As someone who read the books and saw the films, I had exactly the same feeling as you of reconciliation between the author's original intent and the most known film adaptation's visual meaning. Thank you for putting that interpretation to a video essay.
Filmed beautifully I just didn't like the depiction of superpowers element...sucking life force, teleporting and magic. Naw that was some Marvel shit. It took me out of the horror and into scifi. They could have filmed those less cgi
@@m2kaay Not unfair but that was much closer to the book. Especially so when making the hotel the pervasive evil which was King’s intent. This was clearly changed by Kubrick to show Nicholson descending into madness. I like them both for different reasons but I think the ending of Dr. Sleep tied things up nicely.
When I walked out the theater after Doctor Sleep my biggest takeaway was how amazed I was that it had somehow managed to be both a faithful adaptation and also a sequel to the Kubrik Shining. It blew my mind in the best way. True skill.
The best "wrong" ending ever brought to the screen. It fills in the emotional gaps of Kubrik's adaptation and reconciles two versions of the story that until then had always been irreconcilably opposed. I was in ecstasy when I came out of the cinema. This film is a stroke of genius on more than one level.
I thought the ending was really dumb. The hotel wins in the end; the ghosts killed Jack, they killed Danny, and then they escape to be seen in Abra's house. The torture of children demands an emotional payoff. This movie tortures 3 children to death then tries to make up for it by having an alcoholic talk about himself and his own problems. Narcissistic addicts think nothing is more dramatic than their own addiction, having Dany renounce his father's and his own alcoholism is where the movie should've started because it's the weakest point of the storytelling.
I've always felt the fact Mike Flanagan seems to hold reverence for both King and Kubrick is what made him the perfect director to make a film that follow both of those artist's works, creating something that I've always felt is a perfect middle ground between the two This video really helps fleshing out those feelings I had when coming out of the theater after seeing this film
Absolutely agree with your analysis. This is exactly why I liked the movie so much. As for his “turning”, I saw it as more plot necessary as he had to vomit out all the Overlook ghosts to kill Rose and he had to distract the Hotel long enough for it to not notice the boiler. So while Jack was possessed for real, Danny allowed himself to be possessed to destroy the Overlook.
Like I said it was a small complaint overall, but I just had this feeling every time that scene came up and through writing this essay it helped me process some of why I think I felt that way, but I like your interpretation! That's a cool way to view the scene.
@@daniel_netzel I like Cruz Flores idea that Dan let the Overlook possess him to keep it distracted, but I don't think he would have risked Abra's safety like that. I think part of what pushed Dan into becoming an addict like his father was him using alcohol and other substances to numb his shine so the monsters from the Overlook couldn't get to him anymore. I imagine how much fear and pain it took to trap them in the boxes and I can understand why he didn't want to use his shine anymore; all it did was cause him trouble. Then he had to let them out to deal with Rose the Hat, and I imagine he wasn't planning on being in the Overlook when they were done with her, but she hurt him enough he didn't have time to get Abra and get out. I believe it was there, surrounded by the things he had feared for so long, and knowing those monsters were stronger after eating Rose the Hat, he faltered in his second test and the Overlook got him... mostly. That little bit of the boy Danny that he used to call Tony was still there because it was the part of Danny that tapped into his shine the strongest, and it was the part of himself that Dan called on for help already. That's why Abra was able to bring him back, even though they didn't have the family bond, and that's why he was able to resist the Overlook long enough for the boiler to explode and burn the place down. I liked the bit in the book where Jack was able to help Dan defeat Rose the Hat and live, but I think I like the movie ending better. Dan can still mentor Abra like Halloran did for him, but he was able to end the evil of the Overlook by cleansing it with fire, and hopefully that set everyone free.
Mike Flanagan is the man. I can't wait to see everything he puts out after Hill House, Bly Manor and Midnight Mass. Doctor sleep is a movie I will never regret missing out in cinema.
When I had read online months before it came to theatres that Doctor Sleep was a sequel to The Shining, I immediately went out to buy the book and luckily finished it by the time I saw the movie
It's perhaps poetic that Doctor Sleep is currently being overlooked in much the same way The Shining was initially panned, in time the films' value will shine through
Great video. WB backed _Doctor Sleep_ with a lackluster campaign & the film was indistinguishable from any throwaway King adaptation. I caught it with muted interest, expected nothing, and it completely blew me away. More than a great Action/Horror flick, _Doctor Sleep_ is a surprisingly thoughtful & intimate examination of trauma, abuse, depression, grief, & death. The _"Aliens"_ to _The Shining's_ _"Alien"_ - it's a special film, a (near) masterpiece, & was the Best Picture of 2019 (imo). _Gerald's Game_ is excellent too - a Flanagan produced _Dark Tower_ series would be aces.
When I first saw the trailers my thought was "Really? Who the fuck thought making a Shining sequel was a good idea?" It just looked like a lazy sequel at best, or a total shitshow at worst, I never expected it to become one of my favorite horror films, certainly one of the best films of that year. And oh yeah, I absolutely loved Gerald's Game as well, Carla should have won an Oscar for her performance.
Rebecca Ferguson shoulda gotten a Supporting Actress nom for her role. She plays a truly scary villain bent on evil, yet SO seductive. Her performance reminded me of Hannibal Lecter and his towering presence, even when off-screen. The movie itself, arguably, shoulda been a Best Picture contender. It is a deep-thinking movie, despite the horror element.
One thing I actually really like is how much of it reminds me of the low-budget but charming made for tv King movies, so much of it takes place in perfectly ordinary campgrounds in the woods, or other places where (in those movies) you can tell that the location is chosen for a cheap shooting budget, but the True Knot has a reason to be in these isolated places, and it seems to be their traditional stomping ground, given the caravan of RV's they travel in.
This is an amazing video. I’ve been a huge fan of Mike Flanagan for years, and while I always really liked the Doctor Sleep movie, your video made me realize just how good it actually is. The only thing I’m surprised you didn’t bring up was Flanagan’s own struggle with addiction that I’m sure made Doctor Sleep feel so real to the Shining novel
Thank you Reed! I definitely thought about going more into that, because I agree, his past struggles with alcohol really made him a good fit for this story, and these themes show up really beautifully in Midnight Mass as well.
Greatly underrated. Watching "Shining" and "Sleep" back to back is almost as rewarding as the Godfather, and it's sequel. In "Sleep", Rebecca Ferguson as Rose the Hat was particularly effective and just flat out scary. She had such a strong presence, I thought she was probably around 5'10" to 6 feet tall. She's actually 5' 6".
Everything you've said in this essay. But also! There's no denial that seeing King likes this adaptation after his expectations weren't met with Kubrick's film, really warms my heart. I'm happy to see him happy. :)
I just love that Stephen King can also have some closure on Stanley Kubrick’s movie too. He genuinely looked happy with the legacy the movies will have and how they represented his novels.
I was so surprised by how good this movie was. The Shining is one of my favorite movies of all time and I went in expecting an inferior follow up to Kubrick but as someone with trauma who’s worked very hard at overcoming it despite resorting to my own bad coping mechanisms, it really hit home for me and even made me cry.
