Doctor Sleep (2019)

Written and Directed by Mike Flanagan

Based on the Novel by Stephen King

Starring Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran and Cliff Curtis

When I heard that they were making Stephen King’s sequel to The Shining into a film, I was filled with excitement. While I know King hates Kubrick’s adaptation of his book, it is one of my favorite films of all time. My movie room is even themed to the 1980 horror masterpiece. So while the author may detest it, I knew it would be impossible for them to make this film without acknowledging it. But then I heard Mike Flanagan, writer and director of “The Haunting of Hill House” was going to direct it and all of that excitement went out the door.

Maybe one day, I will write about why I don’t like “Hill House” (in short, there is no need for it to be a 10-part series), but this review is about his latest effort with “Doctor Sleep”. Unsurprisingly, a lot of the reasons I don’t like his popular series are the same reasons I didn’t care for this.

If you don’t care to read about my issues with the technical side of the film, feel free to scroll down to the bold header below.

Mike Flanagan, as far as my knowledge goes, not only writes and directs his projects, but he edits them as well. I am not saying he doesn’t have the right to. I just don’t think he’s a good editor or writer, really. And I will start with that.

Flanagan’s writing is frustrating. Like his films, it is so close to being good, but he ruins it with what I can only assume is his ego (although, I am just speculating). It seems every scene is written for the sole purpose of setting up a mediocre, exposition filled monologue. They serve no real character development, but instead feel as though he is trying to emulate Shakespeare with none of the talent or poetic flow. They come off as clunky attempts to make the audience feel something but instead drag the momentum of the story to a screeching halt. Which brings me to his editing.

Because he writes, directs and edits his films, I feel as though he has lost touch with what he is trying to say with the film. It is my belief that any good director needs and knows they need another set of eyes to edit their film. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, but most of the time, if you are too close to a project, you lose sight of how the film actually comes off. You only see the individual scenes and not the overall flow. Which, in Flanagan’s case is extremely apparent in his use of cross-fades.

Cross-fades are like alcohol. They’re fine to use in moderation, but if you start using them as a crutch because you don’t know how else to make a film flow from scene-to-scene without them, maybe you have a problem. These are just my opinions. If none of these things bother you and you like his work, more power to you! I’m not here to change anyone’s minds or make them dislike something they already like. I am only here to give my thoughts.

DOCTOR SLEEP

This film suffers from many of the things I mentioned above. It is long and filled with exposition. I love long movies if they deserve to be long. But there was about 45 minutes of material that could’ve been cut without losing the story. There were so many unnecessary monologues and long sequences of characters traveling that did not provide any suspense or insight into their characters. It felt flat.

More than anything, this film is frustrating because it COULD have been amazing had another, more controlled director been a part of it. But instead, we got a film that felt as long and drawn out as King’s writing. So, if that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll probably like it.

This film succeeds in many aspects. The ensemble cast are all great and there are no real week spots. The scenes that were flashbacks to 1980 when the events of its predecessor took place, it was refreshing that they used actors made-up to look, sound and act like Jack Nicholson’s Jack Torrence (Henry Thomas) and Shelley Duvall’s Wendy Torrence (Alex Essoe) rather than falling into the, frankly, boring trend of using CGI to recreate them. It made for a less distracting experience.

The visuals were great for the most part, but when the characters arrived at the Overlook Hotel for the climax of the film, the scale of it was lost. It seemed a third of the size of the hotel in “The Shining”. To me, I feel like it was either shot with different lenses that made it looks small or the set they made was not to scale. And on top of all that, it was filled with mostly unnecessary nostalgia. Some of it worked, most of it didn’t. This was an extremely distracting element to one of the most important sequences in the film.

Overall, this film was disappointing. Mike Flanagan is always so close to making masterpieces, but ultimately, his inability to cut unimportant scenes is the cause of his demise. I understand a lot of people like his work, but he is too infuriating for me to trust him with an edit. It had so much potential.

My Rating: C-

What did you think of this film? If you loved it or hated it, why? Let me know in the comments!