"Doctor Sleep" is the sequel that we never knew we wanted. It is not a cheap cash-in like so many sequels are; case in point, the movie came out twenty-nine years after the "The Shining". This film builds upon the reality that the Stanley Kubrick film first establishes, complete with near perfect, young look alike actors filling in for Shelly Duvall, Scatman Crothers, and even Jack Nicholson. "Doctor Sleep" is rich in nostalgia in a good way as we revisit Danny, Wendy, Jack, Dick and our favorite haunted hotel and find out how they've grown over the past forty years.
I've read both "The Shining" and "Doctor Sleep" and I have seen "The Shining" more times than any other Stephen King adaptation. The film follows the first half of the novel almost faithfully before taking a decidedly different turn...for the better. Director/Screenwriter Mike Flanagan, known for "Hush", "Oculus" and "Gerald's Game", adapted the Stephen King's story to follow the events from "The Shining" film and not from "The Shining" novel. This means that the Overlook Hotel is still standing and was not blown apart from the boiler exploding. Just like the actors, the Overlook Hotel looks nearly exactly the same, just forty years older. This is where the showdown between good and evil takes place in the very epic finale.
A major theme in both books and both film is dealing with alcoholism. Mr. King has been very open about his struggles with substance abuse in his past and it feels like "Doctor Sleep" is a way for him to share what it could feel like. Just like his father, Dan Torrance is a full blown alcoholic, and when we first see him as an adult, he is hitting rock bottom. Luckily for him, he is able to find a fresh start when he hops on a bus and ends up in Frazier, New Hampshire. He befriends a man named Billy Freeman who helps him find an apartment and a local support group. Dan becomes sober but does battle some temptations throughout the story. The most intense temptation takes place in the Overlook, as Dan shares a deeply personal conversation with the ghost Lloyd the bartender. This scene is easily one of my favorites in the film.
Besides alcoholism, the other villain in "Doctor Sleep" is the Trueknot, a vagabond group of psychic vampires. They track down those with the shine to feast upon their power, which comes forth like a mist from the victim's mouth. Pain and fear cleanse the shine, makes me more delicious. But sometimes they recruit and turn those with a gift that the Knot could use to their gain. The newest member of the Trueknot is Snakebite Andi, a young teen who can hypnotize someone with a single word or phrase. They are led by Rose the Hat, a truly evil and sly antagonist. The concept could have come across as campy but that is not the case here; they are truly terrifying.
Mr. King has written several different characters in various books who have a touch of the shine. In this story we are introduced to perhaps the brightest shine of them all, Abra. Growing up, she uses her powers not knowing that she is special, scaring her parents when she psychically plays the piano when she should be sleeping or imitating a magic trick that she saw a party magician perform. She even reaches out to Dan and leaves friendly messages on his large black board wall in his apartment. What I love about how this character is that she knows that she is powerful; she is never the damsel in distress. Ignoring the warnings from Dan to hide herself, Abra uses her powers to search for a young boy whom the Knot had feasted upon. When Rose the Hat learns of Abra, the two have more than one psychic tug-of-war with Abra winning each time. But when Rose the Hat becomes involved directly and the Trueknot comes to claim Abra, the young girl knows that she will need Dan's help
Again, my favorite scene is when Dan battles the temptation to drink and to face his past with his and his father's weakness.
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