I watched doctor sleep on a flight a few months after it came out and I was very pleasantly surprised. I think Mike Flanagan is definitely a force to be reckoned with in the horror Chandra because his work isn't just about the scary parts but also the humanity Inside all of us. To me every single one of his pieces have been a home run
I agree that the Overlook possessing adult Danny seems wrong, but I'm curious if that was a concession to get the scene from the original book where Danny brings Jack back temporarily making him "drop the mask" and allow his son to go free and take out the hotel. When I saw the scene with Danny and Abra in Doctor Sleep I knew immediately it was straight from The Shining novel with the roles shifted.
I don't think it was wrong. The hotel could never gain full possession over Danny like it could his father. I think that's why only one of his eyes goes cloudy.
Some reason I actually like it. The overlook fckn with him with Jack first, then waiting for Danny to do kill Rose, and finish what it started. And Danny kills it with one last insult, he still won. He went through the bs his dad went through and won. He breaks the cycle of violence with the true knot, the hotel, and the Torrence lineage. 3 familial generations of bs and 3 cycles of endless violence ended with and because of him. And despite everything that happened he dies peacefully, content, and with closure. more alive in death than he felt in life. But I do like that he lives in the book, another insult. “I won, I survived, and I beat you”
I didn't like the idea that Danny could still be possessed, but I think the way it ended redeemed that choice. It implied that the simple choice of denying his addiction, even at that pivotal moment, didn't erase his inner darkness which is frankly realistic, but at the same time, the fact he did deny his addiction is what empowered him to overcome his inner demons to save Abra. The possession and taking back control in a way felt like a mirror image of the struggle of Danny's life.
That's why I actually liked the partial possession. It was partial because he refused the drink unlike his father, and it allowed them to somehow include that dropped moment from Kubrick's adaptation.
The shining is a certified hood classic in my eyes. It is genuinely that amazing and God help me, Doctor Sleep is criminally overlooked. It's both an amazing adaptation and a beautiful tribute to Kubrick's version of the film. Great movie.
Thanks for the high quality analysis as always. I liked when you brought up stuff from Dark Tower. Doctor Sleep is honestly such a unique and great movie, and I love Flanagan's work in general, so it's always good to see a review of it.
Thank you for your kind words! Flanagan just keeps blowing me away with everything he does, and Doctor Sleep was such a welcome delight for me as a fan of King and Kubrick, and horror in general. Also highly recommend Gerald's Game if you haven't seen it!
And yeah totally agree with your take on Flanagan. It's about time that the horror genre doesn't always just use jump scares and gore to scare people. I've been waiting for films that scare you with a story instead. So much better!
@@daniel_netzel Just discovered your channel and it's fantastic! I really appreciate someone who puts work into their projects as I do the same every day.
I remember hearing the story that Kubrick had seen Eraserhead before he made the shining and the he was so enamored with it, he had a screening for the cast and crew before they started shooting. I don’t know how true that story is, but it does make me wonder how it influenced his approach to king’s story.
I've read that Eraserhead became Kubrick's favorite film after watching it, and I know for certain that it influenced him when directing The Shining. I've also seen mention that The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby were huge influences for him too.
One of my favorites from one of my favorites. Thinking about doing a video on Midnight Mass too, because that's definitely the top spot of Flanagan's work for me.
Doctor Sleep was an amazing film and a perfect sequel. Flanagan really knows his stuff. The one thing that could have made it better in my opinion would've been a Jack Nicholson cameo. Flanagan approached Nicholson about the film but he was turned down as Jack was adamant about his retirement.
@@tonoornottono Good point. That actor is Henry Thomas. Elliot from E.T. all grown up. Never would've imagined him one day playing Jack Torrance. LOL. Also I loved how Flanagan kept the continuity from the original with Shelley Duvall's character. Alex Essoe did an amazing job and looked very much like her. I remember two times when I felt actual chills of nostalgia run through my body. One was the first time I saw The Force Awakens trailer with Harrison Ford and the other one was when I saw the Doctor Sleep trailer for the first time. The shot of the Overlook with the Symphony Fantastique score in the background gave me serious chills. Such nostalgia.
The Dark Half (1993). Not only is it an insanely underrated King adaptation, but also an insanely underrated George A. Romero horror film. Check it out, people.
I'm surprised Dr. Sleep didn't do better, it disturbed and moved me in a way most horror films don't. And then it stuck with me for a long time. I agree with your points here! I thought it was a truly great sequel by enriching the first instead of betraying it. Thanks for articulating this!
15:21 Thomas Lerooy's sculpture "You Were on My Mind" is such a chilling artwork and perfectly encapsulates the alcoholic's struggle. Thank you for including it.
Kubrick took kings word and turned it into pure genius nightmarish excellence. Nearly everything he touched in cinema would turn to gold, with that Said Mike did a good job.
Such a wonderfully thought out and well put video essay. Seriously couldn't have worded it better; I saw Doctor Sleep opening weekend and immediately gave it my praise and hold it in such high regard
Like King I was disappointed with how much character development Kubric took out of the Shining, but Doctor Sleep somehow managed to reconcile both versions of the story perfectly. And you can't deny that the hotel still standing makes for a more climactic ending to the sequel.
I've been following Flanagan's directorial journey since before Hill House so when I found out he was the director I went from "curious" to "actually excited"
Big props to the editing on this video I know it took forever it looks great though 🙌 and I love doctor sleep I feel like it flew under the radar for no reason
I was very sceptical of this film being a sequel and adaptation of a book that collided with each other. As you said in the video, Mike somehow pulled it off very well. I honestly believe although the film was not a huge hit or received that well with critics, just like Kubrick's, this film will stand the test of time and be looked back on fondly and appreciated for many years to come.
Dude great video and analysis, very well-chosen words! And I should know, I've spent WAY too long consuming video essays on RUclips, glad the algorithm worked this time
I LOVED Dr. Sleep so so much. It brought me to tears. And I think your analysis knocked it out of the park. I’m eager to visit your back catalogue of videos. You earned my subscription!!
This movie felt so much into the Kingverse... and that's really something to appreciate. There's a lot of waste in films which are not related to this. Great video!
This is an incredibly well edited video. Excellent work! Mike Flanagan is super underrated and needs to be brought to the spotlight as an iconic horror director. Super well done!
Kubrick does not need to be apologetic about changing King's scenario in "The Shining." Frankly speaking, there is a great difference between the "universe" of the book and the "universe" of the film. Kubrick knew this and used King's book as a "springboard." What he created is a scenario where the viewer puts himself into "the life of the scenario." I feel a part of the scenario of "The Shining" and after 40 viewings, I still return to see it every year. King's book is great, but maybe in a few years, I might return to reread it!
This video was incredibly well done and I learned a ton of new things about Mike Flanagan. Also a great perspective on Doctor Sleep. Thank you for this!
