Doctor Sleep: The Best Horror Film of the Year
In his 152-minute magnum opus, Mike Flanagan pays tribute to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, while also delivering one of the most exciting and visually sumptuous horror movies in recent memory. After being traumatized by the events of the Overlook Hotel and the death of his father, Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor) lives a life of debauchery, until he decides to get rif of his inner demons by moving to New Hampshire and starts his life fresh. For eight years, everything seems to be going fine, until a “shiner” named Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran) shines brighter than all of the other “shiners” and is tracked down by the True Knot, a cult that feeds on children’s fears that “shine”, led by Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson). Danny must now face his inner fears and help Abra defeat the True Knot, even if it means returning to the Overlook Hotel.
Every sequence in this film is an absolute wonder to watch and soak your eyes in. The film must be experienced in IMAX to fully appreciate the film’s wonderful cinematography that pays homage to Kubrick’s The Shining and fantastic visual sequences that completely plunge you in the world of the movie. It also contains 2019’s best gunfight sequence (yes, I know, in a horror movie) that demands to be experienced in IMAX. When that particular gunfight hit that pit Danny and his friend Billy (Cliff Curtis) between the True Knot, I was completely gobsmacked by how well-executed, tense and scary the sequence was. The way all of the True Knot characters die is pure cinema, and the action sequence that precedes the death-rampage is excitingly kinetic, a revisionist take on boring horror that’s permeating our cinema screens. Doctor Sleep doesn’t contain an ounce of cheap jumpscares, yet why did I find this movie so terrifying?
First, Rebecca Ferguson plays a fantastic antagonist in Rose the Hat. It’s not a one-sided EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK villain that’s underdeveloped and delivers only cheap jumpscares, we see her side of the story and the way she lures people into joining her cult of human vaping. One of the film’s most disturbing sequences is when they kidnap the famed “Baseball Boy” from the book (in the movie, played by Jacob Tremblay) and pry on his fear to lay out “steam” (from his Shining). There isn’t a jumpscare in that sequence, but the way that it’s brilliantly directed and edited by Flanagan, beautifully shot by Flanagan’s fetish cinematographer Michael Fimnogari and acted by Tremblay & Ferguson. J. Tremblay, completely scared out of his mind, not knowing what’s going to happen to him, and Ferguson, calm, collected and composed, knowing that she (and her band of merry vapers, oh hi Carel Struycken!) has the upper hand is absolutely terrifying to watch. And every sequence involving Ferguson is of the absolute horror, as they are completely unpredictable. I also loved how vulnerable she was when she is first attacked by Abra who was able to take control of her mind. She is legitimately terrified, but she doesn’t want to be! She’s more terrified when all of her members get killed during the (terrific) gunfight sequence. It’s fantastic to see a horror villain with humanity and vulnerability, something truly lost in the horror genre today. A supernatural villain with vulnerability, how about that?
Second, Ewan McGregor’s performance as Danny Torrance is terrifying. We see a broken, lost, and puzzled man who wants to get his life back on track. He attends AA meetings with his friend Billy, where he meets Dr. John Dalton (Bruce Greenwood’s fantastic extended cameo whom the sequence in which they talk to each other in his office is remeniscent of Barry Nelson’s Stuart Ullman in Kubrick’s film) who gives him a job at a hospital. Everything seems to go well, and can even use his shining to alleviate dying patients. These sequences are beautiful, especially the ones where he sings “Come Fly with Me” to a patient in unison. Wow. McGregor gives a beautifully nuanced performance in the film’s first and second acts, until they have to defeat the True Knot. He becomes scared of fighting his own inner demons he locked away in imaginary boxes recommended by Best Boi Dick Hallorann (Carl Lumbly) and re-igniting the presence in the Overlook Hotel once he decides to confront Rose. That, alone, is terrifying. After suffering your whole life and trying to forget what happened using drugs, alcohol and sex with people you don’t know, trying to let the things that scared you to death out of your body in the place where you became traumatized isn’t the most brilliant idea. When he confronts his father (Henry Thomas…wow Elliot from E.T. huh), the scene alone is scary because he has to confront the person who physically abused him and brought to him that torment, alongside the physical and emotional trauma of the Overlook Hotel and his imaginary “friend”, Tony.
When he returns to The Overlook Hotel, the film takes a complete 180 to the thriller it’s been brilliantly setting up, with a fantastic slow burn, wonderful performances, amazing cinematography and visuals that look incredibly immersive in IMAX. The film is filled to the brim with fantastical imagination both behind and in front of the camera to transpose Stephen King’s book to screen and follow-up Kubrick’s 1980 masterpiece that King himself hated. After spending at least 2 hours meticulously setting up Danny’s return to the Overlook Hotel, he returns and the rest is a fantastic mix of wonderful scares and tension and an emotionally powerful last act. Doctor Sleep is a film to engulf yourself in its brilliantly crafted world in IMAX with a fantastic script from Mike Flanagan, both respecting King’s book and continuing Kubrick’s style of The Shining that both pays tribute to King’s book and Kubrick’s masterpiece to deliver a fantastic horror film devoid of ANY jumpscares and only wonderful tension, fantastic action sequences, stunning cinematography and a star-studded cast delivering some Oh, so good, performances. When the movie was over, I wept. Not because I was sad, because I couldn’t believe how beautiful the film was and how it was just pure cinema taking form. Mike Flanagan is a horror genius. He’s only made one bad film, and all of the other ones have been absolute masterpieces. I truly can’t wait to see what he does next because I will be there!
✯✯✯✯✯
