Whoops! There’s one more D title after all. Because it doesn’t sit on the DVD shelf, I almost forgot about Doctor Sleep. Which would be a shame given that it’s the newest film in my collection (released just last year) and that I’m completely obsessed with it right now.
I will cheat a tiny bit. While I did purchase Doctor Sleep, I accidentally got the director’s cut, and I’d rather write about the theatrical version for reasons I’ll go into below. So I queued it up on HBO instead this time.
I’ve written before about how I appreciate The Shining as an influential and well-crafted piece of cinema, but I have never enjoyed watching it. That makes me an ideal audience for Doctor Sleep because I’m inclined to view “this is NOT The Shining” as a positive. People deeply invested in the Kubrick film are going to have a much tougher time accepting Doctor Sleep, although I think writer/director Mike Flanagan makes the wise decision to mostly go off and do his own thing, creating a sequel that really isn’t even in the same genre – more of a dark fantasy than true horror. However, hardcore The Shining fans do get some time to rediscover Kubrick’s playground in the lovingly recreated bookends at the beginning and end of Doctor Sleep, so I could see them enjoying at least some of it, too.
My experience of Doctor Sleep is deeply personal. As someone who grew up in a household with domestic violence, watching The Shining is terribly upsetting for me, particularly Shelley Duvall’s often unrecognized performance as Wendy. The flip side is that Doctor Sleep, a story that intensely focuses on reconciling an adult survivor’s trauma, hits me right where I live.
I wish I could bring myself to write a non-spoiler version of this entry because the movie is so new, and I want everyone to see it and delight in it. But I also desperately want to discuss the plot in detail.1 So spoilers definitely ahead.
Title (Year):
Doctor Sleep (2019)
Format:
Digital
Why did I buy this?
It was my favorite movie released in 2019, and I wanted to show it to my friend on our first Zoom movie date. That was kind of a bust for multiple reasons, not least because that’s how we figured out that we should both just watch individually with Zoom on instead of trying to watch it together through Zoom due to bandwidth glitches making it nearly unwatchable for my friend.
But also, as previously mentioned, I have the director’s cut, and that just isn’t the way to go for introducing someone to the material. As a Doctor Sleep superfan, I do find the additional material interesting, but it completely disrupts the pacing. The theatrical version already has a long running time, but it earns it by remaining completely absorbing for the entire length. Adding practically an extra half hour doesn’t radically change the story, but it does slow everything to a tedious crawl. When I want to steep myself in Doctor Sleep goodness for an entire afternoon, the director’s cut will work, but I honestly think it will ruin the film for first-time viewers.
My reactions upon re-watching it:
- The homage performances capturing Duvall, Scatman Crothers, and others are uniformly impressive.
- I appreciate how well this movie threads the needle on serving as both a sequel to Kubrick’s movie and an adaptation of Stephen King’s novel, which are somewhat opposed to each other. Just look at the scene when young Danny is visited by Dick Hallorann who died in the original movie but survived the original book. Is Hallorann alive and having this conversation via astral projection? Is Hallorann dead, and Danny speaks with his ghost? Ambiguous! And it doesn’t matter because the scene works either way.
- One thing I do find disappointing is what a loser Dan is at the beginning. Of course, that’s necessary to tell this story, but it was startling to me on the first viewing because I knew very little about Doctor Sleep going in, and I anticipated that the whole “doctor” thing would be more literal. But no, Danny Torrance most definitely did not grow up to attend medical school.
- Because I haven’t read the Doctor Sleep novel,2 it’s unclear to me how Snakebite Andi’s “pusher” powers differ from Rose the Hat’s abilities. It seems like Rose can certainly control Andi’s behavior just as easily as Andi controls others.
- Any time there’s an interracial couple (such as Abra’s parents) onscreen without that being the point of film, love wins.
- Teenytown, the model village that first draws Dan into the place that will become his new home, strikes me as a very Stephen King-ian detail. In this film adaptation, it strikes me as fairly pointless, but I’m guessing it was too thematically important to the book to leave it out.