Having just watched the Shining (in the theater!) for probably the 50th time in my life, this makes me want to revisit Doctor Sleep. I have to keep reminding myself of the whole pretense you are basing this on: that Doctor Sleep is indeed a reconciliation between between King and Kubrick because in Kubrick's version, there is very little (if any) hint that there is a "light side" to Jack. He's essentially pure, unadulterated "evil" in The Shining. It's not that the hotel or the alcohol make him do anything. He has "always been there". He has physically and emotionally abused his family and he's sexually abused Danny long before The Overlook comes into play. Even when he's sober, it's very clear that he's frankly a total monster who consistently demeans his family and keeps them in a constant state of fear and walking on eggshells. I can't remember if Doctor Sleep acknowledges the sexual abuse perpetrated on Dan, although it defiantly parallels the actions of The True Knot and child sexual abuse. I also can't remember but I'm pretty sure that although Danny takes a dive into alcohol abuse and violence, he doesn't veer anywhere near towards becoming a child molester. I think Flanagan and Kubrick tackle some of the same themes but they are very different in their approaches. Kubrick also doesn't touch on Jack's childhood (I don't think it really needs to) whereas Flanagan humanizes Jack. That's just how he rolls. All of Flanagan's films are about trauma and reconciliation and hence lies the perfection of him being chosen to create Doctor Sleep: not only for the reconciliation in the film, but for the reconciliation between King and Kubrick. I think it's very true that to create effective horror, you have create a story that deeply explores characters and depicts love to get the audience invested in the first place. Somehow Kubrick created possibly the best horror film ever made without doing much of this at all. Of course there is the love between Wendy and Danny that we are given glimpses of (and that ultimately wins in the end) but for the majority of The Shining, Wendy fails to keep Danny safe and she certainly can't keep herself safe ( as is true in most domestic abuse scenarios). In any case, great analysis! I'm going to watch Doctor Sleep tonight!
Fantastic analysis! I love the book and film adaptations of The Shining and Doctor Sleep, and Flanagan did an incredible job bridging the gap between the source material of both novels and Kubrick's The Shining.
This movie is really layered with a lot of occult meanings, and parallels. Well worth a watch. Great expose, lots of insights in your video, bravo, subscribed.
I just love the redemption arc of Danny ending up mentoring the young boy from Tatooine who eventually saves the galaxy from an evil empire. Never saw it coming.
An amazing video, and finally someone who approaches it with some empathy and value. I love, hell I adore Doctor Sleep also the Shinning and both are indeed so incredible well done. Glad to see someone also sees it this way and understands the concepts made in both movies and the books.
You did an amazing work. It was a recommendation from youtube's algorithm that brought me here, and I'll make sure to discover the rest of your body of work. Love your vision.
I'm a trans guy who grew up in an abusive household, and this is one of my favorite movies of all time, as it really helped me come to terms with the legacy of trauma in my family and how I face masculinity and my newfound sense of self as a result of it. The setting of The Shining also holds a particular weight for me, as I grew up in Colorado in an area very similar to where the Overlook would have been, and escaping Colorado was very much like leaving my own horrific experience behind. I really relate to Danny, both in his mannerisms and background, and I really aspire to be able to grow and heal in the way he did throughout the course of the film. This film also helped me figure out my autism, as in a lot of ways "the shining" feels analogous to how it feels to have autism vs how the world perceives autistic people and often tries to harm us because of our differences. Flanagan is a fantastic director, and this movie feels so safe and close to home in its portrayal of the horrors that come with the legacy of abuse, addiction, and trauma, and how despite the darkness within us all, there is so so much light.
Love this. Your approach, the tone, the pace, everything is perfect and take us to understand the concepts and the connections. I saw the movie and loved it, but seeing your video made me understand it more in deep. Kudos for such a superb work!
What an excellent examination of an amazing movie! I am grateful for your efforts to bring a greater understanding to Doctor Sleep. I too am a great admirer of Flanagan! His work is so unbelievably satisfying. I will never forget my experience watching Doctor Sleep in theater, because it (unintentionally) coincided with my 3 year sobriety date. It was an especially affirming viewing for me that I could not have put into better words than you have with this essay. Thank you!
I predict that this film will take it's place next to 'The Shining' as one of the all-time great horror films of all time. Horror is not a setting, horror is not an event, horror is not a jump scare. Horrror is about the shitty parts of us we're trying to deal with. To quote Ron D. Moore, 'It's the characters, stupid!'
I know Flanagan's dream King adaptation is The Dark Tower series... I honestly think if he and Frank Darabont worked together they could do a bang up job of adapting that series for a cinematic streaming series... as they are two of the best directors to have adapted Kings work.
And let's be real, Frank Darabont already knows how to do a series, he was the reason The Walking Dead was ever worth watching, I still can't fathom why they pushed him out of the show. But the two of them together working on The Dark Tower would be solid fucking gold.
I think you hit the nail right on the head...Stanley Kubrick's Shining was a master piece that haunting and still thought provoking. But the ending definitely lacked that usually ending of Stephen King, and left so many questions on what will happen to Danny and Wendy... Yet Flanagan's Dr Sleep gave me the chills of the Overlook Hotel and some of the visions and we saw the cycle finally broken with violence and alcoholism with Danny. It had a redemption and it wrapped up Dr Sleep and the original Shining... It really could have been a disaster or shlock but he weaved the stories together and came with an ending that emotional cathartic release. I am sure Kubrick would have hated it, but it's not a Kubrick film, it's a Flanagan film and it's good in my books
@@daniel_netzel ya if you want to check it out the audio books are really well done, I have read it once and listened to it twice on my commute. Totally worth the time.
As someone who did grow up watching "The Shining" as a kid, I really think "Doctor Sleep was definitely a great movie. I don't really like to call this a sequel to "The Shining", but rather a follow-up and the end of a conversation about alcoholism and parental abuse. What makes this brilliant is this was really about Danny Torrance's arc of not ending up like his father and in doing so, he saves another kid who has similar powers like he does. Mike Flanagan really brought out a lot of empathy with his filmmaking.
Thank you for your great analysis,it made me feel a little better about Kubrick and his version of The Shining. Just not a fan but I absolutely love Doctor Sleep, not really sure why but it stays with me. Have seen it multiple times. I'm also a fan of Flannigan's and agree that he is adding something new to the horror film/show. Very well done!
Kinda liked that Danny ended the 3 cycles of violence with him. Almost like a petty insult and so that the cycle he’s a part of ends with him. And despite everything he died peacefully, content, and with closure. But I do like that the book let’s him live as an even harsher “fck you, I won” to everything he had to deal with while still ending the two cycles
I find this movie very under appreciated. It blows my mind there are fans of Kubrick, The Shining and the novel that haven't given this movie a watch yet.
Flanagan and King is the perfect peanut butter and chocolate blend As someone who couldn't get into the Dark Tower series I can't wait to see how Flanagan adapts it and other Stephen King works
While I find this video a great appraisal and is superbly crafted, I’m left unconvinced. Flanagan has ostensibly created a sequel to King’s novel, but has mined the aesthetic of Kubrick’s film for purposes of cinematic nostalgia. I get that there’s a conversation that can be had about Hauntology in his creative decisions, but Flanagan has completely ignored Kubrick’s various subtexts. And Kubrick’s Shining is ALL about subtext. Summing up, and whether we agree with him or not, Kubrick is being both cryptic and lucid about his feelings about the very existence of America: it only exists because of evil; history is where horror really exists, not in the campfire-side story telling of King. Inserting his own struggles with alcohol as a driver for telling a story is really as deep King gets, although he is quite a deft writer and raconteur. King had a destructive relationship with alcohol, which is the corner stone to his Overlook Hotel. Kubrick, on the other hand, has specifically chosen bourbon as Jack’s poison for its American nature: THE American Spirit, perhaps. Both Bourbon and Jack’s addiction to it are intended as metaphors in Kubrick’s film, while King’s struggles as an alcoholic are given no regard. King’s novel is quite a simple story with an obviously dichotomous structure of light and dark, good and evil etc. Kubrick’s Shining shows its hand, but tells us that we should look under the table to see what’s really going on. Flanagan’s film veers towards the safer horror of King than the subversion of Kubrick while shamelessly pilfering the aesthetics of The Shining.
