Review: Doctor Sleep: The Director's Cut

I was stoked to see Doctor Sleep when it came out last fall. Like our Mike S, I'm not the biggest fan of the film adaptation of The Shining, but I enjoyed the book and it's sequel, Doctor Sleep.

When I heard Mike Flanagan was going to direct a film adaptation of Doctor Sleep, and that he was going to honour it as a sequel to both The Shining novel and movie, that got me uber interested. Flanagan is a great director, and well aware of Stephen King's lack of enthusiasm for what Stanley Kubrick did to his book. To have the author's endorsement to approach Doctor Sleep this way spoke well of the project.

I missed out on Doctor Sleep in theatres. Hey, it happens! So when I got my hands on the director's cut of the film, which hits shelves tomorrow, I decided this was the best approach to the movie. Here there's only a few new scenes, with most of the extra 30 minutes made up of longer sequences than seen in the theatrical cut. These moments strengthen the relationships between characters and heighten their motivations.

Flanagan calls his director's cut the literary version of the film. Having read the book, this feels more like a Stephen King story come to life, and follows the narrative of the novel rather well. A lot of time is spent with the key players, and we get to know the villains, the True Knot, as well as we do Dan and Abra.

From what I understand, Flanagan's film was already strong, and this cut just makes it stronger. I can see that. The director's cut is three hours long, but doesn't feel it. Doctor Sleep is a highly entertaining continuation of The Shining story, and plays as much like a drama as it does a horror movie.

While Kubrick's film is cold and sterile, this one has more emotional weight to it, and pays better tribute to the characters King created. The cast is awesome, especially Rebecca Ferguson as Rose the Hat. She's the scariest -- and sexiest -- movie villain to come along in some time.

Also, Flanagan does a great job paying homage to Kubrick's visual style and brings it into his movie. Some shots mirror ones from The Shining perfectly.

Doctor Sleep is a Good, and a worthy follow up to King's novel, and the film it inspired.

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