“The good thing about being old, is you don’t have to worry about dying young.” ―
Following up from the 1980 Movie Adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining, comes another adaptation form one of the magnum opus of the same writer; Famous director Mike Flanagan (Who is also known for his work, The Haunted Hill House) has yet again amazed the world with another adaptation from the library of Stephen, The Doctor Sleep; it’s the sequel for the book The Shining (1970) which was published late 2013.
The movie is all about the life of Dan Torrance, played by Ewan McGregor, after he fled with his mother from the Overlook Hotel where his father, Jack Torrance, attacked them, wanting to kill them, which was elaborated on the first book; The Shining.
The story of Doctor Sleep actually revolves on the time where Dan is an adult already. It focuses on the cult, True Knot, who keeps souls/ghosts of children in a canister which then they fed on themselves to live longer.
When the leader of the cult, Rose the Hat, played by the ever stunning Rebecca Ferguson, discovers that someone is watching the, a child, Abra Stone, played by Kyliegh Curran, who has a telephatic powers and met Dan by telepathy.
Abra and Dan decided to team up to uncover the death of one of the kids in the town and later on they discovered Rose’s connection with it.
Like Abra, Dan is able to communicate with the ghost from their past which he calls doctor, and he was the one helping Dan calm down when his anxiety comes.
With the help of one of Dan’s new buddy, played by Cliff Curtis, they planned on taking down the cult.
The Verdict
I am in awe! Aside from because I’m a fan of the book and of Stephen King himself, I love how Mike changed little things and made the current movie be connected to the first sequel.
The horror in each book was enveloped in one movie, The shining and Doctor Sleep are just two of the best works of Stephen and they deserve a good adaptation. Even though the Shining adaptation was not as good as Doctor Sleep, it helped the current movies story to be understood.
The way I see it, the movie just made the book exist in the real world. I believe if you have read the book, although it’s not that accurately similar, you will be able to pin point some details that are there and probably Mike has done quite good on making the film.
Stephen King is known for his horror filled stories but at the same time are mind-blowing. I’m so glad I’m part of the era where we get to see books be filmed in a such a way that will make readers feel they are walking in the author’s mind.
All in all, Imma give this 89% wonderroanne rating!
Wonder Roanne 