I think it was just a necessary thing to do, it's a direct sequel to that story, and with The Shining being so popular there was no way to make a legacy sequel to that without referencing it visually at least. But yeah, I mean, they're just two different stories, that's the point. King always writes from a very personal place, it's why half of his main characters are writers. He battles his personal demons on the page and shares that with his readers, and that is precisely why so many people love him, that's a great avenue of horror that has always existed and he has been undeniably successful in doing. But Kubrick was different, he was like a savant, an absolute master of his craft in every single way that was often described by crew as the only director who could do their jobs better than they could. Everything he touched transcended into the all-time masterpiece status because he was just that good. The Shining was even after he started to experiment more, notably with 2001: A Space Odyssey, in terms of what people thought that a film or cinematic experience could be. He was all about pushing boundaries and breaking rules, and exploring a million different concepts within one film, letting the audience take away whichever meaning they choose. Within those two disciplines I think it's clear that Flanagan leans more towards the King method. He uses horror has his own way to explore the darkest things in himself, and bring that out in a way that resonates with a lot of people. It's not a type of horror for everyone, but to just call it "safer" I think is unfair. In many ways it's far more challenging, to bare your soul like that for the world to see, to try and help people battle with their own darkness, I think there's tremendous value in that. And using the aesthetics of The Shining is just a natural thing I think because it is a sequel. So much of the film is Flanagan's flair and vision, like the absolute vast majority of the film. But considering how much the story evolves from The Shining it wouldn't make sense to just throw that away.
One minor thing, Jack WAS wrong about Grady. He confused Delbert (killed his TWINS in some past decade) with his presumed ancestor Charles (killed his daughters, “eight and ten”) in 1970.
I love the movies! Both of em! I often watch "The Shining" followed by "Doctor Sleep" as I often like to watch any of the movies we own that have any number of sequels in them in succession
I don't think that Dan being possessed was a detriment because it wasn't just his father's actions that he was not dealing with well, but the hotel itself and the darkness that lay there. He locked away the ghosts in his mind and never dealt with them. It is similar to people 'locking away' their past, but when those ggosts inevitability come out they can take over a person, making them act in ways they normally wouldn’t. He had to fight his way theough all of his demons, his father and the ghosts of the past (literally) to finally gain the peace he so deserved.
I've read DOCTOR SLEEP and, as much as I enjoyed it, I actually like the film more. That's a rare thing, in my experience. Your video does an excellent job illustrating what makes the movie great and why it works so well.
8:49 we can see a door behind the shelf. That’s how he got out. Kubrick was adamant that his adaptation was just a story of a family collectively going insane and the supernatural elements were in their head. If you can’t see the door, following the rules of thirds it’s in column one, row two
I've looked everywhere for anything of Kubrick talking about his work, and the only thing he's consistently adamant about is leaving room for interpretation, but he has occasionally provided answers, including for The Shining, which he describes as an evil reincarnation cycle. He specifically uses the word ghost when describing the scene in the men's room with Grady. So I think it's clear where he stands on the supernatural elements of the film.
@@daniel_netzel I think it's also fair to look at Kubrick's other films for context, which is where the claim that The Shining doesn't deal with supernatural really "shines". Because Kubrick's films very much dealt with reality, but in the context of dreams and illusions. He was not a believer in the supernatural. Great analysis in the video!
Yes. Thank you. You helped me figure out why this movie resonated so much with me. Because on top of everything else I loved about it, we have yet another interpretation of Pinocchio saving his father from the belly of the whale. Just as Luke and Vader represent the same archetype.
I just wish the big reveal wasn’t carnival vampires. I wish there was more significance given to the haunting than simple hunger for lightness. Got a bit mawkish, imho. It actually made me appreciate Kubrick’s version of the shining a whole lot more, because the explanation given wasn’t satisfying so perhaps it’s better to leave it a mystery. I watched bc I do adore Mike Flanagan and I was promised resolutions to all the unresolved questions from Kubrick’s film. Now I kinda wish I didn’t know the answer. I do agree though, Doctor Sleep definitely tried to marry the visions of King and Kubrick, but I think King’s influence reigns in this one and to its detriment imo.
One thing I can''t quite understand in Dr Sleep -that it's "The Bartender" who knocks away the drink, not Dan. It's quite a quick edit in the film but clear in the BTS footage. Is it implied that Dan is about to drink and the ghost of his dad stops him? I'm still not sure.
As someone who read the books and saw the films, I had exactly the same feeling as you of reconciliation between the author's original intent and the most known film adaptation's visual meaning. Thank you for putting that interpretation to a video essay.
Thank you for your comment!
I feel the same way. You did such an amazing job, thank you. Subscribed
Damn straight.
"Reconciliation" Perfect word. This film was able to tie the original novel and film together, then resolve both. Amazing.
People really slept on how good this movie was... i'll see myself out
i see what you did there ;)
Took me a second 😂
Filmed beautifully I just didn't like the depiction of superpowers element...sucking life force, teleporting and magic. Naw that was some Marvel shit. It took me out of the horror and into scifi. They could have filmed those less cgi
@@m2kaay Not unfair but that was much closer to the book. Especially so when making the hotel the pervasive evil which was King’s intent. This was clearly changed by Kubrick to show Nicholson descending into madness. I like them both for different reasons but I think the ending of Dr. Sleep tied things up nicely.
Just like the shining. Seems to be a cycle of them getting lukewarm responses just to be heralded as underrated classics years later.
When I walked out the theater after Doctor Sleep my biggest takeaway was how amazed I was that it had somehow managed to be both a faithful adaptation and also a sequel to the Kubrik Shining. It blew my mind in the best way. True skill.
The best "wrong" ending ever brought to the screen.
It fills in the emotional gaps of Kubrik's adaptation and reconciles two versions of the story that until then had always been irreconcilably opposed.
I was in ecstasy when I came out of the cinema.
This film is a stroke of genius on more than one level.
Couldn't agree more! Still waiting for the rest of the horror scene to catch on to that haha, still such an underrated movie
I thought the ending was really dumb. The hotel wins in the end; the ghosts killed Jack, they killed Danny, and then they escape to be seen in Abra's house.
The torture of children demands an emotional payoff. This movie tortures 3 children to death then tries to make up for it by having an alcoholic talk about himself and his own problems. Narcissistic addicts think nothing is more dramatic than their own addiction, having Dany renounce his father's and his own alcoholism is where the movie should've started because it's the weakest point of the storytelling.
I've always felt the fact Mike Flanagan seems to hold reverence for both King and Kubrick is what made him the perfect director to make a film that follow both of those artist's works, creating something that I've always felt is a perfect middle ground between the two
This video really helps fleshing out those feelings I had when coming out of the theater after seeing this film
Absolutely agree with your analysis. This is exactly why I liked the movie so much. As for his “turning”, I saw it as more plot necessary as he had to vomit out all the Overlook ghosts to kill Rose and he had to distract the Hotel long enough for it to not notice the boiler. So while Jack was possessed for real, Danny allowed himself to be possessed to destroy the Overlook.
