How Doctor Sleep combines drama and real horror from Stephen King

A story about childhood trauma

After his experience at the Overlook Hotel, Danny Torrance moved south with his mother. He learned to control his telepathic powers, which he called "radiance", and over time, almost dealt with the terrible visions. But the years passed, and Danny never found himself in life and gradually drank himself intoxicated.

Everything changes when he moves to another city and begins to telepathically communicate with the girl Abra. As it turns out, the country has been dominated by a community of energy vampires for a long time. They call themselves the "True Knot" and feed on the "radiance", pumping it out of human suffering. And they will surely hunt Abra.

The main advantage of "Doctor Sleep" King is that the author decided to understand the consequences of childhood trauma. After all, many horror films, especially those dedicated to young characters, end with how the heroes are saved from a monster or a maniac. But it is difficult to imagine that such events will pass without a trace.

Therefore, Danny Torrance's alcoholism and his loss in life are the most likely development of events. And the first third of the film adaptation of Flanagan is closer to a completely life drama, which everyone loved in the work of King.

This, of course, greatly slows down the development of the plot, especially since there is still not enough screen time for all the details of Danny's life. He even gets the nickname "Doctor Sleep" as if in passing. Still, this approach allows the authors to better reveal the character, and fans of Ewan McGregor - to enjoy his acting talent.

At first, the acquaintance with the representatives of the "True Knot" happens rather in the background, and the life of these heroes is not really shown. Most of them in the film will remain extras and cannon fodder, even though the very bright Emily Aline Lind and Zana McClarnon were invited to play Andy and The Crow.

But all the attention is drawn to their leader Rose-in-the-Hat. Rebecca Ferguson was amazing. She manages to be both charming and violent as the villainess.

A good cast covers even some of the weak twists and turns of the script and the protractedness of certain scenes. Moreover, an excellent author is working on the picture.

Horror and Stanley Kubrick

Mike Flanagan as director and writer is the best thing that could have happened to this movie. Even after the release of "Oculus", he proved that he is excellent at shooting horror. His "Ghosts of the Hill House" conquered everyone by combining drama and scary scenes. In addition, Flanagan has already worked with King on the adaptation of Gerald's Game.

The writer admitted that he didn’t just like the script for Doctor Sleep. Flanagan even managed to "reconcile" King with the film "The Shining", which the author of the novels strongly criticized.

The thing is that the director often openly quotes the stunning visual part of the previous picture. The new film contains dozens of references, especially in the introduction and ending, and even directly retakes of famous scenes from the classics. And it will surely win over Kubrick fans.

At the same time, the director does not copy the great predecessor, he regularly reminds the viewer that his passion is horror. Therefore, the main part of the film is built in the best traditions of the genre without going into a psychological thriller. This is the very confrontation between good and evil, seasoned with human tragedy, which King loves so much.

But Flanagan does not try to scare with only creepy effects and screamers (although there are enough of them here too). He also creates great suspense, shooting long shots and letting the actors play in full.

And the shooting will delight aesthetes at all: in mystical moments the picture regularly turns over, forcing the viewer to get confused about where is the floor and where is the ceiling, successful editing very unusually connects the scenes, and the famous angles from "Shining", when the camera shoots directly from above, made here more more interesting. Moreover, in contrast to the chamber predecessor, the new film has a lot to turn around.

The main drawback of the picture can only be considered its timing. For the better, both decreasing and increasing it would work. If the film was shorter, the audience would not have the opportunity to get bored on too long scenes of the characters' experiences. And if it were turned into a mini-series for five hours, then the authors would be able to better reveal all the characters and tell in detail about their lives.

But Doctor Sleep is two and a half hours long, which is too long for an ordinary horror movie and not enough for a large-scale drama like The Haunting of the Hill House. But still, the dignity of the picture more than compensates for some awkwardness.