Doctor Sleep is a really good movie. It's just not a horror movie like I expected it to be. I have something to confess, I never watched The Shining, I know the plot of the movie, and have seen bits of it, but not the entire movie. I don't think it really matters too much for the sake of this movie. Although I didn't watch this movie alone so my friend explained to me a few references that I might have missed. Still, all in all in was a very good action thriller.
Doctor Sleep is based on a book by the same name written by Stephen King and the book like the movie are both sequels to The Shining. The movie was written and directed by Mike Flanagan who is mostly known as the writer and director of the horror hit mini-series The Haunting of Hill House. A fact that is very hard to see because this movie is not a horror movie and it doesn't have that great horror atmosphere.
Ewan McGregor plays the older version of Dan Torrance. He and his mother survived the hotel, but it never stops hunting him. With time he meets someone that helps him deal with them. Dan does fall on some hard times and falls into alcoholism, but with time and a help of a new friend he manages to recover and lead a good and happy life, even though they are somewhat minimal.
But one day, he is contacted by Abra (Kyliegh Curran). She a young teenager with similar powers and who is in great danger. A group called The True Knot is after her and her power. They are pretty terrible and are more powerful than anything Dan previously encountered. Their journey together and against the True Knot are at the center of the movie.
The True Knot are not some faceless bad guys though. We get to see them in action and see how terrible they truly are. We also get to see what would make someone join them. Their leader is Rose the Hat played by Rebecca Ferguson. She does a wonderful job playing the powerful villain of this movie. Alongside her Zahn McClarnon as Crow Daddy and Emily Alyn Lind as Snakebite Andi standout in their group of powerful villains.
Unfortunately, since you are dealing with people with powers and not subtle unknown horror, this movie loses its edge. It's a really interesting, thrilling action packed movie. But it's not horror. Not by a long shot. It's just good in a different way. It has many direct links to The Shining, including using almost the same shoots, homages and the using the same music and of course they go back to the Overlook Hotel. Yet all of that doesn't help to create that horror atmosphere, it's just really cool references. I know that Stephen King is never full on horror, but I expected more from Mike Flanagan.
The acting is great all across the board. Kyliegh Curran really holds her own as the center of the movie. Ewan McGregor as always does a great job playing a vulnerable powerful man. He is such a great actor. Rebecca Ferguson is a great bad guy with only a few over acting moments, which are hard not to do in such a movie. The only place where the actors felt off is when Alex Essoe plays Wendy Torrance instead of Shelley Duvall it just felt like an impression and not an acting performance. Jack Nicholson is not in this movie. Mostly the acting holds up pretty well.
It is a good movie. I couldn't stop watching it even though I quickly realized that it is not what I thinking it is going to be. It is really good. Just more action packed then horror packed. But enjoyable nonetheless.
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