Fans Get Exactly What They Wanted With ‘Doctor Sleep’

After 39 years of waiting, fans of the horror classic The Shining have finally gotten another great addition to the franchise. After being promoted since September of 2018, Doctor Sleep had a lot of questions to be answered and had the daunting task of following such an iconic film. 

In The Shining, Jack Torrance and his wife, Wendy, and son, Danny, stays at the Overlook Hotel. After a while, Jack becomes deranged and starts to lose his sanity. Meanwhile, Danny begins to see supernatural beings. A worker tells Danny at the hotel that he has a gift called the shine which allows him to see these apparitions.  

Director Mike Flanigan, who has an impressive track record of good content such as the hit Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House, is at his peak during this film. Flanigan and his team did a great job with the gorgeous cinematography and an eerie soundtrack throughout the film that left viewers on the edge of their seats throughout.  

Taking place in 2019, the film centers around a grown-up Danny Torrance who is dealing with traumatization from his childhood. Becoming an alcoholic like his father, he drinks to suppress his powers. Eventually, he receives help, and his powers come back stronger than ever. Alongside Danny is a girl named Abra Stone who is also capable of having powers and who is the main target for the villains in the film. 

The antagonist of the film is a group known as The True Knot. They are on a hunt to find anybody who has the shining powers and take them away by any means necessary. 

Like a majority of Stephen King film adaptations, Doctor Sleep is a psychological masterpiece. For those who enjoy a thought-provoking film that leaves the viewer exiting the theater with dozens of questions, this film is just right. 

After its release on Nov. 8, the box office sales for the film have been a slight disappointment despite the film being a great film to watch. The main reason for the low box office numbers is due to the lack of promotion for the film. Many critics and fans of the film say that they just so happened to stumble across the trailer and became interested. With film franchises such as Avengers and Fast and Furious constantly promoting their movies, Doctor Sleep was rarely seen across many platforms.  

This film adds to the already vast amount of solid films to come from a Stephen King book adaptation, which plays out excellent on the big screen.  After overcoming a shallow attempt at marketing and being in the same universe as one of the most iconic films of all time in The Shining, Doctor Sleep still is an excellent movie for any psychological horror fans.