 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. So I Just did a review for the shining that's already available on my channel. So check that out So it's only fitting that I then do a review for dr. Sleep, which was released in 2019 Now I will say up front. I am if you already watched my my shining review video, you'll know this I'm a huge fan of the Stanley Kubrick the shining It's one of my favorite films not just of horror but favorite films in general and I love love love It so partially for that reason I did quite like dr. Sleep, but I didn't like it as much as I wanted to and I think it's for a few reasons for one I Wanted to really love it, but I think part of what kept me from super super loving it was my love of the shining film It's just weird when you take something like that that you love so much and you expand upon that universe It's just gonna feel odd because I've seen that movie a lot of times and literally I just watched that movie again The same day that I watched dr. Sleep. So that's kind of a weird thing. The other thing is I haven't read the books So I didn't read the shining book and I didn't read dr. Sleep by Stephen King, which obviously that's what these movies are based on but from what I understand Mike Flanagan the the man who wrote the script for for dr. Sleep and directed it was really trying to reconcile Differences that there were between the shining book and the shining movie by Kubrick Because that's been a long-standing thing if people don't know where you know There there's this grouping of people who are like the book is so much better And there's a grouping of people who are like the movies so much better and apparently they're very very different And for that reason, you know Stephen King hated Kubrick's the shining so what Flanagan was looking to do was to kind of bring everyone together and Produce a sequel that could kind of reconcile all the differences between the two between the book and the movie and kind of Roll that into an actual sequel that works for both of them So I think first of all, that's an awesome way to do things That's a cool way of kind of bringing some semi divided horror groups back together So I think that's cool, but I haven't read the book so I don't know what the differences were I don't know what was reconciled in it So I think for that reason I don't necessarily appreciate the film as much as I could But like I said, I still quite liked it One of the other things is in general I felt like it was a bit slower than I wanted it to be the pacing was relatively slow and I think that the shining is kind of slow at times but the The overlook hotel looks so interesting and big and grandiose that you get kind of lost in looking around at it There's so much to look at and this film didn't really have that when there were the slower times So it was a little different for that reason that slower pacing kind of felt slower And I didn't like that as much but so anyway, like I said, you know Mike Flanagan wrote the script for this and directed it Obviously based off the Stephen King book Dr. Sleep Other things Mike Flanagan's done if people are not familiar. He did the film Oculus which looked I saw it looked great I didn't really like the film. He did Gerald's game also looked great I actually really liked the film a lot of people don't make it through that So many people I know are like I gave up at the 20 minute mark and I'm like you got to see it through There's a payoff And I feel like Dr. Sleep is kind of that way too like Like I was saying like it was a little bit slow at times But the whole thing felt like the build-up to the very end for the payoff He also did haunting of Hill House, which is on Netflix, which I think is phenomenal That does have a slower pacing to it But it's it works within the story that he was doing and once again looks amazing I think Mike Flanagan as a director is outstanding. His script writing is usually really really good. So I'm a fan I quite like him So obviously the stars you and McGregor. He's the biggest name in it. He was in Shallow grave, which if people have not seen shallow grave before definitely check that out. That is a good film It's kind of a hidden gem Trainspotting obviously everyone knows him from I love trainspotting. I haven't seen the second one But I will at some point and night watch which is also a good one if people have not seen night watch Check that out as well. So the film had a forty five million dollar budget and it actually ended up making seventy two point three million. So a Net positive they did well. They made money Apparently the studio when they finally got funding for Dr. Sleep They were actually also looking to make a prequel called Overlook Hotel. So I Don't know. I feel like if the right person handles something like that I could be open to a prequel to the shining But you know, I just don't know that you need that I feel like it might take too much away because In the shining you just kind of hear the stories of of how Overlook Hotel became the way it did You know was initially on a Native American burial ground and they moved the burial ground to put the the Hotel there and then there was you know, the The axe murders that they talk about by Delbert Grady and all that kind of stuff So it's kind of better to hear those things as opposed to see them because then you kind of see them in flashes Throughout the shining. So I just don't know if we need a prequel But if it's done by the right person and it's done. Well, I'd be open to it They use very recognizable music when they get started with this. Oh real quick. I will say I Usually with newer movies like this. I usually don't do spoilers But for this one I am going to do spoilers because since I did the shining review and that was obviously Spoilers because it's an older film I feel like it's only appropriate that I do spoilers for this as like a companion piece to the shining one So there will be spoilers if you haven't seen Dr. Sleep yet Stop this video watch it then come back to it and you know, you'll hear what I have to say about it But I do recommend watching it So anyway, excuse me, they use extremely recognizable music in the very beginning of this and it made me smile It's the same music that's in the beginning of the shining I love that that type of