Like I said it was a small complaint overall, but I just had this feeling every time that scene came up and through writing this essay it helped me process some of why I think I felt that way, but I like your interpretation! That's a cool way to view the scene.
@@daniel_netzel I like Cruz Flores idea that Dan let the Overlook possess him to keep it distracted, but I don't think he would have risked Abra's safety like that. I think part of what pushed Dan into becoming an addict like his father was him using alcohol and other substances to numb his shine so the monsters from the Overlook couldn't get to him anymore. I imagine how much fear and pain it took to trap them in the boxes and I can understand why he didn't want to use his shine anymore; all it did was cause him trouble. Then he had to let them out to deal with Rose the Hat, and I imagine he wasn't planning on being in the Overlook when they were done with her, but she hurt him enough he didn't have time to get Abra and get out. I believe it was there, surrounded by the things he had feared for so long, and knowing those monsters were stronger after eating Rose the Hat, he faltered in his second test and the Overlook got him... mostly. That little bit of the boy Danny that he used to call Tony was still there because it was the part of Danny that tapped into his shine the strongest, and it was the part of himself that Dan called on for help already. That's why Abra was able to bring him back, even though they didn't have the family bond, and that's why he was able to resist the Overlook long enough for the boiler to explode and burn the place down.
I liked the bit in the book where Jack was able to help Dan defeat Rose the Hat and live, but I think I like the movie ending better. Dan can still mentor Abra like Halloran did for him, but he was able to end the evil of the Overlook by cleansing it with fire, and hopefully that set everyone free.
Mike Flanagan is the man. I can't wait to see everything he puts out after Hill House, Bly Manor and Midnight Mass. Doctor sleep is a movie I will never regret missing out in cinema.
saaaaaame
When I had read online months before it came to theatres that Doctor Sleep was a sequel to The Shining, I immediately went out to buy the book and luckily finished it by the time I saw the movie
will never regret missing out in cinema?
@@youtubegarbage7876Yeah he goofed himself with that statement.. He must've meant he regrets missing out on seeing it on the big screen
It's perhaps poetic that Doctor Sleep is currently being overlooked in much the same way The Shining was initially panned, in time the films' value will shine through
Great video. WB backed _Doctor Sleep_ with a lackluster campaign & the film was indistinguishable from any throwaway King adaptation. I caught it with muted interest, expected nothing, and it completely blew me away.
More than a great Action/Horror flick, _Doctor Sleep_ is a surprisingly thoughtful & intimate examination of trauma, abuse, depression, grief, & death.
The _"Aliens"_ to _The Shining's_ _"Alien"_ - it's a special film, a (near) masterpiece, & was the Best Picture of 2019 (imo).
_Gerald's Game_ is excellent too - a Flanagan produced _Dark Tower_ series would be aces.
When I first saw the trailers my thought was "Really? Who the fuck thought making a Shining sequel was a good idea?" It just looked like a lazy sequel at best, or a total shitshow at worst, I never expected it to become one of my favorite horror films, certainly one of the best films of that year. And oh yeah, I absolutely loved Gerald's Game as well, Carla should have won an Oscar for her performance.
Rebecca Ferguson shoulda gotten a Supporting Actress nom for her role. She plays a truly scary villain bent on evil, yet SO seductive. Her performance reminded me of Hannibal Lecter and his towering presence, even when off-screen. The movie itself, arguably, shoulda been a Best Picture contender. It is a deep-thinking movie, despite the horror element.
One thing I actually really like is how much of it reminds me of the low-budget but charming made for tv King movies, so much of it takes place in perfectly ordinary campgrounds in the woods, or other places where (in those movies) you can tell that the location is chosen for a cheap shooting budget, but the True Knot has a reason to be in these isolated places, and it seems to be their traditional stomping ground, given the caravan of RV's they travel in.
This is an amazing video. I’ve been a huge fan of Mike Flanagan for years, and while I always really liked the Doctor Sleep movie, your video made me realize just how good it actually is. The only thing I’m surprised you didn’t bring up was Flanagan’s own struggle with addiction that I’m sure made Doctor Sleep feel so real to the Shining novel
Thank you Reed! I definitely thought about going more into that, because I agree, his past struggles with alcohol really made him a good fit for this story, and these themes show up really beautifully in Midnight Mass as well.
'The world is a hungry place'
Probably the best line ever spoken, it bridges the gap between King and Kubrick, my own opinion of course..
Greatly underrated. Watching "Shining" and "Sleep" back to back is almost as rewarding as the Godfather, and it's sequel. In "Sleep", Rebecca Ferguson as Rose the Hat was particularly effective and just flat out scary. She had such a strong presence, I thought she was probably around 5'10" to 6 feet tall. She's actually 5' 6".
Everything you've said in this essay. But also! There's no denial that seeing King likes this adaptation after his expectations weren't met with Kubrick's film, really warms my heart. I'm happy to see him happy. :)
me too! He really seemed to love the film and I love that for him
I just love that Stephen King can also have some closure on Stanley Kubrick’s movie too. He genuinely looked happy with the legacy the movies will have and how they represented his novels.
it makes me happy to see Stephen King happy
@@daniel_netzel me too☺️
I was so surprised by how good this movie was. The Shining is one of my favorite movies of all time and I went in expecting an inferior follow up to Kubrick but as someone with trauma who’s worked very hard at overcoming it despite resorting to my own bad coping mechanisms, it really hit home for me and even made me cry.
Dr Sleep was a total turd. An insult to Kubrick's masterpiece.
I watched doctor sleep on a flight a few months after it came out and I was very pleasantly surprised. I think Mike Flanagan is definitely a force to be reckoned with in the horror Chandra because his work isn't just about the scary parts but also the humanity Inside all of us. To me every single one of his pieces have been a home run
I agree that the Overlook possessing adult Danny seems wrong, but I'm curious if that was a concession to get the scene from the original book where Danny brings Jack back temporarily making him "drop the mask" and allow his son to go free and take out the hotel. When I saw the scene with Danny and Abra in Doctor Sleep I knew immediately it was straight from The Shining novel with the roles shifted.
Yeah- it felt like the climax of the film was also trying to reconcile what was dropped from the original adaptation
I don't think it was wrong. The hotel could never gain full possession over Danny like it could his father. I think that's why only one of his eyes goes cloudy.
Some reason I actually like it. The overlook fckn with him with Jack first, then waiting for Danny to do kill Rose, and finish what it started. And Danny kills it with one last insult, he still won. He went through the bs his dad went through and won. He breaks the cycle of violence with the true knot, the hotel, and the Torrence lineage. 3 familial generations of bs and 3 cycles of endless violence ended with and because of him. And despite everything that happened he dies peacefully, content, and with closure. more alive in death than he felt in life. But I do like that he lives in the book, another insult. “I won, I survived, and I beat you”
I didn't like the idea that Danny could still be possessed, but I think the way it ended redeemed that choice. It implied that the simple choice of denying his addiction, even at that pivotal moment, didn't erase his inner darkness which is frankly realistic, but at the same time, the fact he did deny his addiction is what empowered him to overcome his inner demons to save Abra. The possession and taking back control in a way felt like a mirror image of the struggle of Danny's life.
That's why I actually liked the partial possession. It was partial because he refused the drink unlike his father, and it allowed them to somehow include that dropped moment from Kubrick's adaptation.
