Doctor Sleep (2019)

The Shining is one of my favourite movies ever. It is also one of the only films that truly scares me... a film on a pretty short list. It's not the ghosts which get under my skin. For me what is so terrifying about The Shining is its story of abuse and alcoholism, and the way abusive men justify their violence in their minds and to each other. The legacy of that abuse is how it continues to affect us long after it happens, how it haunts us. Those are the ghosts. The story of what happened to Danny Torrance in that film doesn't end. It is something he will have to live with. The end of a horror movie usually tries to convince us those left are now safe, at least for now. But we know in the case of domestic violence, it will haunt them for a long time. Enter the sequel. As any horror fan knows, the haunting will continue into the next film. As victims of abuse know the horrors can continue for years.

Sequels are an interesting challenge. How do you continue a story already told so well without being subsumed in the wake of that story, especially one so legendary? It is an impossible task. But the story of Danny living with his father's legacy is an interesting opportunity. And it turns out Doctor Sleep is more than a worthy attempt, it is a true success.

I was impressed with B-movie director Mike Flanagan's take of Stephen King's Gerald's Game. It wasn't an easy thing to adapt and Flanagan found a good way to do it that worked well. It appears not to be a fluke. Flanagan has done something remarkable here. He has not only made a compelling horror movie which is downright scary in its own right, he has also made a sequel to a classic film which both feels well connected to that film but also branches out on its own becoming it's own story. One doesn't need to have seen The Shining to get this movie, but the story in The Shining is continued here in a satisfying and worthwhile way. It reminded me of Rogue One, in how having seen The Shining enriches the experience of this film and having watched Doctor Sleep enriches the experience of seeing The Shining.

As with The Shining, Doctor Sleep sets its exploration of horrible abuse in the realm of the supernatural. As with any good genre film, the fantastic elements are just a way of exploring real world pain. This film captures the same energy as its predecessor in that way, helping us feel the experience of long term trauma through a spooky story. And it is spooky, no horrifying, not for the squeamish. There is a torture and murder of a child about 1/3 of the way through which is deeply upsetting. As it should be. I am often frustrated by horror movies which try to down play just how terrible the acts depicted are. Doctor Sleep embraces that and uses it to explore the horrors the story is truly fascinated with.

As the film reaches its conclusion we find ourselves back at the Overlook Hotel and Danny is forced to face the choices his father was faced with. Does he make a different choice as the bartender pours him a drink? That is the question we are posed, if we are victims of abuse, will we continue making the choices which destroy us, which destroyed our parents? Or can we carve a new path. Doctor Sleep is a fascinating portrait of that problem. And there is so much about this that works best as being part of a sequel and not just an original story but one based on something we've all experienced before. It is the pairing of this story with the other which makes its themes so compelling, so rich.

There is a great deal to digest and think about here and it's all wrapped up in a thriller package.That's what I want in a genre movie.

I revisited the Director's Cut when it was released the following year. Sometimes alternate cuts are just more of what we saw. Sometimes they are a completely different movie. But in this case I found it to be just the perfect mix. It is the story and film richly filled out before time constraints forced it to be compressed a bit. I found Doctor Sleep very good the first time, but with the Director's Cut I found it to be truly powerful.

Doctor Sleep
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran, Carl Lumbly, Zan McClarnon, Emily Alyn Lind, Bruce Greenwood, Cliff Curtis, Jacob Tremblay, Henry Thomas
Writer/Director: Mike Flanagan