Can you ever really go back? More importantly, when the names involved are Stanley Kubrick and Stephen King, do you dare to make the journey? The hallowed halls of the Overlook Hotel have always been sacred ground for both film fans and readers brave enough to take a trip into its cold corridors. “Doctor Sleep” attempts the impossible; merge Kubrick’s long-standing, and much revered, imagery with King’s very different take on “The Shining.”
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The film seems to be in some pretty good hands as “The Haunting of Hill House” director Mike Flanagan assumes the helm. Anyone who saw the Netflix series knows he can handle the subject matter of trauma—doing so with empathy instead of sensationalism. Flanagan’s visual style more than connects to what Kubrick set up in 1980; so much so that it’s hard to tell that Flanagan shot scenes to recreate the original film’s iconic scenery.
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Here’s the official synopsis:
Still irrevocably scarred by the trauma he endured as a child at the Overlook, Dan Torrance has fought to find some semblance of peace. But that peace is shattered when he encounters Abra, a courageous teenager with her own powerful extrasensory gift, known as the “shine.” Instinctively recognizing that Dan shares her power, Abra has sought him out, desperate for his help against the merciless Rose the Hat and her followers, The True Knot, who feed off the shine of innocents in their quest for immortality.
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Forming an unlikely alliance, Dan and Abra engage in a brutal life-or-death battle with Rose. Abra’s innocence and fearless embrace of her shine compel Dan to call upon his own powers as never before—at once facing his fears and reawakening the ghosts of the past.
Horror fans can take heart that film will live up to the nightmares inspired by King himself. The MPAA has officially rated “Doctor Sleep” R for “disturbing and violent content, some bloody images, language, nudity, and drug use,” according to Flanagan. It’s a good sign that the story stays true to the book, while adding a very devious spin on the written material.
Starring Ewan Mcgregor, Jacob Tremblay, and Rebecca Ferguson—the Warner Bros. release opens nationwide on November 8.
