Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor) is haunted by the past in “Doctor Sleep.”
The writer/director behind Netflix hits “The Haunting of Hill House” and “Midnight Mass” directed a sequel to a classic horror film three years ago, and it was met with a shrug from the moviegoing public. It’s time to rectify that.
Mike Flanagan’s “Doctor Sleep,” an epic adaptation of Stephen King’s 2013 novel that successfully married the author’s storyline to the unique iconography of Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 “The Shining,” grossed just $31 million in North American movie theaters despite generally good reviews and erstwhile Jedi Ewan McGregor in the lead role of Danny Torrance. It returns to Chicago’s preeminent movie palace next week as part of a King film festival. (More on that in a moment.)
“Doctor Sleep” finds Danny still haunted by his father’s legacy — both the alcoholism and the ghosts of the Overlook Hotel. He finds new demons to battle when a traveling cult led by Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson) begins targeting children who share Danny’s psychic powers.
Flanagan’s movie does play the hits, so to speak, for “Shining” fans: You get the hotel, the evil twins, the hedge maze and some familiar faces. But “Doctor Sleep” is not nostalgic fan service, but an intelligent character piece that greatly expands the scope of King’s universe. It also eschews digital de-aging or re-creation when it comes to revisiting characters from the 1980 film, choosing instead to rely on smart casting, makeup and costuming. (What a concept!)
Oh yeah, it’s also terrifying, particularly in a scene featuring Jacob Tremblay, best known for playing Brie Larson’s son in the Oscar winner “Room.” You will fear for the young actor’s well-being after the scene in question, but he had a blast filming it, according to a 2019 SyFy article: “He gets up and high-fives everyone and his dad … we’re all laughing afterward,” said producer Trevor Macy.
“Doctor Sleep” was released by Warner Bros., which used to be a studio that bet large sums of money on risky, visionary films like “Blade Runner 2049,” “Dunkirk” and the post-“Matrix” output of Chicago’s Wachowski sisters. It likely wouldn’t be made under a new parent company that recently decided to permanently shelve a $90 million “Batgirl” movie that has already been shot just to take a tax write-down.
by signing up you agree to our terms of service
‘The Creepshow: A Stephen King Film Festival’
The Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave., Chicago, will show Stephen King movies all next weekend beginning with “The Shining” at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2, and culminating in a live podcast event at 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 4.
The hosts of that podcast, “The Losers Club,” have curated a lineup that includes bona fide classics like “Misery” and “Stand By Me” and a Saturday midnight screening of John Carpenter’s “Christine.”
But that “Doctor Sleep” screening at 10 p.m. Friday? That’s the place to be.
See the full lineup and buy tickets ($12 per film, $60 for the entire festival) at musicboxtheatre.com.
• Sean Stangland is an assistant news editor who thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts.