connection and there are actually a lot of those moments in the film Where it's like the nostalgia for people who love the the the shining film where You know, you'll see things that are super recognizable And I'll kind of bring those up as I go through my notes because there were quite a few that I recognized And I think some of them have a big significance Well a bigger significance than you might realize and that's just me, you know guessing The reshoots that they did of stuff from the shining I think look really good like in the beginning The first one you see is when Danny Torrance is riding on the big wheel through the hotel At first you can't even tell necessarily that it's a reshoot. It just looks It looks crisper and more bright because it you know, it's newer film, but it Intel the Danny kind of turns his head a little bit and looks at the door for 237 You don't realize that it's not the original actor Danny Lloyd You you think that oh, maybe they just like took this and like super cleaned it up It's the same footage like it looks the same Basically until you see that and then you get a bunch of stuff that they kind of reshot Which I think works well and one of my favorite things about the reshoots was the fact that they recast the character of Wendy With a much better actress because I you know if you go back and watch my review for the shining I talk about why I didn't like Shelley Duvall's performance, but I also talk about why I believe her performance may not have been good It may not have all been her fault a lot of it may have come down to Stanley Kubrick and the way he treated her on the set But anyway So one of the moments I really liked in this is when Halloran like it shows the flashback of When Wendy and Danny had gotten away from the overlook and left that behind they moved down to Florida and Danny is still seeing Halloran dick Halloran as like a ghost who comes and you know kind of mentors him talks to him about the shining still and I really like the moment where he was kind of explaining things a little bit and that's where we got that nice little nugget of knowledge about His level Danny's level of the shining being like a super battery for the overlook hotel And so once he got into that hotel things got out of control and it was feeding off his Shining energy that just amplified everything so in my shining review I had a theory about how I thought maybe Jack Torrance had the shining as well because it seemed to be a familial thing since dick Halloran had talked about I think his grandmother having it as well But now that seeing dr. Sleep it makes me think that you know according to this film dr. Sleep that That wasn't actually the case the case was actually just that People who didn't have the shining were able to see What was going on like the shining that the overlook hotel was giving off because it was crazy amplified because it never reached that type of level But it did then because of Danny because Danny just amplified the hell out of it and yeah So I'd like that explanation. I think it works really well And I was satisfied with that as a big fan of the shining. I was satisfied with that. I did like it Danny has the it becomes obvious in this that Danny has the same I'll just I'm just gonna keep calling him Danny by the way He goes by Dan because he wants to kind of I mean that's a Intentional choice in the script because he's trying to feel like he's a different person by changing his name to Dan as opposed to Danny That distance himself from his childhood from all the trauma and from being the person that he was back then and The person that his father called him because a lot of this is about him distancing himself from who his father was But you see in the film that there's the same darkness and they kind of talk about this the same darkness that was in Jack Torrance is in Danny Torrance and that manifests mainly in the film at least early on with the drug use the alcohol and all that type of stuff But it's kind of a dual purpose for him I feel like the the substance abuse for Danny in the film is a combination of him You know already having that that addiction Predisposition because of the genetics from his father and it just being passed down by his father But also I view it as that's his way of trying to Bring things in check with his shining. I feel like that's kind of a way He he dampens the shining for himself and tries to control it and tries to kind of forget it Because you see that he's he's intentionally trying to not deal with things and that's seen with When he keeps going into doors Those moments of like his shining where he's in his head going through doors And it's that the bathroom in room 237 at the overlook and he's running away from it Basically not confronting it and that's one of the big things like well while he's abusing substances he's intentionally avoiding the stuff that he needs to deal with in his life, which is getting a handle on the shining Getting a handle on the trauma that he that he experienced Coming to terms with who his father was and what that his relationship with his father did to him You know He needed to confront and deal with things and he just kept running away from it Which you know obviously in the film he eventually does deal with it, but it you know takes some time Early on I'm not sure I really like the concept of this kind of soul vampire because I mean basically That's what it is like rose the hat and her whole group They're they're soul vampires basically, you know, they're sucking the souls out of people who also have the shining So they can continue to stay young They're not immortal, but you know, there's a very specific difference made there, you know, not immortal, but they can keep themselves younger by doing this and Grandpa Fleck I think is his name is obviously the one that's been Around for a long long time and it's kind of taught people as they go, but when the idea was Was introduced. I just don't think I don't know because I feel like vampires are so overdone And this is just a different version of vampirism and I was just like I don't I just don't know that I really like it and I went back and forth as I was watching the film and I think at the end I still don't really like it that much But I think it's it's okay. It's it's kind of where I'd