The shining is a certified hood classic in my eyes. It is genuinely that amazing and God help me, Doctor Sleep is criminally overlooked. It's both an amazing adaptation and a beautiful tribute to Kubrick's version of the film. Great movie.
overlooked lol
It's nice to hear that Steven King managed to find peace with Stanley Kubrick's version.
Thanks for the high quality analysis as always. I liked when you brought up stuff from Dark Tower. Doctor Sleep is honestly such a unique and great movie, and I love Flanagan's work in general, so it's always good to see a review of it.
Thank you for your kind words! Flanagan just keeps blowing me away with everything he does, and Doctor Sleep was such a welcome delight for me as a fan of King and Kubrick, and horror in general. Also highly recommend Gerald's Game if you haven't seen it!
Hey is that your picture with the Nas album cover in the background? That's so cool. I wanna do that too lol
And yeah totally agree with your take on Flanagan. It's about time that the horror genre doesn't always just use jump scares and gore to scare people. I've been waiting for films that scare you with a story instead. So much better!
@@daniel_netzel Just discovered your channel and it's fantastic! I really appreciate someone who puts work into their projects as I do the same every day.
Oh! I adore Steve's face. "It was great to go back to the Overlook." I think I'm misting up.
I remember hearing the story that Kubrick had seen Eraserhead before he made the shining and the he was so enamored with it, he had a screening for the cast and crew before they started shooting. I don’t know how true that story is, but it does make me wonder how it influenced his approach to king’s story.
I've read that Eraserhead became Kubrick's favorite film after watching it, and I know for certain that it influenced him when directing The Shining. I've also seen mention that The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby were huge influences for him too.
Genuinely such a good movie, I’m so glad you took the time to talk about it!
One of my favorites from one of my favorites. Thinking about doing a video on Midnight Mass too, because that's definitely the top spot of Flanagan's work for me.
Doctor Sleep was an amazing film and a perfect sequel. Flanagan really knows his stuff. The one thing that could have made it better in my opinion would've been a Jack Nicholson cameo. Flanagan approached Nicholson about the film but he was turned down as Jack was adamant about his retirement.
i think the lookalike actor is very uncanny and unnerving. like dan doesn’t quite remember what his dad looked like.
@@tonoornottono Good point. That actor is Henry Thomas. Elliot from E.T. all grown up. Never would've imagined him one day playing Jack Torrance. LOL. Also I loved how Flanagan kept the continuity from the original with Shelley Duvall's character. Alex Essoe did an amazing job and looked very much like her. I remember two times when I felt actual chills of nostalgia run through my body. One was the first time I saw The Force Awakens trailer with Harrison Ford and the other one was when I saw the Doctor Sleep trailer for the first time. The shot of the Overlook with the Symphony Fantastique score in the background gave me serious chills. Such nostalgia.
Man, this is amazing. The in-depth knowledge of king’s work and the parallelism with the film is beautifully crafted. Thank you for this
Thank you for the kind words Nicolas!
I love Mike Flanagan and the way he sees a story. It's never quite what I think is going to happen and I am always pleasantly surprised.
The chapter transitions in this video are gorgeous.
That really was a good film and Ewan McGregor was awesome in his role in this movie.
The Dark Half (1993). Not only is it an insanely underrated King adaptation, but also an insanely underrated George A. Romero horror film. Check it out, people.
Love the subject matter of the video but I'm even more blown away by the editing and atmosphere! This is so well put together!
I really appreciate that! It's something I try to do for every video :)
@@daniel_netzel This is the first of your videos I've watched but I subbed and i'll be sure to check out more!
I'm surprised Dr. Sleep didn't do better, it disturbed and moved me in a way most horror films don't. And then it stuck with me for a long time. I agree with your points here! I thought it was a truly great sequel by enriching the first instead of betraying it. Thanks for articulating this!
15:21 Thomas Lerooy's sculpture "You Were on My Mind" is such a chilling artwork and perfectly encapsulates the alcoholic's struggle. Thank you for including it.
Yeah this movie was well beyond what I expected. Great film.
Kubrick took kings word and turned it into pure genius nightmarish excellence. Nearly everything he touched in cinema would turn to gold, with that Said Mike did a good job.
I watch the shining every year at Halloween. Your analysis really spoke to me. Well done!
For me, Doctor Sleep is the best thing Flanagan has done.
Such a wonderfully thought out and well put video essay. Seriously couldn't have worded it better; I saw Doctor Sleep opening weekend and immediately gave it my praise and hold it in such high regard
Thanks so much for watching! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Like King I was disappointed with how much character development Kubric took out of the Shining, but Doctor Sleep somehow managed to reconcile both versions of the story perfectly. And you can't deny that the hotel still standing makes for a more climactic ending to the sequel.
I've been following Flanagan's directorial journey since before Hill House so when I found out he was the director I went from "curious" to "actually excited"
Finally got around to seeing the video. I discovered Flanagan's work with Hill House, been hooked on his work since. Great video man
Big props to the editing on this video I know it took forever it looks great though 🙌 and I love doctor sleep I feel like it flew under the radar for no reason
Thank you Isaiah! I appreciate that :) Hopefully with more Flanagan fans every year, eventually it'll get the love it deserves
I was very sceptical of this film being a sequel and adaptation of a book that collided with each other. As you said in the video, Mike somehow pulled it off very well. I honestly believe although the film was not a huge hit or received that well with critics, just like Kubrick's, this film will stand the test of time and be looked back on fondly and appreciated for many years to come.
Dude great video and analysis, very well-chosen words! And I should know, I've spent WAY too long consuming video essays on RUclips, glad the algorithm worked this time
Thank you Ryan! I'm glad the algorithm worked out too :D
I LOVED Dr. Sleep so so much. It brought me to tears. And I think your analysis knocked it out of the park. I’m eager to visit your back catalogue of videos. You earned my subscription!!
Michael Flanagan IS the current film master of horror. Midnight Mass is probably the greatest horror mini series of all time.
Midnight Mass is probably my favorite mini series of any genre.
This movie felt so much into the Kingverse... and that's really something to appreciate. There's a lot of waste in films which are not related to this.
Great video!
This is an incredibly well edited video. Excellent work! Mike Flanagan is super underrated and needs to be brought to the spotlight as an iconic horror director. Super well done!
Kubrick does not need to be apologetic about changing King's scenario in "The Shining."
Frankly speaking, there is a great difference between the "universe" of the book and the "universe" of the film.
Kubrick knew this and used King's book as a "springboard."
What he created is a scenario where the viewer puts himself into "the life of the scenario."
I feel a part of the scenario of "The Shining" and after 40 viewings, I still return to see it every year.
King's book is great, but maybe in a few years, I might return to reread it!
This video was incredibly well done and I learned a ton of new things about Mike Flanagan. Also a great perspective on Doctor Sleep. Thank you for this!
