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Doctor Sleep (film)

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Doctor Sleep is a 2019 American supernatural horror film based on the 2013 novel of the same name. It is a sequel to The Shining (1980 film) and the second film in the The Shining franchise.

Directed, written, and edited by Mike Flanagan. The film stars Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran, Carl Lumbly, and Cliff Curtis.

Plot[]

In 1980, Danny Torrance and his mother live in Florida. He is haunted by the ghosts of the Overlook. Using his ability to shine he is able to communicate with the spirit of Dick Halloran. Dick tells him about his past and teaches him how to lock the ghosts in imaginary "boxes" in his mind.

A nomadic tribe known as The True Knot, led by Rose the Hat, feed on the "steam" produced by children who possess the Shine. She turns a teenage girl called Snakebite Andi after observing her ability to hypnotize people.

In 2011, Dan is still troubled by his time at the Overlook Hotel, and has become an alcoholic to suppress his Shining. He moves to a small town and meets Billy Freeman, who becomes his AA sponsor. Dan gets a job at a hospice where he uses his "abilities" to comfort dying patients, who give him the nickname Doctor Sleep. He begins receiving telepathic messages from a young girl named Abra Stone, whose Shining is even more powerful than his.

In 2019, the True Knot's supply of steam in running low. They kidnap a boy named Bradley and torture him to death and consume his steam. An image of this flashes in Abra's mind and her distress alerts both Dan and Rose. Rose realizes Abra possesses enough steam to supply the True Knot for years.

Abra secretly meets with Dan at the town square, he insists she stay away from Rose and avoid drawing attention to herself. That night Rose projects herself into Abra's mind and is caught off guard when Abra traps her and briefly enters Rose's mind. Rose returns to her own body and sends several members of her tribe to capture Abra.

Abra tells Dan what happened with Rose and says she can track the True Knot if she can touch Bradley's baseball glove. On September 24th, Dan and Billy drive to Iowa and exhume Bradley's body and retrieve his glove. They go to Abra's house with the baseball glove and meet her father. Using a telepathic projection of Abra as bait, Dan and Billy lure the True members into an ambush at a campground. Snakebite Andi hypnotizes Billy into killing himself before she dies. Crow Daddy kills Dave and drugs and kidnaps Abra. Dan puts his mind into Abra's body and he forces Crow Daddy to crash his car, killing him and freeing Abra. Rose consumes the last of her supply of steam, healing her wounds and vows to revenge the deaths of her friends.

Dan returns to the abandoned Overlook, believing it will be as dangerous for Rose as it is for him and Abra. He starts up the boiler and awakens the hotel. In the banquet hall he is offered a drink and talks witha bartender who resembles his father. When Rose confronts Dan and Abra they mentally pull her into the Overlook's hedge maze. After a failing to trap her in one of the boxes, Dan tells Abra to run. As rose over powers Dan he releases the Overlook's ghosts from his boxes and they kill Rose. Dan finds Abra and fighting the hotel's influence over him he tells her to run. He returns to the boiler room, which becomes engulfed in flames. Abra watches as the hotel burns down.

Sometime later, Abra talks to the ghost of Danny and he tells her that he is at peace. Abra's mother learns to adjust to her daughter's powers, especially in communicating with the spirit of her deceased husband. Abra is confronted by the ghost of the rotting woman from the Overlook and turns to face her, just as Danny once did.

Synopsis[]

Following the events of "The Shining" Dan Torrance meets a young girl with similar abilities as his and tries to protect her from a murderous nomadic tribe known as The True Knot.

Cast[]

Production[]

Release[]

Doctor Sleep had its world premiere at the Regency Village Theater in Westwood, Los Angeles on October 21, 2019. Warner Bros. Pictures released the film theatrically in the United States and Canada on November 8, 2019. They opened the film globally earlier, October 31, 2019, coinciding with Halloween.

Box Office[]

Doctor Sleep grossed $31.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $40.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $72.2 million.

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Last Christmas, Midway, and Playing with Fire, and was initially projected to gross $25–30 million from 3,855 theaters in its opening weekend. BoxOffice wrote, "Early social and trailer trends are indicative of a potential box office hit should reviews and audience reception prove favorable," but added, "Doctor Sleep's primary barrier to breakout status could be how reliant it is on younger audience familiarity with the source Stephen King novels and/or The Shining." The film made $5.2 million on its first day, including a combined $1.5 million from advanced preview screenings on October 30 and Thursday night previews on November 7, lowering weekend projections to $12 million. It ended up debuting to $14.1 million, getting upset by Midway for the top spot. Deadline Hollywood speculated that despite it being "well-reviewed and well-received" by critics and audiences, the underperformance was due to the 21⁄2-hour runtime, as well as the perception the film was meant for older audiences (67% of the opening weekend attendance was over the age of 24), and people not knowing it was a The Shining sequel.

