Directed by : Mike Flanagan
Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5606664/
I don't know about the magic. I always called it 'the shining'.
Spoilers ahead..
First thing, I don't love 'The Shining', while watching it few months back I strongly felt the character of Jack Nicholson should had been developed properly before going into the mad isolated zone and yet at times he would try to help his family but gone too far away to do so. While googling I did find out that the book of Stephen King actually shows him the way I wanted. Kubrick's direction and Jack's performance still made it a very good watch though minus the problems I mentioned.
Coming to Doctor Sleep, went in with less expectations as the trailers didn't quite suggest it would be good. But, it indeed was pretty good if you don't mind slow moving first 30-40 mins.
The story revolves around Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor) who has grown up far away from that dreadful one year spent at Overlook Hotel. He gets a job at a nursing home where he uses his 'shining' powers to help people die with comfort in their last breath where he is aided by a cat that can tell whose time has come. Abra Stone, a young girl (Kyliegh Curran) communicates with Dan through her own 'shining' powers and then meets him one day telling what awful thing she saw and how she wants his help. It all leads up to the cult 'The True Knot' who uses the steam that the children with 'shining' powers produce when torturing them to death and thereby help themselves remain immortal. Dan has to save Abra and himself from this cult, and it all eventually connects with Overlook Hotel.
Movie begins with that super haunting background score in opening credits from 'The Shining' before we dive into some scenes of young Dan who is still haunted by the event that happened at Overlook Hotel, and gets help where he is told a way to shut those spirits trying to reach him locked inside the boxes of his brain. Its clear right then, this scene would play a key role in the finale.
We jump to the grown up Dan, it takes a while to get used to his life, and the narration is done in slow pace probably in sync with how his life was going nowhere until he got that job at nursing home and started to feel a happy change. Things do speed up when 'The True Knot' get to know about Abra stone as it becomes a battle between them before Dan joins in.
I was amazed to know that 'Rose the Hat' was played by Rebecca Ferguson, maybe something to do with my aging eyes or did she look and sound different in the movie.. whatever it is she just lifts up the movie to another level with her super acting in a very negative role. Ewan McGregor also provides the character of Dan, the kind of vulnerability or you can say not at ease with himself with the kind of childhood he had. And that gives the movie a great finale even though its the predictable part of movie including a extended nostalgia scene where Dan explores the entire Outlook Hotel remembering that one year he spent here when he was young.
And boy the goosebumps I got when Dan tells Abra they have to drive to the Outlook Hotel to win against 'Rose The Hat', and starts that background score again, and happy that it was a long sequence just as it deserved to be with some brilliant captured extreme wide shot visuals.
It may sound odd, but to me Doctor Sleep works more than 'The Shining', its hardly a horror movie as you get around 2-3 scenes that aims to scare you, mostly it pans out as a drama thriller and it was very engaging till the end. I don't know if there's any possibility of a further movie in this franchise with the ending they had it may not happen or maybe a prequel would be nice as long as the director is same because he certainly has become one of the director's whose future films/series I would be looking forward to.
Kind of under-rated movie, Doctor Sleep is going by the buzz..for me its one of the best of 2019.. slow in parts but if you are patient then most likely you would end up liking it atleast.
My Rating : 7/10
Imdb link -> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5606664/
I don't know about the magic. I always called it 'the shining'.
Spoilers ahead..
First thing, I don't love 'The Shining', while watching it few months back I strongly felt the character of Jack Nicholson should had been developed properly before going into the mad isolated zone and yet at times he would try to help his family but gone too far away to do so. While googling I did find out that the book of Stephen King actually shows him the way I wanted. Kubrick's direction and Jack's performance still made it a very good watch though minus the problems I mentioned.
Coming to Doctor Sleep, went in with less expectations as the trailers didn't quite suggest it would be good. But, it indeed was pretty good if you don't mind slow moving first 30-40 mins.
The story revolves around Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor) who has grown up far away from that dreadful one year spent at Overlook Hotel. He gets a job at a nursing home where he uses his 'shining' powers to help people die with comfort in their last breath where he is aided by a cat that can tell whose time has come. Abra Stone, a young girl (Kyliegh Curran) communicates with Dan through her own 'shining' powers and then meets him one day telling what awful thing she saw and how she wants his help. It all leads up to the cult 'The True Knot' who uses the steam that the children with 'shining' powers produce when torturing them to death and thereby help themselves remain immortal. Dan has to save Abra and himself from this cult, and it all eventually connects with Overlook Hotel.
Movie begins with that super haunting background score in opening credits from 'The Shining' before we dive into some scenes of young Dan who is still haunted by the event that happened at Overlook Hotel, and gets help where he is told a way to shut those spirits trying to reach him locked inside the boxes of his brain. Its clear right then, this scene would play a key role in the finale.
I was amazed to know that 'Rose the Hat' was played by Rebecca Ferguson, maybe something to do with my aging eyes or did she look and sound different in the movie.. whatever it is she just lifts up the movie to another level with her super acting in a very negative role. Ewan McGregor also provides the character of Dan, the kind of vulnerability or you can say not at ease with himself with the kind of childhood he had. And that gives the movie a great finale even though its the predictable part of movie including a extended nostalgia scene where Dan explores the entire Outlook Hotel remembering that one year he spent here when he was young.
And boy the goosebumps I got when Dan tells Abra they have to drive to the Outlook Hotel to win against 'Rose The Hat', and starts that background score again, and happy that it was a long sequence just as it deserved to be with some brilliant captured extreme wide shot visuals.
It may sound odd, but to me Doctor Sleep works more than 'The Shining', its hardly a horror movie as you get around 2-3 scenes that aims to scare you, mostly it pans out as a drama thriller and it was very engaging till the end. I don't know if there's any possibility of a further movie in this franchise with the ending they had it may not happen or maybe a prequel would be nice as long as the director is same because he certainly has become one of the director's whose future films/series I would be looking forward to.
Kind of under-rated movie, Doctor Sleep is going by the buzz..for me its one of the best of 2019.. slow in parts but if you are patient then most likely you would end up liking it atleast.
My Rating : 7/10
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