Still scarred by the trauma he endured as a child at the Overlook Hotel, Dan Torrance faces the ghosts of the past when he meets Abra, a courageous teen who desperately needs his help -- and who possesses a powerful extrasensory ability called the "shine".
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Nate H. reviewed Doctor Sleep (2019)
Review from the comment
I'll be the first to say that when I read Stephen King was writing a sequel to his classic novel The Shining, my first thought was why? And when I read the synopsis of the novel edition of Doctor Sleep, I was still unimpressed. But I still gave the film version a shot being that I am a fan of King, McGregor, and director Mike Flanagan.
Doctor Sleep should hit on its premise. We are now 30-some odd years after the end of the Shining and young Danny Torrance (McGregor) is now old alcohol and drug addicted Danny Torrance. We know what happened to his father, but his mom is also now gone and he is by himself to deal with his traumatic past and strange psychic powers both of which he deals with in bottles. But he longs to do better, and when a teenage girl with the same sort of powers he has reaches out to him to assist her in a search for a group of baddies who also have supernatural abilities, he feels compelled to assist.
This part of the story works great. Its a redemption story with a dark twist. We are rooting for Danny and his new psychic friend Abra (Kyliegh Curran) and also a confidant Danny has made in support group sponsor Billy (played by the always fantastic Cliff Curtis). The effects on display here are very good, the many dreamlike visions and flashbacks to the Overlook Hotel from The Shining are done well. But where the movie suffers dramatically is in the bad guys themselves.
Led by an evil shaman type named Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson) and her tracker Crow Daddy (Zahn McClarnon), these guys just don't seem very scary. And they do some really bad things. But throughout watching them in their scenes, I just felt they were borrowed from C-list Sci-Fi Channel or USA Network shows and their whole presentation was amateur hour. Rose looks like Tom Petty and the others in the group I haven't mentioned are not memorable at all. Its a shame too, because in the right light, this group could have been something to write your girl about. When you have a horror movie and the antagonists come off so poorly, it becomes really hard to appreciate the rest of it. Cap that off with an uninspiring return to the Overlook in the final act and it all leaves a feeling of disappointment with you.
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