Having just watched the Shining (in the theater!) for probably the 50th time in my life, this makes me want to revisit Doctor Sleep. I have to keep reminding myself of the whole pretense you are basing this on: that Doctor Sleep is indeed a reconciliation between between King and Kubrick because in Kubrick's version, there is very little (if any) hint that there is a "light side" to Jack. He's essentially pure, unadulterated "evil" in The Shining. It's not that the hotel or the alcohol make him do anything. He has "always been there". He has physically and emotionally abused his family and he's sexually abused Danny long before The Overlook comes into play. Even when he's sober, it's very clear that he's frankly a total monster who consistently demeans his family and keeps them in a constant state of fear and walking on eggshells. I can't remember if Doctor Sleep acknowledges the sexual abuse perpetrated on Dan, although it defiantly parallels the actions of The True Knot and child sexual abuse. I also can't remember but I'm pretty sure that although Danny takes a dive into alcohol abuse and violence, he doesn't veer anywhere near towards becoming a child molester. I think Flanagan and Kubrick tackle some of the same themes but they are very different in their approaches. Kubrick also doesn't touch on Jack's childhood (I don't think it really needs to) whereas Flanagan humanizes Jack. That's just how he rolls. All of Flanagan's films are about trauma and reconciliation and hence lies the perfection of him being chosen to create Doctor Sleep: not only for the reconciliation in the film, but for the reconciliation between King and Kubrick. I think it's very true that to create effective horror, you have create a story that deeply explores characters and depicts love to get the audience invested in the first place. Somehow Kubrick created possibly the best horror film ever made without doing much of this at all. Of course there is the love between Wendy and Danny that we are given glimpses of (and that ultimately wins in the end) but for the majority of The Shining, Wendy fails to keep Danny safe and she certainly can't keep herself safe ( as is true in most domestic abuse scenarios). In any case, great analysis! I'm going to watch Doctor Sleep tonight!
Fantastic analysis! I love the book and film adaptations of The Shining and Doctor Sleep, and Flanagan did an incredible job bridging the gap between the source material of both novels and Kubrick's The Shining.
This movie is really layered with a lot of occult meanings, and parallels. Well worth a watch. Great expose, lots of insights in your video, bravo, subscribed.
I just love the redemption arc of Danny ending up mentoring the young boy from Tatooine who eventually saves the galaxy from an evil empire. Never saw it coming.
I also loved this movie. It's sad that critics and audiences didn't see its true value. Amazing essay! Tahnk you.
An amazing video, and finally someone who approaches it with some empathy and value.
I love, hell I adore Doctor Sleep also the Shinning and both are indeed so incredible well done.
Glad to see someone also sees it this way and understands the concepts made in both movies and the books.
Thank you! That's something I aspire to with every video :)
You did an amazing work. It was a recommendation from youtube's algorithm that brought me here, and I'll make sure to discover the rest of your body of work.
Love your vision.
Thanks so much for saying so! I hope you enjoy some of the other videos too :)
I'm a trans guy who grew up in an abusive household, and this is one of my favorite movies of all time, as it really helped me come to terms with the legacy of trauma in my family and how I face masculinity and my newfound sense of self as a result of it. The setting of The Shining also holds a particular weight for me, as I grew up in Colorado in an area very similar to where the Overlook would have been, and escaping Colorado was very much like leaving my own horrific experience behind. I really relate to Danny, both in his mannerisms and background, and I really aspire to be able to grow and heal in the way he did throughout the course of the film. This film also helped me figure out my autism, as in a lot of ways "the shining" feels analogous to how it feels to have autism vs how the world perceives autistic people and often tries to harm us because of our differences. Flanagan is a fantastic director, and this movie feels so safe and close to home in its portrayal of the horrors that come with the legacy of abuse, addiction, and trauma, and how despite the darkness within us all, there is so so much light.
Love this. Your approach, the tone, the pace, everything is perfect and take us to understand the concepts and the connections. I saw the movie and loved it, but seeing your video made me understand it more in deep. Kudos for such a superb work!
What a fantastic review. Thank you.
Excellent analysis! Flanagan is a master storyteller and film maker. I already enjoy Doctor Sleep, but now I can rewatch it with a new perspective.
I love these types of break downs. THank you and great vid!
What an excellent examination of an amazing movie! I am grateful for your efforts to bring a greater understanding to Doctor Sleep. I too am a great admirer of Flanagan! His work is so unbelievably satisfying. I will never forget my experience watching Doctor Sleep in theater, because it (unintentionally) coincided with my 3 year sobriety date. It was an especially affirming viewing for me that I could not have put into better words than you have with this essay. Thank you!
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment! I still kick myself for not catching it in theaters lol
I'm glad you're back
Glad to be back :)
I predict that this film will take it's place next to 'The Shining' as one of the all-time great horror films of all time. Horror is not a setting, horror is not an event, horror is not a jump scare. Horrror is about the shitty parts of us we're trying to deal with. To quote Ron D. Moore, 'It's the characters, stupid!'
I loved this movie a lot. I was really sad when I found out many weren’t fond of it
The editing is amazing
Thank you, it took a fair bit of time lol
@@daniel_netzel how do you do those transitions please tell me. Like the Carrie to IT transition with the balloon. I'm amazed
A highly underated film!
Instant classic,like the Shining before it.
Awesome job. Thank you so much for this!
thank you for watching!
I know Flanagan's dream King adaptation is The Dark Tower series... I honestly think if he and Frank Darabont worked together they could do a bang up job of adapting that series for a cinematic streaming series... as they are two of the best directors to have adapted Kings work.
And let's be real, Frank Darabont already knows how to do a series, he was the reason The Walking Dead was ever worth watching, I still can't fathom why they pushed him out of the show. But the two of them together working on The Dark Tower would be solid fucking gold.
I think you hit the nail right on the head...Stanley Kubrick's Shining was a master piece that haunting and still thought provoking. But the ending definitely lacked that usually ending of Stephen King, and left so many questions on what will happen to Danny and Wendy... Yet Flanagan's Dr Sleep gave me the chills of the Overlook Hotel and some of the visions and we saw the cycle finally broken with violence and alcoholism with Danny. It had a redemption and it wrapped up Dr Sleep and the original Shining... It really could have been a disaster or shlock but he weaved the stories together and came with an ending that emotional cathartic release. I am sure Kubrick would have hated it, but it's not a Kubrick film, it's a Flanagan film and it's good in my books
Can only hope that down the road this film will get its due.
Dr Sleep is a movie that makes me cry. I like it when horror movies are beautiful. Jacobs Ladder is another beautiful horror movie.
Ka's a wheel, and having The Dark Tower at the bottom of the adaptation graph, I think I found another fan of the tower. Do ya ken it.
Shamefully I never properly read all of it, but man it's something I need to get back to get through fully.
@@daniel_netzel ya if you want to check it out the audio books are really well done, I have read it once and listened to it twice on my commute. Totally worth the time.
Don't bother. Dark tower is an over indulgent obsession that ends very weakly and lowers the impact of EVERY book it touches.
Long days and pleasant nights 🌹
@@Kazza_8240 Thankee Sai
As someone who did grow up watching "The Shining" as a kid, I really think "Doctor Sleep was definitely a great movie. I don't really like to call this a sequel to "The Shining", but rather a follow-up and the end of a conversation about alcoholism and parental abuse. What makes this brilliant is this was really about Danny Torrance's arc of not ending up like his father and in doing so, he saves another kid who has similar powers like he does. Mike Flanagan really brought out a lot of empathy with his filmmaking.
Mike is the man, he just doesn't miss.
You pretty much summed up my feelings on this movie
Thank you for your great analysis,it made me feel a little better about Kubrick and his version of The Shining. Just not a fan but I absolutely love Doctor Sleep, not really sure why but it stays with me. Have seen it multiple times. I'm also a fan of Flannigan's and agree that he is adding something new to the horror film/show. Very well done!
