All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Unlike the saying from The Shining, Doctor Sleep is by no means a dull boy. It’s a worthy sequel to not only Kubrick’s adaptation of The Shining. It’s also a worthy adaptation of Stephen King’s work.
Doctor Sleep is the recent work of director Mike Flanagan. This isn’t his first foray into Stephen King’s work either as he made the Netflix adaptation Gerald’s Game.
Doctor Sleep focuses on the grown-up Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor) and his connection with the Shining. It also introduces a plethora of new characters in Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson), Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran), Snakebite Andi (Emily Alyn Lind) and Billy Freeman (Cliff Curtis)
Danny Torrance views his life from the bottom of a bottle. His gift of the shining has been suppressed since he was a child with the help of a friend from the Overlook Hotel. All of the Shining spirits are locked away in his mind but he can’t escape the demons of his past.
When he looks for a new life, Danny finds a new friend in Billy Freeman who helps turn his life around. Talking to the dying patients at the hospice where he works, he gets the name Doctor Sleep. Soon he is put in the crosshairs of Rose the Hat and her evil gang when a young girl is in danger.
Danny and Abra join together to defeat Rose and her crew before they can steal their steam. That’s all I’ll say on the plot so as not to spoil surprises and the rest of the story.
Ewan McGregor portrays Danny in a subdued manner that’s similar to Jack Nicholson’s turn as Jack Torrance. From this, it helps us believe he is the son of the wannabe writer turned wannabe murderer. There’s a throughline of decisions made by Jack that Danny must also make, yet serves to show their differences.
Rebecca Ferguson’s Rose the Hat is creepy. There is nothing scary about her on the surface. On the outside, Rose is a normal woman who wears an old fashioned hat. Yet, as soon as she turns on her prey she is vicious and scary. Rose the Hat will become one of this year’s best villains.
Kyliegh Curran shows she could lead a spin-off with her turn as Abra Stone. Much like the young Danny Torrance needed the guidance of someone older who had the Shining, Abra needs the same. Danny takes her under his wing and she continuously shows she is stronger than what she looks.
Doctor Sleep is one of the best Stephen King adaptations of all time, and the best one of this year (Sorry IT Chapter Two). If you’re a lover of Horror, Stephen King or Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining then this is for you.
