Doctor Sleep

Doctor Sleep is directed by Mike Flanagan (Hush) and stars Ewan McGregor (Revenge of the Sith), Rebecca Ferguson (Rogue Nation) and Kyliegh Curran (I Can I Will I Did). It continues the story of The Shining, this time following an adult Danny Torrance, as he tries to save a young girl gifted with the shine from a group looking to feed off her, while he also deals with the ghosts of his past.

Halloween comes around once a year; it is the perfect time for horror movie marathons. Nightmare on Elm Street. Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Halloween. All classics that always find a way onto the screen. But all with sequels never able to capture the magic or terror of the original. The Shining is on a similar rotation, but a sequel had never been released. Stephen King disowned Stanley Kubrick's interpretation of his work, leading many to wonder how someone could juggle the differences between book and movie. A horror sequel attempting to balance the stories of two different source materials would be a tough job for anyone, but Flanagan has shown himself more than capable as one of horror's best up and coming directors.

The movie works best when left to its own devices and not attempting to recreate the magic of the shining. Ferguson's cult, The True Knot, brings new horrors and feature some incredibly creepy characters. Characters I wish we could have spent a little more time with than we do. Their ritual is one of the most terrifying things put to screen this year, as they gain power from taking the life force out of children who shine. They meet their end far too conveniently for the protagonist's sake, but they are still able to pack in the scares with their limited screen time.

The adult Dan Torrance has been able to deal with the horrors from the Overlook Hotel and the pain dealt to him and his mother by his father, Jack (originally played by Jack Nicholson). Yet his coping mechanism includes the thing that plagued his father, alcohol. He is able to sober himself with the help of Billy Freeman, played by Cliff Curtis (Hobbs & Shaw). Their plan to protect Curran's shine sensitive character is clever and comes very close to success. It kept me on the edge of my seat, leaving me wondering what would happen next, a spot I love to be in.

The third act is where the film began to fall apart for me. Instead of focusing on the new, we go back to the Overlook and see many of the ghosts from the original. But the second time seeing a horror character is rarely as scary as the first. I wish we had stuck with the new characters, and possibly trimmed at least a little time off the over two and a half hour run time.

Doctor Sleep shines in its new ideas and terror, but slows to a halt when it realizes too much on the past. I would be interested to see what Flanagan could do in this world, now that he would be more free to follow new things, not having to rely on what has previously been set up.

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