- I would also bet a fair amount of money that every single member of the True Knot is a fully fleshed out character in King’s book.
- Naming the death-predicting cat Azrael after an angel of death is a tad on the nose. Also, all I can think of is this:
- The advent of the Dan’s titular nickname is painfully forced. I do wish they had worked it into the dialogue more naturally. Maybe using the second patient we see Dan helping to succumb rather than the first?
- I cannot get over how great it is to see this amazing, complex, charismatic female villain. Rose the Hat is the best aspect of this movie. She’s so fun to watch while remaining at all times a despicable hate sink.
- Where did the True Knot get their steam canisters? Do they make their own? Is there a supply shop for soul-sucking ghouls somewhere in this universe? Have creatures such as these captured steam in gradually more advanced receptacles since time immemorial (perhaps with bottles originally)?
- What happens to Brad the Little League Kid is why I can’t just go around giving this movie an unqualified recommendation to everyone I know. For example, I would love to watch this movie with my BFF, but he is father to a son about this age. I can’t imagine him not ravaged by this excruciatingly long death scene. So many folks (understandably) do not want to see depictions of violence against children. For me, it’s helpful that they cast a recognizable child actor. I don’t get too upset because I just keep thinking, “That’s the ringleader kid from Good Boys.”3
- The “redrum” scene still gives me chills.
- I’m quite fond of Abra’s dad.
- There’s one scene where Rose the Hat shoos someone away from touching her hat. I wonder if that’s supposed to be important somehow.
- I appreciate that when Abra tracks down Dan, he immediately addresses the elephant in the room about an adult man meeting up with a young teen girl. A lesser movie might have just avoided that. I spent most of my first viewing terribly, terribly concerned about Dan getting arrested at the end of the movie. I also spent a lot energy feeling concerned that Dan and/or Billy would get pegged for Brad. I guess what actually happens to them is worse, but I’m still glad to be wrong that time.
- I love the relationship between Dan and Abra. It reminds me of how the relationship between George Clooney and Britt Robertson should have worked in Tomorrowland if Tomorrowland hadn’t sucked.
- Like Rose the Hat, I too enjoy wearing outfits with a long-over-lean silhouette, but I’d never be able to pull off Rose’s boho-glam, Stevie Nicks-ish fabulousness.
- I appreciate the connection between how Dan comforts the dying and Rose the Hat comforts the disintegrating Grampa Flick.
- “I guess we’re all libraries inside.” ❤
- Cliff Curtis (who plays Dan’s friend, Billy) is always a welcome addition to a supporting cast.
- I think I remember reading an online review where the critic complained about Dan and Billy’s showdown with the True Knot. The critic complained this scene is too action-y and out of place in the overall tone of the piece, but I think it works. Poor Billy though.
- Crow Daddy performer Zahn McClarnon is amazing, too. A round of applause for just about every actor in this film.
- I love the special effects. Not overdone. Not too showy. Just enough to draw you into the story unobtrusively. I bet they’ll age well over time.
- I appreciate how this film acknowledges that a bare-knuckle fight with evil will almost certainly require sacrifice. Both Abra and Dan pay a serious price for doing the right thing.
- The confrontation at the Overlook Hotel bar is so powerful.
- I did correctly predict how those devilish boxes in Dan’s mind would come into play in the final battle, but that didn’t make it any less satisfying. So, so good.
- I would love to see another sequel focusing on Abra Stone as an adult. Except this movie bombed. Sad face.
My favorite part:
Any time Abra and Rose the Hat confront each other.
Keep it or toss it?
Keep
1 I would love to have readers comment on this entry. Nothing to do with boosting my WordPress metrics (which are pathetic on my best day anyhow). I just crave conversation about this movie.
2 I’m vaguely curious, but I have no intention of reading the book now because it’s guaranteed to disappoint me. I know that’s a weird thing for a librarian to say, but I know myself. Whatever version of a story I encounter first is what I like better.
3 I didn’t particularly enjoy Good Boys, but I’m grateful I saw it anyway because it definitely takes the edge of THAT scene.
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