Following its debut, it was projected the film would lose Warner Bros. around $20 million. In its second weekend the film made $6.0 million, dropping to sixth. Business Insider speculated that, according to box-office experts, Warner Bros. overestimated The Shining's influence among younger audiences, who don't care much about Kubrick's film, as well as the mistake Warner Bros. made to release the film worldwide in November after Halloween.

Home Media and Digital[]

A director's cut along with the theatrical cut of Doctor Sleep was released on Digital HD on January 21, 2020, and was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K on February 4. The director's cut is 28 minutes longer.

Reception[]

Critical Response[]

The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised Flanagan's screenplay and the performances of the cast (especially McGregor, Ferguson and Curran) but criticized its length.

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 78% based on 331 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Doctor Sleep forsakes the elemental terror of its predecessor for a more contemplative sequel that balances poignant themes against spine-tingling chills." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 46 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed at PostTrak gave it an average four out of five, with 60% saying they would definitely recommend it to a friend.

Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com gave the film three out of four, stating, "Flanagan was tasked with making a sequel to a film that stays loyal to a book that ignores the changes made in the first movie. That ain't easy... And while one can sometimes feel Flanagan struggling to satisfy both King and Kubrick fans when he really should be trusting his own vision, he's talented enough to pull off this difficult blend of legacies." Simran Hans of The Guardian gave the film four out of five, noting "adapting Stephen King is one thing, writing a spiritual sequel to a Stanley Kubrick movie quite another. Director Mike Flanagan takes on King's 2013 follow-up novel to The Shining, but adjusts some details to ensure continuity with Kubrick's cult 1980 adaptation of the original book... The new material is fresher and considerably more fun."

BBC's critic Nicholas Barber gave the film four out of five and stated, "Credible in its characterisation, rich in mythological detail, and touchingly sincere in its treatment of alcoholism and trauma, the film is impressive in all sorts of ways. But its greatest achievement is that it makes The Shining seem like a prequel – a tantalising glimpse of a richer and more substantial narrative." Chris Hewitt of Empire gave the film three out of five and noted, "Working off source material that is very different from its predecessor, anyone expecting a straightforward Shining sequel will be disappointed. This isn't a gruelling exercise in pure horror. It's odder and more contemplative, but worth checking in." Kyle Smith of National Review wrote "Though Kubrick's adaptation and The Shawshank Redemption are the only films made from King's stories that achieved greatness, nearly everything he writes contains at least one brilliantly twisted element, and Doctor Sleep has lots of them. It's a shame that more top-tier directors haven't chosen to dig around in the capacious mines of King's imagination."

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film three out of five stars, saying: "Doctor Sleep relies way too much on borrowed inspiration and eventually runs out of — pardon the word — steam. But this flawed hybrid of King and Kubrick still has the stuff to keep you up nights."  Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture wrote "The film aims in its closing moments to be bittersweet yet hopeful. Instead, it has an unintended, even dour messaging about the cost of escaping your past and whether that's even possible in life. Doctor Sleep could probably never fully stand on its own, and perhaps it's not meant to. It's a horror film with messy pleasures if you're able to meet it on its own level." Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter stated, "It doesn't have Jack Nicholson, Stanley Kubrick or even much of the Overlook Hotel, but Rebecca Ferguson and other good actors provide some shine of their own in Doctor Sleep, a drawn-out and seldom pulse-quickening follow-up to The Shining that still has enough going on to forestall any audience slumber."

Tim Grierson of Screen Daily commented, "For a horror director, Flanagan is particularly adept with actors, concerned more about character arcs than cheap frights. That's why Doctor Sleep's uninspired plotting feels even more disappointing. Flanagan gives us such a sense of these people — their demons, their fears, their resilience — that it's a shame that the twists and turns aren't as compelling. Not everyone will make it out alive from the Overlook, but Flanagan brings enough smarts and soul to the flawed, fascinating Doctor Sleep that he manages to escape The Shining's shadow mostly unscathed." Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post gave the film two stars out of four and wrote "Part homage to Kubrick's moody atmospherics, and part hyper-literal superhero story, Doctor Sleep is stylish, engrossing, at times frustratingly illogical and, ultimately less than profoundly unsettling... Doctor Sleep will by no means make you drowsy, but it won't keep anyone up at night either." Austin Collins of Vanity Fair added "Doctor Sleep is a horror movie, but what's immediately striking is its sudden breadth, it's humble resistance to the usual perils and thrills of blockbuster. It's refreshing. This is a story that feels larger than it is, in part because this story takes the shine and does something with it, reveals it for the tenuous, impermanent, vulnerable force that it is." Michael Roffman of Consequence of Soundmentioned "Doctor Sleep shouldn't work. Even now, the idea of making a big-budget sequel to arguably the greatest horror film of all time reads like a disaster on paper. Yet, to our surprise, Flanagan's execution warrants its existence."

