Review | Doctor Sleep film review: The Shining sequel, starring Ewan McGregor as Jack’s son, deepens the mythology
- Set many years after The Shining, Doctor Sleep deals with the fate of Jack’s son, still scarred by the horrific events of his childhood
- While it lacks the claustrophobia and scares of the first film, there is something hypnotic about returning to this world
3.5/5 stars
Taking on Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick? Writer-director Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House) certainly has guts.
His adaptation of King’s 2013 novel Doctor Sleep – the sequel to his landmark book The Shining – means the filmmaker isn’t only tackling horror literature’s grand wizard, but one of cinema’s masters. Kubrick’s 1980 take on The Shining, featuring Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance, the janitor of the snowy Overlook Hotel, remains a towering achievement.
Set years on, Doctor Sleep deals with the fate of Jack’s son Danny (Ewan McGregor), still scarred by the horrific events of his childhood when his father lost his sanity.
Though still equipped with psychic abilities he calls “the shining”, Danny has spent much of his life fighting alcoholism and other people. But then he encounters Abra (Kyliegh Curran), who has become a target for a cult that feeds off psychically gifted children.
Needless to say, King’s story leads us back into The Shining terrain. Right from the opening moments – the booming notes of Wendy Carlos’ score and a shot of young Danny scooting around the corridors of the Overlook – Flanagan doesn’t miss a chance to acknowledge the Kubrick movie.