Doctor Sleep (2019) Review

"I always called it 'the shining.'"
-Dan Torrance



This sequel to The Shining follows a grown-up Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor) as he battles alcoholism and tries to live with what has happened him.  He becomes connected to a young girl, Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran), who also "shines."  She becomes the target of an dark force and the only way for her to survive is for Dan to return to the Overlook Hotel.


What Works:

Surprisingly, my favorite part of Doctor Sleep is Kyliegh Curran's performance as Abra Stone.  Abra is incredibly likable and an absolute badass.  She shows no hesitation in taking on the evil that is coming for her and the scene where she walks through Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson) is amazing.  She and McGregor have great chemistry and it's very easy to root for her.

McGregor also does a great job and gives a very three-dimensional performance.  I believe he went through the events of The Shining and I really like his character arc.

Rebecca Ferguson is fantastic as the villain.  She and her group are super creepy and very unnerving.  They are some of the scariest villains I have ever seen in a movie and I love how much time we spend with them.

It's cool that the filmmakers used the filing cabinet has a visualization of the mind.  It's very similar to what we saw in a previous Stephen King adaptation, Dreamcatcher, which was an awesome element of a flawed movie.  I really like that they reuse it here.

There are aspects of this movie that feel like classic Stephen King; some unusual dialogue and complex story elements.  I know that isn't for everyone and I have to imagine the book makes some of these elements more clear, but I really like this aspect of King's stories.  It makes them feel very unique and this adaptation of Doctor Sleep feels more King-esque than The Shining did.

I don't want to get into any spoilers, so I will just say one last thing here.  There is a scene involving Bradley Trevor (Jacob Tremblay) that is one of the scariest things I have ever seen.  It's the stuff of nightmares and something I won't soon forget.  I legitimately can't remember ever being more scared during a movie than that scene.


What Sucks:

My only problem with the movie comes in the return to the Overlook Hotel.  While I liked most of it, I do think there are a few too many references to the original movie.  Those probably could have been trimmed to be more focused on the present situation rather than what happened in The Shining. 

 9/10: Great 

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