Doctor Sleep

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***Doctor Sleep*** (marketed as ***Stephen King's Doctor Sleep***) is a 2019 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Mike Flanagan. It is based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Stephen King, a sequel to King's 1977 novel The Shining. The film, which also serves as a direct sequel to the film adaptation of The Shining, directed by Stanley Kubrick, is set several decades after the events of the original and combines elements of the 1977 novel as well. Ewan McGregor plays the lead role as Danny Torrance, a man with psychic abilities who struggles with childhood trauma. Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran, and Cliff Curtis have supporting roles. *Doctor Sleep* held its world premiere at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles on October 21, 2019, and was theatrically released worldwide from October 31, 2019, and in the United States on November 8, 2019.

## Plot

In 2019, struggling with alcoholism, Dan Torrance remains traumatized by the sinister events that occurred at the Overlook Hotel when he was a child. His hope for a peaceful existence soon becomes shattered when he meets Abra, a teen who shares his extrasensory gift of the "shine." Together, they form an unlikely alliance to battle the True Knot, a cult whose members try to feed off the shine of innocents to become immortal.

## Good Qualities

1. It stays true and faithful to the Stephen King's book it is based on. But makes significant changes to the plot in order to preserve continuity with Kubrick's popular film.
2. Ewan McGregor did a flawless job portaying Dan Torrance.
3. The opening scenes showing how young Dan ride his bike at the Overlook Hotel recaptured of *The Shining*, which they can whatever they want.
4. Good dialogue, such as "***When I was a kid, there was a place, a dark place. They closed it down, and let it rot. But the things that live there, they come back.***"
5. Amazing soundtrack by The Newton Brothers, which it captured the *The Shining* theme music. The famous non-original song, "Midnight, the Stars and You" by Harry M. Woods, Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly, is also played at the end credits.
6. Likable and well-developed characters, like Dan Torrance, who must help Abra, a teen who shares his extrasensory gift of the "shine", survive against Rose the Hat and her cult, the True Knot.
7. The film used the creative twist on the Warner Bros. Pictures logo, adapting its old 80s style.
8. Grady Sisters makes a cameos for this film.
9. The nightmare scenes are terrifying.
10. Rebecca Ferguson performance as Rose the Hat is menacing and terrifying.
11. Similar to other A24 horror films and *The Shining*, the film heavily relies on atmosphere rather than cheap jumpscares, making it lack any clichés.
12. Rose the Hat is very entertaining villain. She's the leader of the True Knot, a cult that feeds on people with psychic powers.
13. Great editing, writing, and direction by Mike Flanagan. Even Stephen King, the maker of the book, praised him.
14. The scenes where Bradley Trevor is killed by Rose the Hat is intense.
15. The cameo of Danny Lloyd, Dan Torrance's actor in the original film, as a spectator during Bradley Trevor's baseball game is a nice reference to his most iconic role, considering that he had retired from acting.
16. The set of the abandoned Overlook Hotel is incredible, and bares a strong resemblance to.
17. It's less exploitative than other horror movies. In the scenes where the True Knot kills the baseball boy, the camera shows his face and reaction rather than what the True Knot are doing to his body.

## Bad Qualities

1. Its runtime of 152 minutes (180 in the Director's Cut) can make audiences feel like the pacing is a bit slow.
2. The race change of Abra Stone.
3. The marketing focuses too much on the movie being a sequel to *The Shining*. As a result, newcomers who have no interest in the aforementioned film/book have to view it to fully understand what is going on, similar to other films, such as *Terminator: Dark Fate*.

## Reception

*Doctor Sleep* received generally positive reviews from critics, audiences and fans alike, with praise for its soundtrack, performances and atmosphere, but with some criticism for its lengthy runtime. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a "Certified Fresh" approval rating of 77% based on 309 reviews, with an average rating of 7.05/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "*Doctor Sleep* forsakes the elemental terror of its predecessor for a more contemplative sequel that balances poignant themes against spine-tingling chills.". Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 46 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed at PostTrak gave it an average four out of five, with 60% saying they would definitely recommend it to a friend.

### Box office

*Doctor Sleep* grossed $31.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $40.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $72.2 million, becoming the box office disappointment. Deadline Hollywood speculated that despite it being "well-reviewed and well-received" by critics and audiences, the underperformance was due to the 2​1⁄2-hour runtime and the success of King adaptations such as *It Chapter Two* and *Pet Sematary*, earlier in the year, as well as the perception the film was meant for older audiences (67% of the opening weekend attendance was over the age of 24). However, despite the box office performance, the film enjoyed a resurgence of interest and popularity when it premiered on streaming services in 2020.

## Trivia

* This marks the first film to release 2 films based on adaptations of Stephen King from Warner Bros. Pictures, after *It Chapter Two*.