Doctor Sleep (2019)

[The Wild Eric]

Come and discuss with us!

[CoolioD1]

kinda meh. i liked the hipster vampires eating superpowered children aspect of the movie, that was fun. the actual stuff relating to the shining didn't really work for me. The flavorless walkthrough of the original in the third act just reminded me of the shining scene in ready player one. Also the main girl was way too OP. never got the sense she was in danger she'd just superpower her way outta anything. + too goddman long.

Other things:

-The baseball boy scene was great. Really the only genuinely unnerving scene in the film

-I liked the scenes of Ewan McGregor with the cat talking to folks on their death bed. wish more had been done with it. I assume there's more in the book since that's where the title comes from

-Rewatching the shining the night before this, i laughed at the way the actress playing Wendy recreated Shelley Duvall's goofy run.

-I want Rebecca Ferguson to eat my steam and murder me. she's unbelievably hot in this.

Edited November 8, 2019 by CoolioD1

[TMP]

I’m not a Shining purist, but this movie ruled. Really liked Ewan in the role, and how it explored Danny’s childhood trauma. Third act was nostalgia porn, but maybe because I actually grew up with this I was fine with it? Dunno, the parallel of him “becoming his father” was obvious but I thought it worked thematically to lead to his death scene

[Webslinger]

With Doctor Sleep, an adaptation that tries to act simultaneously as an adaptation of its namesake novel and a sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s vision of The Shining, director Mike Flanagan accepts an ambitious undertaking and succeeds with it more often than not. It’s obviously not on the level of the singular and iconic Shining and it misses the upper echelon of Stephen King adaptations (I even preferred It: Chapter 2 by a little bit in that realm), but it’s an entertaining horror film with some solid acting and pathos to boot. Flanagan pays plenty of effective homage to the style and feel of Kubrick’s film, but he also succeeds in making this film feel more reflective of King’s original writing than the original, particularly when delving into the exploration of the adult Dan Torrance’s struggles with addiction and the ways in which freeing himself from it helps him to assist others and face his greatest fears. The consistently underrated Ewan McGregor turns in reliably adept work as Dan, effortlessly crafting a compelling and sympathetic protagonist who feels like a convincing offshoot of the boy we saw in the previous film. He also shares a convincing bond with Kyliegh Curran as a teenager with similar abilities. Curran’s performance is effective in its seriousness and lack of precociousness. However, as good as McGregor and Curran are, Rebecca Ferguson is the standout as a villainous cult leader. Ferguson digs into the role with relish and comes across as a chilling and confident adversary without going too far over-the-top. If there’s anything that drags Doctor Sleep down a peg, it’s the running time; while there’s enough plot to fill out all 151 minutes, it begins to drag a bit after the 90-minute mark. Though the film doesn’t cheat on its way to a fun third act, the second act is noticeably drawn out. Nevertheless, despite not scaling the heights of its lofty ambitions, the film works as a stylish and intriguing continuation of Kubrick’s classic.

 

B

 

Stray Thoughts:

- Alex Essoe, the actress who plays Wendy Torrance in a couple scenes, looks remarkably like Liv Tyler (even kinda sounds a little like her too).

 

- From a quick scan of the Wikipedia summary of the novel, it looks like the film retained the basic plot structure but deviated from some of the stranger developments toward the end. I guess I can't judge completely because I haven't seen how these events play out in the book, but there's some stuff omitted from the movie that just would have seemed especially silly if it had played out the way I imagine it would have.

[Fancyarcher]

My review. 

 

https://herecast.us/985073

[shayhiri]

Great movie, I would give it an A.

 

I gave it a C because of all the stupid throwbacks to The Shining, an atrocious ancient flick, buried by time (FORTY YEARS FOR FUCKS SAKE).

[Kravetz]

I gave this a B and I was hoping to score it higher. I really felt let down. First of all this film follows a superhero formula, as a child discovers powers and evil power people come, and the classic showdown. I suspect that Shiners (fans of original) and Horror fans, would not like that. I liked Firestarter, and Dead Zone, so I am okay with it, but I didn't expect it. 

 

Second, it was a bit long and wasn't paced perfectly. I felt it could be shorter but also needed more in some areas to explain certain things. 

We are led to assume that the evil hotel works better on shiners and will affect the bad girl more than our heroes. Why?  we conveniently move locale to the hotel but it is only of convenience that we go there, the previews said we go there, the fans will expect it. But wouldn't the evil force there make it the worst choice? I never bought the connection, and releasing the boxes for an epic showdown was more of a cinematic letdown. I see what they wanted to do, but it just didn't work for me. 

 

Now the baseball boy stuff was dishearteningly amazing and the cast was incredibly amazing as well. It all added up to a B. I really wish it earned an A. 

[baumer]

I thought they did a terrific job of blending the book and Kubrick's vision to make a wonderful hybrid of the two.  Rebecca Ferguson was terrifyingly brilliant in here and the young actress who played Abra was wonderful as well.  Also loved how Jacob Trembley showed up for about ten minutes, only to be slaughtered in a very heinous way.  The best part of the movie, in my opinion is the last twenty minutes.  The Overlook stuff is riveting in the book and it's really well done in the movie as well.

 

8/10

[a2k]

B+

Came so close to being a great A film. As someone who hasn't read the books feel they flubbed the climax. Such good casting and acting overall. What a performance by Rebecca Ferguson. Her character should have gone out with a bang and defeated in style but just fizzled out instead. Did cheer when the hotel showed but and enjoyed it until the 'maze' part. The thrill reduced considerably for me after that. Releasing all the boxed hungry ghosts on Rose and Dan's possession that follows could have been grander and scarier.

[elcaballero]

I had a lot of fun with this, mostly because I came to really like the characters. There's a lot of good dramatic moments in the film, but not necessarily a lot of good horror moments. I wonder if it would have worked better as a TV show (or something else longer form) where the plot could have been filled in a little, while allowing for more interactions between the characters. As it is, the final act in the Overlook feels tacked on, and it is weird that Rose doesn't even know about Danny's existence until 5 minutes before the movie's over. Rebecca Ferguson killed it in this, though. I wish she had a little more to do at the end.

[charlie Jatinder]

It was pretty good, In fact pretty great till Climax. Plays like a blockbuster horror like IT than how The Shining did. It's sad it couldn't get that reception. May be because Warner Bros marketing sucks. They wasted a good commercial success. Also before the third act, I was thinking, something may be Star Wars could have done with Luke and Rey, in the end, it feels they did the same only. 7/10.

Edited July 7, 2020 by charlie Jatinder

[sneazzy95]

I kinda like it but I should admit that I expected something a bit better .

Edited January 6, 2021 by sneazzy95