Thank you so much for writing this
Fantastic essay! Doctor Sleep deserves more analysis like this.
Thank you for saying so!
Kinda liked that Danny ended the 3 cycles of violence with him. Almost like a petty insult and so that the cycle he’s a part of ends with him. And despite everything he died peacefully, content, and with closure. But I do like that the book let’s him live as an even harsher “fck you, I won” to everything he had to deal with while still ending the two cycles
Very well said and excellent video! This truly is one of favourite horror films and I do my part to recommend it whenever given the chance! 😁
Great work. Anything that hastens along this film’s inevitable critical and popular reassessment is a good thing. Thank you.
Ha! Nice work with the Trainspotting cuts for Danny's flashback!
Excellent, man.
Excellent.
Lavender Jack...Swooping On Down.
I find this movie very under appreciated. It blows my mind there are fans of Kubrick, The Shining and the novel that haven't given this movie a watch yet.
Flanagan and King is the perfect peanut butter and chocolate blend
As someone who couldn't get into the Dark Tower series I can't wait to see how Flanagan adapts it and other Stephen King works
This is so well done.👏👏👏👏
Could not agree more. great essay man.
While I find this video a great appraisal and is superbly crafted, I’m left unconvinced. Flanagan has ostensibly created a sequel to King’s novel, but has mined the aesthetic of Kubrick’s film for purposes of cinematic nostalgia. I get that there’s a conversation that can be had about Hauntology in his creative decisions, but Flanagan has completely ignored Kubrick’s various subtexts. And Kubrick’s Shining is ALL about subtext. Summing up, and whether we agree with him or not, Kubrick is being both cryptic and lucid about his feelings about the very existence of America: it only exists because of evil; history is where horror really exists, not in the campfire-side story telling of King. Inserting his own struggles with alcohol as a driver for telling a story is really as deep King gets, although he is quite a deft writer and raconteur. King had a destructive relationship with alcohol, which is the corner stone to his Overlook Hotel. Kubrick, on the other hand, has specifically chosen bourbon as Jack’s poison for its American nature: THE American Spirit, perhaps. Both Bourbon and Jack’s addiction to it are intended as metaphors in Kubrick’s film, while King’s struggles as an alcoholic are given no regard. King’s novel is quite a simple story with an obviously dichotomous structure of light and dark, good and evil etc. Kubrick’s Shining shows its hand, but tells us that we should look under the table to see what’s really going on. Flanagan’s film veers towards the safer horror of King than the subversion of Kubrick while shamelessly pilfering the aesthetics of The Shining.
I think it was just a necessary thing to do, it's a direct sequel to that story, and with The Shining being so popular there was no way to make a legacy sequel to that without referencing it visually at least. But yeah, I mean, they're just two different stories, that's the point.
King always writes from a very personal place, it's why half of his main characters are writers. He battles his personal demons on the page and shares that with his readers, and that is precisely why so many people love him, that's a great avenue of horror that has always existed and he has been undeniably successful in doing. But Kubrick was different, he was like a savant, an absolute master of his craft in every single way that was often described by crew as the only director who could do their jobs better than they could. Everything he touched transcended into the all-time masterpiece status because he was just that good. The Shining was even after he started to experiment more, notably with 2001: A Space Odyssey, in terms of what people thought that a film or cinematic experience could be. He was all about pushing boundaries and breaking rules, and exploring a million different concepts within one film, letting the audience take away whichever meaning they choose.
Within those two disciplines I think it's clear that Flanagan leans more towards the King method. He uses horror has his own way to explore the darkest things in himself, and bring that out in a way that resonates with a lot of people. It's not a type of horror for everyone, but to just call it "safer" I think is unfair. In many ways it's far more challenging, to bare your soul like that for the world to see, to try and help people battle with their own darkness, I think there's tremendous value in that. And using the aesthetics of The Shining is just a natural thing I think because it is a sequel. So much of the film is Flanagan's flair and vision, like the absolute vast majority of the film. But considering how much the story evolves from The Shining it wouldn't make sense to just throw that away.
One minor thing, Jack WAS wrong about Grady. He confused Delbert (killed his TWINS in some past decade) with his presumed ancestor Charles (killed his daughters, “eight and ten”) in 1970.
Wonderful analysis!
Thank you!
I love the movies! Both of em! I often watch "The Shining" followed by "Doctor Sleep" as I often like to watch any of the movies we own that have any number of sequels in them in succession
I don't think that Dan being possessed was a detriment because it wasn't just his father's actions that he was not dealing with well, but the hotel itself and the darkness that lay there. He locked away the ghosts in his mind and never dealt with them. It is similar to people 'locking away' their past, but when those ggosts inevitability come out they can take over a person, making them act in ways they normally wouldn’t. He had to fight his way theough all of his demons, his father and the ghosts of the past (literally) to finally gain the peace he so deserved.
I've read DOCTOR SLEEP and, as much as I enjoyed it, I actually like the film more. That's a rare thing, in my experience. Your video does an excellent job illustrating what makes the movie great and why it works so well.
8:49 we can see a door behind the shelf. That’s how he got out. Kubrick was adamant that his adaptation was just a story of a family collectively going insane and the supernatural elements were in their head.
If you can’t see the door, following the rules of thirds it’s in column one, row two
I've looked everywhere for anything of Kubrick talking about his work, and the only thing he's consistently adamant about is leaving room for interpretation, but he has occasionally provided answers, including for The Shining, which he describes as an evil reincarnation cycle. He specifically uses the word ghost when describing the scene in the men's room with Grady. So I think it's clear where he stands on the supernatural elements of the film.
@@daniel_netzel I think it's also fair to look at Kubrick's other films for context, which is where the claim that The Shining doesn't deal with supernatural really "shines". Because Kubrick's films very much dealt with reality, but in the context of dreams and illusions. He was not a believer in the supernatural. Great analysis in the video!
Good to see you, hope you have a great Halloween 🎃
You as well! Happy Halloween :)
Yes. Thank you. You helped me figure out why this movie resonated so much with me. Because on top of everything else I loved about it, we have yet another interpretation of Pinocchio saving his father from the belly of the whale. Just as Luke and Vader represent the same archetype.
I just wish the big reveal wasn’t carnival vampires.
I wish there was more significance given to the haunting than simple hunger for lightness. Got a bit mawkish, imho. It actually made me appreciate Kubrick’s version of the shining a whole lot more, because the explanation given wasn’t satisfying so perhaps it’s better to leave it a mystery. I watched bc I do adore Mike Flanagan and I was promised resolutions to all the unresolved questions from Kubrick’s film. Now I kinda wish I didn’t know the answer.
I do agree though, Doctor Sleep definitely tried to marry the visions of King and Kubrick, but I think King’s influence reigns in this one and to its detriment imo.
I've read the book but not seen the film; you make a compelling argument for watching it! And I do think McGregor is a skilled actor.
We saw the dog poo that was Kings cinematic "vision" of the shining. Kubrick's was a masterpiece. No reconciliation needed
One thing I can''t quite understand in Dr Sleep -that it's "The Bartender" who knocks away the drink, not Dan. It's quite a quick edit in the film but clear in the BTS footage. Is it implied that Dan is about to drink and the ghost of his dad stops him? I'm still not sure.