Doctor Sleep Review

    Mike Flanagan's, the director of the cinematic adaptation of Stephen King's Doctor Sleep,staring Ewan McGregor playing Danny Torrance, is visually-striking and beautifully made. The cinematic sequel to the story The Shining follows Danny, a recovering alcoholic, as he has grown up remaining traumatized by the sinister events that occurred at the Overlook Hotel when he was a child. His hope for a peaceful existence soon becomes shattered when he meets Abra, a teen who shares his extrasensory gift of the "shine." I have grown fond of cinematic adaptations of Stephen King novels and believe that Doctor Sleep is among the best I have seen. I specifically want to draw parts of the film that kept me interested and wanting to know more throughout the movie. I enjoyed the human aspect of Danny Torrance remaining plagued by the events that occurred when he was a child and his battle to regain control of his fear and understanding of the world around him. We begin to see Danny make a new life for himself with the help of a friend in a new town that gives him a chance even though Danny might look to be homeless. Danny struggles to become sober and eventually does exactly that knowing he needs to improve his mental state without having the ability to talk to anyone about his life and what he experiences on a daily basis. I think the depiction of mental struggle in the movie brings to light the mental struggles that people have in their everyday lives. I believe that showing the human struggles internally points to the larger society that a single person may have problems that they feel they can not share due to the nature but helping individuals overcome their problems even without an understanding of what they have been through can improve someone's outlook on life and ultimately improve their situation. Danny becomes sober and begins to work at a nursing home. Danny finds himself understanding patients beliefs that they are going to die from a cat that comes to visit them and lay on their beds. Danny then comforts the elderly people who need a companion and begin to refer to him as "Doctor Sleep" even though he is not a doctor. Danny helps the elderly people pass on in a humane way of understanding and compassion for the lives they lived. The fact that Danny has overcome his own problems and wants to help others have peace within their own lives before passing on interests me even more and makes me love the story further than I did. I became more interested and found myself enjoying the story when Abra, a teen who shares his gift and communicates with him on the chalk board in Danny's room. Danny finally begins to feel like he is not alone in the world with this ability. It starts to restore his faith in the world even more than his own actions. I felt happy for Danny and really liked this realization he comes to. Danny quickly finds out that their are evil forces in the world starving for souls like Danny and Abra, similar to a soul sucking vampires. Eventually Danny and Abra embark on a journey to defeat these evil beings using their abilities and having mental battles that physically harm the beings and themselves. I really liked the idea that these evil beings are soul sucking vampires and can sense more power from Abra and eventually Danny as well. These beings are obstacles that Danny must face after seeming to recover from his childhood. I liked the plot of Danny having to face his worst fears after doing just this within his own mind but physically having to deal with the fear again. Given that people with their abilities can see the past and future, the dead manifest themselves as real beings that can haunt them for their lives. Abra and Danny work together to defeat the evil beings by using their powers against them and even Danny using his past fears of other beings from his childhood to defeat them and temporarily become one of them. I really liked Danny as an adult and how he was able to help a teenager defeat these beings by facing his life long fears that have literally been suppressed in his mind. I found myself on the edge of my seat until the very end of the movie where we discover that Danny is dead but the teenage girl, Abra, can still see him and talk to him. Danny does end up becoming a memory that only people with their ability can see and understand but he is not an evil entity that wants to haunt Abra, rather he is their to comfort her and make sure that she is not alone. Danny also had his own friend over his life that was dead but helped him with the fears he faced and Danny wanted to do the same for Abra. I loved this movie because it is a story about a man overcoming his fears from childhood and becoming a true gentle human that does not become consumed by the evil in the world. I loved that he faces his fears again and really embraces them to help a child not become how he did when he grew up.