Doctor Sleep is due to hit theatres on November 8 but is already getting heaps of praise from critics. After an early screening of the film, critics took to Twitter to heap praise upon the Mike Flanagan movie. This news coming from The Wrap, the title boldly declaring The Shining sequel to be the best Stephen King adaptation since The Shawshank Redemption.
Doctor Sleep is adapted from King’s 2013 novel of the same name and revolves around an adult Danny Torrance. Played by Ewan McGregor, Danny is trying to live a comfortable life while he tries to reconcile the trauma of his childhood. Of course, this doesn’t go plan! Danny comes across a teenager with the “shine” ability. The kid needs his help to fend off some menacing characters and the horror ensues.
Doctor Sleep Is Excellent!
As mentioned above, critics have no short supply of praise for Doctor Sleep. In particular, a lot of this is directed at Flanagan’s direction and Rebecca Ferguson’s performance as Rose the Hat.
Managing editor of Slash Film, Jacob Hall had this to say about the film:
“DOCTOR SLEEP: The boldest choice here is that Mike Flanagan doesn’t even try to do Kubrick. He makes a Mike Flanagan movie: spooky, emotional, ultimately optimistic. Not only a sequel to THE SHINING, but a response to it, an attempt to reconcile King and Kubrick. Loved it.”
This is a promising indication of the quality of the film. Often, sequels fall flat when a new director tries to copy what the original brought to the feature. What Flanagan seems to bring to the table is the emotional storytelling of his other work, with the scares that define King’s work.
Editor-in-chief of JoBlo.com, Paul Shirley also had this to say about Doctor Sleep:
“Ewan McGregor and Kyliegh Curran are excellent, but the standout for me was Rebecca Ferguson as Rose The Hat, a great new villain to add to Stephen King’s long line of unforgettable baddies that you can’t help but love (and love to hate).”
It appears that of the cast are bringing their all to the project and this, coupled with the comments on direction, is telling that this is a movie to keep on our radar for the November 8 release!
Fan of The Shining? Looking forward to Doctor Sleep? Let us know in the comments!