Tom Philip of GQ wrote "while Flanagan delivers an ending that sort of respects King's book and rhymes with The Shining's filmed conclusion, it all feels quite forced. At its heart, this is a film about a son rejecting his destiny to become his ghoulish father and forge his own path. It's a shame Doctor Sleepdoesn't have the guts to do the same." Johnny Oleksinski of New York Post gave the film three out of four and said, "The movie skillfully builds to the tense final sequence, in which writer/director Mike Flanagan has re-created the hotel just as it was in the 1980 film. He even films it in Kubrick's cavernous, blinding manner."

David Sims of The Atlantic said, "Flanagan clearly understands how Kubrick's adaptation eclipsed King's attachment to the original story and became entrenched in the broader culture. But this movie is still just a very good facsimile. Doctor Sleep is wonderfully reverent when it comes to Kubrick's film, but that means it can't escape The Shining's shadow, no matter how much King might have wanted it to." Eric Kohn of IndieWire gave the film a C+ grade, commenting, "... Doctor Sleep shows considerable effort to ingratiate itself to discerning cinephiles, from the moody Newton Brothers score to cinematographer Michael Fimognari's dark blue nighttime palette; as a whole, the movie conjures an eerie and wondrous atmosphere that blends abject terror with a somber, mournful quality unique to Flanagan's oeuvre. But his pandering to dueling source material results in a jagged puzzle beneath both of their standards". Alison Foreman of Mashable stated, "Doctor Sleep could have tried to be The Shining's sequel, an intimidated son yearning to be like his father. Instead, it's entirely new... Doctor Sleep isn't The Shining, but it does shine." Justin Chang of Los Angeles Times wrote, "You can't blame Flanagan for fetishizing the visual iconography of Kubrick's movie, for plunging back into his funhouse of horrors like the proverbial kid in a candy store. But the effect can't help but fundamentally alter the tone and intent of Doctor Sleep, briefly transforming a richly disturbing fantasy into an extravagant act of fan service. It taps into the minutiae of Kubrick's masterwork without fully teasing out its mystery."

Accolades[]

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result
Bram Stoker Awards 2020 Best Screenplay Mike Flanagan Nominated
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards February 7, 2020 Best Wide-Release Film Doctor Sleep Nominated
Best Director Mike Flanagan Nominated
Best Actor Ewan McGregor Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Kyliegh Curran Nominated
Rebecca Ferguson Won
Best Screenplay Mike Flanagan Nominated
Best Score The Newton Brothers Nominated
Fright Meter Awards December 18, 2019 Best Horror Doctor Sleep Nominated
Best Director Mike Flanagan Nominated
Best Actor Ewan McGregor Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Rebecca Ferguson Won
Best Screenplay Mike Flanagan Nominated
Best Editing Mike Flanagan Nominated
Best Cinematography Michael Fimognari Nominated
Best Score The Newton Brothers Nominated
Best Special Effects Nominated
Georgia Film Critics Association January 29, 2020 Oglethorpe Award for Excellence in Georgia Cinema Mike Flanagan Nominated
Golden Schmoes Awards February 8, 2020 Best Horror Movie of the Year Doctor Sleep Nominated
Hollywood Critics Association January 9, 2020 Best Horror Film Doctor Sleep Nominated
IGN Summer Movie Awards 2019 Best Supporting Performer in a Movie Rebecca Ferguson Nominated
Music City Film Critics' Association Awards January 8, 2020 Best Horror Film Doctor Sleep Nominated
Best Young Actress Kyliegh Curran Won
Phoenix Critics Circle December 14, 2019 Best Horror Film Doctor Sleep Nominated
Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards March 29, 2019 Best Film Doctor Sleep Nominated
Honorable Mention Doctor Sleep - Mike Flanagan Nominated
Saturn Awards October 26, 2021 Best Horror Film Doctor Sleep Nominated
Best Actor Ewan McGregor Nominated
Best Actress Rebecca Ferguson Nominated
Best Performance by a Younger Actor Kyliegh Curran Won
Best Director Mike Flanagan Nominated
Best Writing Mike Flanagan Nominated
Best Editing Mike Flanagan Nominated
Best Make-Up Robert Kurtzman and Bernadette Mazur Nominated
Seattle Film Critics Awards December 16, 2019 Best Youth Performance Kyliegh Curran Nominated
Best Villain Rebecca Ferguson (Rose the Hat) Nominated
South African Horrorfest October - November, 2020 Best Feature Film Mike Flanagan Won
Best Director Mike Flanagan Won
Best Actor Ewan McGregor Won
Best Screenplay Mike Flanagan Won
Utah Film Critics Association Awards December 22, 2019 Best Supporting Actress Rebecca Ferguson Nominated

Trivia[]

  • Despite King harboring a strong dislike of The Shining film adaptation, he did like the movie adaptation of Doctor Sleep, praising the movie in an interview as well as on Twitter.
  • The 91 year old Charlie last name is revealed Hayes in the book.
  • This film was one of four Stephen King films released in 2019 (the others being IT Chapter 2, In The Tall Grass, and the Pet Sematary remake).
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