landed by the end of the film I'm like, it's okay. I would I would have liked if they had Developed the rose the hat and her, you know, actually, I don't even think she needed a group I actually would have preferred it if it was just rose the hat as the bad guy coming after people that would have been more More what I would have liked but you know a lot of people like the way this that they structured it and that's fine It's just the soul vampire thing for me. I don't know just not a fan So the office of the guy This is this is one of those kind of more subtle-ish things except for people who are big fans of the shining or just watched it or both the when Danny starts going to the Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and he meets with the head of it the very first time in his office The office is set up exactly the same as the office at the Overlook Hotel That Jack Torrance goes to in the shining for his job interview So I thought that was a cool connection and I think it's it was it wasn't just intentional from the standpoint of oh we want to give this kind of nod of Do people who like the shining notice this? I think it was very intentional because When Jack Torrance goes into that office and he gets the job That's a turning a very large turning point in his life that is the moment that He steps into a place that will take hold of him and make him super evil and make him do terrible things Now on the other hand when Danny Torrance walks into the office at the AA meeting and it's set up exactly the same That is also a turning point in his life where he stops running. He stops denying What the shining is and how he should be working with it and he Basically goes from rock bottom and starts going upwards So it's these polar opposites and they're both signaled by being in that office and making a commitment So I thought that was really really cool Sorry, I lost my notes because shut down on me. I walk I had talked so long So there's a really good quote that actually comes out of that meeting portion in the office today After the AA meeting where Danny says our beliefs don't make us better people our actions do I thought this is an amazing quote and it's something that I think really applies to real life Because how many times have you met people who say oh, I'm all about this. I believe in this I do this and then their actions say something totally different That's that type type of quote kind of say, you know, you say you're all about this, but don't be a hypocrite I'm not gonna look for the words. You're you're selling to me I'm gonna look for the actions that come after those words and that's the type of person I am in real life. I don't trust people until they show me that what they're saying is What I'm getting so and I think that everyone should kind of you know live that way But great great great quote. So I like when you find out what doctor sleep actually means I think that's a really cool thing. This is the moment where he starts to really realize that The shining that he's viewed as like a terrible burden like he even said that one of the very traumatizing things Is he would see the flies Starting to buzz around people because of the shining and that would make him realize that they're going to die So it traumatized him because he saw it with his mother and then he didn't want to see it And that's when he really turned away from having anything to do with it And then when he gets this job, he's sober. He starts going back to it and realizes This is something I can actually use to help people and that's where he starts helping people transition into death Which is a really cool moment. Plus. I love cats. So I like the fact that the cat was involved too And that's an actual thing by the way there is a nursing home I Saw an I um, I don't I don't know where exactly it is, but a few years ago I saw it on the news there was a nursing home And they have a cat and the cat keeps showing up Into in the rooms of the people who are about to pass within a day or two So I thought that was interesting that they wrap that into it But yeah, I love when they reveal what dr. Sleep means. I think it's cool And it's touching and it's a it's a jumping off point For Danny to really start to realize that there's good in in how he can use the shining So at this point I already saw this coming because obviously this happens big time in the very end It becomes very clear that Abra the character of Abra becomes the new Danny and Danny becomes the new Halloran And this is foreshadowing kind of early on as as the relationship starts to spawn between Danny and Abra through the chalkboard in His apartment or Airbnb or wherever he's living. I guess it's an apartment, but he You know, he's forging that relationship much like Halloran did with him early on in the shining and is trying to become his mentor then But the big difference is he was shutting him out. He was really trying to shut him out He accepted him accepted him as kind of a friend But you didn't accept him as a mentor having to do with the shining whereas Abra was very open to it It's like she was reaching out and looking for a mentor, which is totally opposite of Danny Danny was kind of like pushing it away and by the end, you know, he makes the turn and he listens to kind of what Halloran said to him and You know, he he connects with Abra He helps her out even though he was reluctant in the beginning and he teaches her the best way to use The shining and kind of cultivates that in her and the problem with Danny all along is that he kept refusing the help He didn't want to recognize what good he could do with the shining and how best to deal with it He just didn't want to have anything to do with it And that's why things in his life ended up going so poorly after the overlook hotel until he got a hold of it Which I think was good So it seems that Rose The part where they realize what ability Abra has and there's the idea of well Why don't we bring her into our group and Rose is like, oh, no, she's you know, too powerful for me It seems more like she's saying that because she realizes that if Abra became a part of the group She would not become the alpha in that group anymore because Abra is so Powerful that she would be the most powerful and then by by default become The alpha of the group and