Doctor Sleep – A Standalone Sequel That Shines in Its Own Light

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Hey everyone, I hope you all are doing great.
I was scrolling through reels yesterday when I came upon a clip from a horror movie, Doctor Sleep, and decided to check it out.

The film has a run time of over 3 hours which made it look promising to me. I mean, they can't put in three hours of work for nothing, right?
Just to be sure, I looked it up and found it was an adaptation of a novel by Stephen King and a sequel to the horror film THE SHINING. King has written one of my favorite adaptations, so I Didn't really consider that it was said to be somewhat of a disappointment financially compared to other King adaptations released in 2019, like IT CHAPTER TWO.
I was more curious about doctor sleep so I didn't bother watching THE SHINING.

The film is about a little boy Dan, who possesses psychic abilities. Growing up, he has been haunted by the trauma of the horrors at the Overlook Hotel. Even though he finds a way to lock up these horrors he still ends up an alcoholic due to his trauma.

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Rose the Hat is a mysterious woman who leads a bloodthirsty cult called the True Knot, all blessed with the shining who feed on the children with psychic abilities.

Dan, on his journey to recovery and the true knot, encounters a girl named Abra, who is also blessed with the shine. But an even bigger shine than any rose has ever seen. Rose and the true knot are determined to find and kill Abra because of her power. With the true knot after Abra, she teams up with her friend Uncle Dan to stop the true knot from killing any more children. Dan must face his fears and childhood trauma to save Abra from the true knot.

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Watching this supernatural horror movie kind of felt like watching the X-Men's new mutants. They had elements of horror but weren't totally horror. Like a movie about super abilities with a horror theme.

The first two scenes did well in building up the dark tension for the movie. The first scene of Rose the Hat and the true knot taking that little girl started the build-up, and I believe the next scene of Dan encountering the old woman at the overlook sealed the deal.

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Then the part that had quite a jump scare was when Rose the hat finally found Abra and paid her a visit. The sudden twist in that scene got me both feeling crept and hyped.

The cast’s performances were great. Ewan McGregor’s portrayal of Dan Torrance is central—he captured the inner conflict of Dan. Kyliegh Curran as Abra was also amazing. I sometimes wonder how children act so well. She portrayed the innocence and strength of Abra. Rebecca Ferguson’s Rose the Hat deserves special mention because she brought both charm and menace to the screen, she added her own touch of horror to the story. The rest of the true knot cast was also great.

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Another thing that stood out about the movie was the visual display. That astral battle between Rose the Hat and Abra was stunning. The colors, the graphics, the lighting, and all. They didn't need to use much visual effects but the parts with the effects were beautiful and creative. Micheal Fimognari was a genius with the camera movements.

Not having watched The Shining, I can't tell if Doctor Sleep was a good sequel or if it met up with The Terror of the Shining or maybe even better. But I can tell it was good to watch as a standalone work. Whether you are a core Stephen King fan or you want a horror movie with a deep view on trauma and recovery, Doctor Sleep should be on your watchlist.

I would give it a rating of 8/10. I would advise you to watch The Shining first if you can because I think I am still going to end up watching it. But like I said it is also good as a standalone work.

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