Transferring Stephen King stories from page to screen has always been an intricate undertaking. As time has gone by, they've included everything from made-for-TV series and feature-length blockbusters that broke records. King has even tried his hand at directing and acting in them himself.
One of King's most defining story arcs often centralizes psychic powers and special abilities. Stanley Kubrick's famous 1980 version of The Shining might be the best well-known King adaptation among film fans. A more modern film that fleshes out its continued story also develops those spooky sensations in viewers. Here's why Doctor Sleep might just be a better Stephen King adaptation than The Shining.
It’s More Modern
The Shining, released in 1980, is obviously a classic within the horror genre. Since Doctor Sleep takes place during grown-up Danny Torrance's adulthood, it flashes forward into the present, where he’s a middle-aged man instead of a little boy with a bowl cut. Audiences generally feel more connected to watching something that appears familiar to them. As Doctor Sleep brings elements of magic into the modern day, the rest of the film appears realistic to life in the late 2010s instead of the faraway ‘80s of the original The Shining.
Its Audience Outreach Is Broader
Doctor Sleepautomatically appeals to the audience of Kubrick's Shiningandthe Shining miniseries that certain audiences often overlook (haha). Due to its more modern flavor and release year, it also automatically attracts younger audiences who may just be getting acquainted with King’s horror style. In any case, its outreach is extensive and comprehensive, drawing in longtime lovers of the King of Horror and creating new fans through a fresh story with recognizable motifs.
It Falls Under Multiple Genres
Doctor Sleep feels like the horror film that it is, but it also is far too intricate to be stuck inside just one genre. Besides the obvious, the movie also includes sci-fi elements, some action sequences, and drama in the domestic sphere. Its components of tragedy are primarily found through actors’ performances as their characters are stretched to their limits.
But they can also perfectly blend genres together – like in the heartbreaking scene in which Bradley Trevor (Jacob Tremblay), known as “Baseball Boy,” has his psychic powers sucked out of him by the True Knot.
It’s Both Nostalgic and Surprising
There are multiple scenes in The Overlook Hotel from Kubrick's version of The Shining, but it has enough individual flavor of its own to stand out aesthetically by itself. When audiences return to the Colorado mountains and into those decrepit hotel hallways, our eyes are reintroduced to that ominous carpet pattern and isolated stronghold that have been there all those years.
But at the same time, the film breathes fresh life into the continuation of an old scary story, mainly through the perspectives and performances of its stellar young cast members.
It Expands Upon Stephen King’s Canon
Doctor Sleep obviously builds upon The Shining, adding to the growth of Stephen King’s literary and cinematic worlds. A BBC article reads, “Flanagan doesn’t emphasize its connections to the rest of King’s work, but his film encompasses so many of the author’s obsessions – cats, psychics, missing children – that it will prompt viewers to ask if the events of [other stories] all unfolded in a shared fictional universe.”
While not outwardly super overt to casual King viewers, these connections and familiar images are undeniable, and you’ll probably notice if you’re a longtime lover of his work.
Mike Flanagan’s Direction
If you're a horror fan at heart, you probably already know just how much Mike Flanagan excels in just about any horror atmosphere – especially horror that befalls family units and chases them through different decades of their lineage. As Flanagan takes the lead on Doctor Sleep, he communicates his layered and complex style of storytelling with an air that’s somehow both bleak and endlessly intriguing.
Flanagan has also proven himself to be adept at capturing the very real issue of addiction on screen, alongside the more material monstrous threats.
Stephen King Prefers It
Interestingly, Stephen King has long disapproved of Kubrick’s interpretation of one of King's most influential novels. In a Far Out Magazine article, King is quoted saying that the film felt (not just literally) “very cold.” Thankfully, he was much more on board with Doctor Sleep, which he even got to watch sitting next to Mike Flanagan, according to multiple sources.
King told Entertainment Weekly that the follow-up film "redeems" Kubrick's version of the original. He continued, “Mike [Flanagan] took my material, he created a terrific story, people who have seen this movie flip for it, and I flipped for it, too.” While Dan Torrance's story has had its day on the big screen, perhaps we'll get to compare another Shining tale to its predecessors somewhere in the future. (Mr. King, if you're reading this, we want to know how Abra is doing!)
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