To that end, “Doctor Sleep” opens with its most sacrilegious move, in an extensive 1980 prologue unfolding not long after the climax of the original movie. It’s also a fascinating application of cultural memory in the service of storytelling, considering how much its central emotion mandates audience investment in the earlier events. Diehard fans of “The Shining” may already consider the very idea of “Doctor Sleep” as sacrilege, King’s blessing or not, but the sequel is less desecration than paradox - equal parts homage, repudiation, and hokey death drama. Flanagan’s considerable talents work best on their own terms, but aside from a handful of stunning visual tangents, “Doctor Sleep” never escapes the labyrinthine shadows of its predecessors.Īnd in this 150-minute curiosity, they loom large. This peculiar muddle of a movie stuffs the material of a vivid horror-fantasy saga into King’s blunter storytelling instincts, adding cheeky Kubrick nods wherever it can slot them in.

But “Doctor Sleep” never manages to find the balance its cinematic high-wire act demands. Part of that has to do with King’s own oddball narrative, which finds Dan teaming up with wide-eyed 10-year-old Abra (newcomer Kyliegh Curran) who shares his supernatural abilities as they take on a gang of soul-sucking murderers. ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ Review: Sandra Hüller May or May Not Be a Murderer in Chilly Courtroom Drama

But the idea of following haunted “Shining” alcoholic Jack Torrance’s offspring Dan Torrance (a superb Ewan McGregor), grown up and struggling with internal and external demons alike, always feels like something of a stunt.

“Doctor Sleep” musters a similar combination with an intriguing look at intergenerational addiction and childhood fears, stuffed into an alluring gothic horror landscape. With his superb Netflix series “Haunting of Hill House” and previous King adaptation “Gerald’s Game,” Flanagan proved himself adept at combining genuine pathos with deep-seated dread. Mike Flanagan’s “ Doctor Sleep” is a literary reckoning that enters into the center of that battlefield, attempting an ambitious homage to Kubrick and King as well as an adaptation of King’s own “Shining” sequel, while proving why - as King himself has said many times - the original book and movie never could click. The tension between Stephen King’s 1977 novel “ The Shining” and Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 adaptation has lingered for decades, from King’s disdain for the movie to its legion of fans who obsess over every Easter egg in the frame.

The shining sequel book