Mike Flanagan’s somewhat divisive sequel to classic, genre defining movie The Shining (1980) has always been an interesting topic of discussion to me. Despite it being a sequel to one of the most critically acclaimed movies of all time, it completely flopped at the box office, and even though those that did see it at the time gave mostly good reviews, almost all of them had one common criticism — the third act and its references to The Shining.
If you’re not aware, the third act of Doctor Sleep (2019) sees the two lead characters Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran) and Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor) returning to the ominous Overlook Hotel alongside villain of the movie Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson) for a climactic final confrontation. During this portion of the movie, Danny explores and “wakes up” the hotel with his presence after escaping the building decades earlier. Through this exploration we witness numerous ghosts from The Shining including Horace Derwent (the party guest), Delbert Grady (the caretaker), the Grady twins (you know the ones), and Lloyd the bartender (now a manifestation of Jack Torrance). We also get recreations of scenes but with a new twist on them.
Many criticisms towards this particular part of the movie boil down to people believing the third act is just hollow references to The Shining and a series of scenes which are shot-for-shot remakes of those from Kubrick’s classic. That is where I vehemently disagree. Yes, there are some scenes which replicate shots from the original movie, but I don’t think they’re nearly as shallow as many portray them to be, nor do I think it makes the movie worse. Looking at the behind the scenes, it is very clear that Flanagan and the team went to painstaking lengths to recreate the Overlook, even using original blueprints from Kubrick’s movie, and it’s hard to see that as anything but a labour of love. Up until the third act, Flanagan is intentionally sparse with references to the previous movie, focusing far more on developing the characters of this movie rather than rehashing The Shining’s acclaim.
The scene at the bar in which Dan essentially confronts his dead father’s ghost (or at the least the hotel’s manifestation of it) is not just an homage to the scene in which Jack talks to Lloyd, but it reflects on the difference between the two characters. In The Shining, this scene is the point in which Jack sells his soul “for just a glass of beer” and essentially cements his fate; this is contrasted in the sequel with Dan rejecting the alcohol outright in a moment which cements his overcoming of alcoholism.
Possibly the most egregious use of the references to the original is Abra coming face to face with the Grady Twins and Horace Derwent, particularly after we already saw Dan exploring the Overlook a few scenes beforehand. Also, the blood elevator scene in which Rose shrugs it off could definitely have been left on the cutting room floor. Ultimately I think your mileage on this topic just depends on how you felt watching the movie until this point. If you weren’t invested, it will definitely feel cheap and unnecessary, but if you are invested I do think you’ll be more open to accepting it as an earned and loving tribute.
For me, the third act is a beautiful celebration of one of the best horror (and cinema in general) has to offer and, following an incredible journey with Dan, Abra and Rose, I simply do not think it affects the movie negatively at all. Flanagan had a borderline impossible task with this movie, trying to satisfy both King and Kubrick’s vision of the original story whilst being a sequel that respects both. I think Doctor Sleep is a phenomenal movie that earns its homages through two acts of fantastic character work, an engaging and worthwhile story and one of the most terrifying scenes in modern horror (Jacob Tremblay’s cameo is wonderfully horrible). Flanagan truly crafted something special with this movie, and I am forever grateful to him for that.
