overlook Hotel”, which is chilling, scary, and nostalgic in a strange way.

Unfortunately, this movie didn’t perform well at the box office when it was released in October 2019. Call it poor marketing, or the fact that it was a sequel coming out close to 40 years later after the original, I’m not quite sure why more people wouldn’t want to see this – especially around Halloween time when horror films (like The Shining) are more popular.

It reminds me a lot of Blade Runner: 2049 in the sense of it coming out so late after the original, as well as not doing so great at the box office. However, both are excellent movies. And more proof that the whole “sequels are usually bad” stereotype isn’t true.

If you’re a fan of The Shining and/or horror films in general, I couldn’t recommend this movie more. It’s one of the most underrated films of the last five years, and it deserves to have a wider audience that shows it more love for how well it handles some very serious subjects with aplomb.

Rating: ***1/2 out of ****