Doctor Sleep (2019)

 

One might assume it's pretty tough to follow up an iconic adaptation of a Stephen King novel, yet they did it with this one: 'Doctor Sleep' is the actual direct sequel to 'The Shining'. To be more precise, the film by Stanley Kubrick. And thing is: no one expected it to be as good as it turned out, but by golly, this one is spot on as far as decent sequels ànd King-adaptations go. They nail the atmosphere and characters so well, so you know this was made by people who loved the originals. 

This story effortlessly follows where 'The Shining' left off. Young Danny Torrance is still haunted by some ghosts from the Overlook Hotel, even now he and his mom live in Florida. Fast forward 20 years and Danny has become an alcoholic bum, trying to drown out the ghosts and his Shine, as it has brought him only trouble. However, upon reaching a new town, he is helped by a man who is a former alcoholic and who sees the good in Danny. He even helps Danny get a place to stay and a job as an orderly at a nearby old folks' home. There's a cat there who can tell which resident is about to die and Danny soon uses his Shine to help ease the moment of passing for the elderly, earning him the nickname of Doctor Sleep. He also makes a psychic connection to a young girl named Abra, who has an exceptionally strong Shine. 

In case you forgot or didn't know: the Shine is a term for psychic powers of varying strength.

But things are about to take a nasty turn, as a group of people known as The Knot show up. They hunt children who have the Shine and kill them, so they can absorb their essence which prolongs their life. Some of them have been alive for ages and ages. The strongest of them is known as Rose the Hat and she is one mean lady. 

But as soon as your entire existence centres around killing children, you're pretty much categorized as being absolute arsehats and pure evil and rightly so. 

Of course The Knot becomes aware of Abra and Abra of them, so she enlists the help of Danny, which will eventually lead them right back to the Overlook... 

You know why this works? Because the story just clicks and the life and trials of Danny make perfect sense. If you were haunted by ghosts and psychic powers, wouldn't you try and dull the voices and pain constantly? Everyone also is on the top of their game, not just our lead Ewan McGregor. Kudos to Rebecca Ferguson for essentially playing a horrid person, yet one that is surprisingly relatable as she is also trying to survive and convinced that what she does is justified. Villains that are relatable in a way are always better. 

And the suspense is on point. Heck, the scene where The Knot kills a young boy is genuinely horrifying and the opening where they abduct a young girl is perfectly creepy in all the right ways. The same goes for the finale at the now decrepit Overlook. The makers did their utter best to recreate the iconic backgrounds and sets of Kubrick's masterpiece and even the actors in the flashbacks were chosen because they resemble the original actors as close as possible. So it's a feast of recognition for the fans and also a very competently made film for newcomers, as you don't have to have seen the original. 

It does aide the viewing pleasure, though. 

Stephen King adaptation often swing two ways: either they're great, or they're pretty awful. This one is definitely one of the better and just an alround good film. Recommended!