I'm writing this from what some might call the "limited" perspective of having not read the book Doctor Sleep by Stephen King. It is a sequel to King's 1977 classic The Shining, which I have also not read.
This is all to say that I don't think it matters greatly, in terms of analyzing the film adaptation, as I'm sure countless people over the decades have enjoyed, hated, and pored over Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film adaptation of The Shining without ever having read the book. It goes without saying that the film is more culturally pervasive and arguably more beloved than the novel, and that, in a way, speaks for itself. Sorry Stephen.
Any piece of art, whether "original" (insofar as that concept truly exists) or adapted directly from something else, is its own piece of art. And every piece of art can and should be judged on its own merits, with and without regard to its source material.
That long preface is all to set you, the reader, up for how to interpret my interpretation of this film, Doctor Sleep. When I show distaste for something present in this film's story, and your response is, "Well, it was in the book, sooo...?" please know that my distaste very well could translate to the book as well, and I think the story decision was just stupid, regardless. I don't know, maybe it's cooler in the book, but it doesn't matter. It's dumb in the film.
Aaaanyway... the review. I enjoyed Doctor Sleep, but I think I enjoyed it more than I want to give it credit. Doctor Sleep is messy, frustratingly conventional, and tame when it ought to be bold. I also think there's an inherent, pervasive cheapness to the story, brought about by the extreme demystifying of ambiguous and intangible terror.
The story follows a grown-up Dan "Danny" Torrance (Ewan McGregor), the young boy in The Shining whose father, Jack, went insane at the Overlook Hotel and attempted to murder Danny and his mother Wendy. When we meet Dan, he's an alcoholic, falling through life and unable to keep a job. He drinks to suppress his childhood trauma at the Overlook and his supernatural abilities, which he refers to as "the shining." When Dan stumbles into a new town in New Hampshire, local Billy Freeman (Cliff Curtis) takes Dan in, gets him a job and a place to rent, and takes him to alcoholics anonymous.
Eight years pass, and Dan has done well with his recovery process. He has made a humble and comfortable life for himself, and even managed to finish off suppressing the Overlook demons that haunted him. As a child, Dan had been taught by the ghost of Dick Hallorann (Carl Lumbly), the former cook of the Overlook, to lock these ghouls away in metaphorical "boxes" in his head. Dan even uses his shining ability of telepathic communication at the hospice center, where he works as a custodian, to put patients at ease in the moments before their passing.
But Dan's peaceful and ghost-free life is interrupted when he's contacted by a young girl named Abra (Kyliegh Curran), who also appears to have the shining. Dan hears, through her, of a dangerous and violent cult of shining-laden hunters who scour the country for others with special abilities, kidnapping and feeding on their "steam," the physical manifestation of their shining powers brought about by fear and pain. Abra sense they are coming for her, and requests Dan's help.
Frankly, the premise of Doctor Sleep feels like The Shining's equivalent to Harry Potter's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: a frivolous and unnecessary companion piece that over-complicates the vague, supernatural elements of the original and adds worthless detail and "lore" to the world.
I'm all for inventive genre-bending, but Doctor Sleep—which apparently does want to be a sequel to Kubrick's film, despite having the seal of approval from Stephen King, who hated it—plays more like a supernatural fantasy adventure than a supernatural/psychological horror like its predecessor. And at times, that works; Dan's bond with Abra is occasionally heartwarming, and their quest to escape and defeat the cult of shiners is sometimes fun and exciting.
But there is a disconnect and a cheapening effect brought about by the lightheartedness of it all; it's unfair to say there are no stakes, but the film is so conventional and trite at times that it stands in stark contrast to the otherworldy, surreal terror and tension of The Shining, and that makes Doctor Sleep frequently feel more like a fan-fiction than a worthwhile extrapolation of the ideas present in the first entry. I'm not entirely surprised, as it seems to be a common tendency for King as a storyteller to over-explain his horror worlds (see: Gerald's Game and the latter half of It), and I see that as a flaw in most cases, here included.
The cast does... fine, with the material they are given. McGregor and Curran are the highlights, if not individually, then together. Rebecca Ferguson's Rose, leader of the cult, is provocative and charming, but ultimately doesn't have a ton going on in her head beyond "Get. Me. That. Kid."
Writer-director Mike Flanagan keeps things pretty elementary, and unfortunately too obvious in most cases; it's the kind of film where you can consistently guess the next line. But I'm pretty forgiving of cheap or "heard that before" dialogue when the characters delivering it are genuine and likable, as is the case here. You legitimately want Dan and Abra to win, and the moments throughout when they gain the upper hand feel like small but satisfying triumphs.
Also drab, but infinitely more grating, is the film's overall look. The color-grading on display here is atrocious; every moment is bathed in a garish and painfully contemporary greenish-teal and pale orange. I felt like I was watching a commercial for outdoor apparel. It's not that those colors are just pulled up in saturation; everything is that color. Except, ironically, the scenes that recreate moments from Kubrick's film, at which point Flanagan adopts an approximation (though not nearly as refined) of that film's aesthetic. And frankly, I think that contrast only hurts the film. I'd have preferred Flanagan aim for an extrapolation of that film's visual style for this entire film, or just commit to using his swampy filter on the Kubrick-inspire scenes.
There is a certain nostalgic excitement in Flanagan's use of imagery from Kubrick's film, and when you realize Dan has to take Abra on a little trip down memory lane, there is a giddy expectation of superficial payoff, similar to what you'd see in the climax of a franchise tentpole like Avengers or Star Wars. But well-executed franchises like those succeed by building interesting characters and a compelling story and merely decorating that with such fandom fluff. In Doctor Sleep, it often feels like those are the reason to watch the movie, rather than just bonuses for investing in the story.
Doctor Sleep attempts to walk a few different tightropes, balancing between tribute and fan-service, between horror and adventure, and between book adaptation and movie sequel. I wouldn't say it navigates any of those with flying colors. There's a simultaneous respect and disrespect for The Shining (both the book and the film) at play in Doctor Sleep, and I believe the blame for the latter falls on both Flanagan and King. And quite honestly, I think it's inevitable in this endeavor; you can't please King and Kubrick.
Unfortunately, I think Doctor Sleep is too focused on pleasing either or both of them at any given time to tell a fully engaging story in its own right. I liked Dan's and Abra's relationship, but I couldn't care less about the tropey cult of Death Eaters, and I didn't feel sufficiently rewarded enough for enduring a two-and-a-half-hour runtime. Your mileage will vary depending on how your desire for a compelling original story compares to your desire for nostalgic references to Kubrick's film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOzFZxB-8cw&w=585