Doctor Sleep

Doctor Sleep (2019)

77% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 57 reviews)

Runtime: 152 minutes

Directed by: Mike Flanagan

Starring: Ewen McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyleigh Curran, Cliff Curtis, Carl Lumbly

From: Warner Bros.

At least I saw something worthwhile the day before Halloween: 

This is different in style and tone to The Shining. That is the important caveat to mention for those that have to wait until next weekend to check out the movie. Last week I went on Fandango to see what was playing where-I have the luxury of living by literally a few dozen cineplexes in the Central Florida area. Imagine my surprise when I saw that last night would be a Fandango Early Access screening of this movie, available to anyone. I could not turn down that opportunity, especially considering this time of year. Of course the screening was pretty full and thank heavens this was a much better audience than the nightmare that was the Joker screening from a little more than a week ago.

I have never read the King novel so aside from the trailers (which I wish would not have revealed certain things) the general plot was unknown to me. To state things generally: Danny Torrance is now an adult and he's had his personal demons... understandable considering the circumstances. He discovers a magical child called Abra (no, really; real subtle from King there) who also has The Shining and she is in trouble as a cult known as True Knot literally feeds off of such powers. While this movie definitely has a different style from Kubrick's classic, that does not mean there are moments that could pejoratively be called “fan service” and the original was clearly copied at points, or could be said “for long stretches”. 

Because of this I do understand why not everyone is going to be a fan and some will feel let down by what this is. For me, the movie-mostly-works for what it is... something that expands the mythology and does so in a different way. Admittedly this is not terrifying and scary throughout like The Shining is (and I get why some will take issue with that) although there are some horrifying moments. This is more a thrill ride than anything else; big assets is that the movie is well-directed, has a creepy score and the cast is quality throughout. Naturally, Ewen McGregor and Rebecca Ferguson are memorable in their big roles, but I definitely have to give credit to Kyleigh Curran also, as she played Abra and while having success on Broadway, this is the first big film she's done and she is great in such a critical role.

The crowd I was with seemed to enjoy the movie; there was no applause yet there was plenty of discussion and happy reactions afterwards, along with things I overheard and noticed during the screening. Not surprisingly, it was either the unexpected moments or the references. Hopefully everyone will find the story as compelling as I did. While this Halloween season did not turn out as expected, at least I can talk about something worthwhile on the day itself.