rose obviously does not want to miss that or she doesn't want to give that up because She's obviously the one who leads everything and calls all the shots and she likes the power you can tell I Like the concept of the souls from the overlook coming for Danny and the coping strategy that he has in his mind of locking Them in those boxes. Obviously that comes into play big time at the end where he just unlocks them all and lets them loose That's a cool moment. I really like that, but I think it's It's not easy to come up with a concept like that and I'm assuming that was in the doctor sleep book That Stephen King came up with that it always, you know blows my mind how Creative Stephen King is and has been throughout his entire life like his creativity is crazy And when he makes these he comes up with these worlds and he comes up with these concepts and abilities and stuff like this And it's it's just awe-inspiring to me because I'm a creative person and I have creative thoughts But I feel like his creativity is just Beyond like so far beyond and I respect that it's cool I think it's an amazing moment in this film Probably my favorite segment of the film when Abra catches Rose in her mind and flips the tables That was outstanding I didn't see it coming and there are a few moments like that where it's kind of like The double cross going on or someone gets to drop on someone and then you realize oh, no It's actually the opposite because they you know put other things in place precautionary measures to To get the drop on them when they thought that they were getting the drop on them Yeah, those moments were really cool and that moment where where Rose is caught and Abra's mind is Pretty awesome. They did that really well. I did not see a gunfight coming in this film I thought for sure nothing like that would ever happen. It really caught me off guard I mean it worked in the film for you know where the story was going But I just never assumed there would ever be a firefight in it. It was weird So I like the aim that they took of leading Rose to the overlook because she has no idea what it is She has no concept of it She's not aware of it at all, which means she would be in more danger than Abra and Danny when they're walking into it and then obviously Danny at that point knows that you know He makes the hotel stronger and that he could try and sway things a little bit because he has more control over the Shining at that point that he could kind of use it as a weapon against Rose and I really like that concept I thought that was cool The gas station by the way when they're going to the overlook the gas station They stop at before they go on their last little leg of the trip to get to the overlook That's the exact same gas station that Dick Haller and stopped at and got the snow cat when he was on his way To try and save The Torrance family so I really I perked up at that moment, too. I was like that's the same gas station awesome So Danny walking into the rundown overlook hotel is awesome awesome nostalgia I yeah, I love that whole sequence, but it wasn't just for here's nostalgia for everyone who likes the shining it seemed it was also He was walking in the footsteps of his father and that was kind of a way of him Confronting his past confronting the trauma Dealing with it finally when in the beginning of the film He spent so much time running from it and not intentionally not dealing with it And it was killing him obviously because he was doing drugs. He was drinking He was killing himself inside because of the trauma that he wasn't dealing with so I loved him going through the Totally dilapidated overlook for that reason. It was so good. It was meaningful and it looked great The low-level wind sound throughout the hotel Adds a lot to the scenes when he's in it if you notice I mean you might not notice because you're focusing so much on what's going on and the dialogue that happens Especially in the gold room at the bar, but there's a low-level wind sound that's going through the hotel And it adds it adds a lot to it. It makes it a little bit creepy. It made makes it a little bit I don't know. It just it has an awesome ambiance that it increases So Jack Torrance being the bartender is a really cool moment. I really did enjoy that That moment is truly the pinnacle of Dan Danny actually confronting his past and the father's darkness and overcoming it because he you know knocks the booze away when he's being Offered it. That's his final kind of temptation By you know the ghost of his father trying to say follow my path You're here now. This is your moment to do what I did to be me and he obviously chooses the opposite I also think it was cool that they made That they made Jack the bartender because if you remember in the shining Delbert Grady was the caretaker That had axed his family and they talk about all those years ago and when you see his When you see his ghost in the overlook hotel when Jack comes across him in the bathroom Because you know, he spilled the drink on him. He's like, oh, let me clean you up he's basically like a like a bathroom attendant slash bartender, I guess and He doesn't remember who he was and it's the same in dr. Sleep, you know Jack Torrance was the caretaker, but now he shows up as a ghost as the bartender. So instead of trying to Control the property as a caretaker He is controlled by the property as a servant as a bartender And that's exactly what happened with Delbert Grady, too Because he was in that caretaker position and then he's a servant of the hotel when Jack comes across him as a ghost So I thought it was cool that they kind of did the same thing in that sense That's and that's the thing like these these little touches that you won't necessarily pick up on Unless you're you know kind of deep into the shining are really cool. And like I said that that's a really good one So the snowy maze showdown First of all looks very much like the shining so awesome because that still looks amazing and I saw it was cool I thought the way that played out was very nice It looked amazing. It looked great. And I kind of you know, I didn't know where they were gonna go with it I just really didn't That scene recreating Jack and Wendy on the stairs is really cool as well, you know It's um, you know Danny backing up on those same stairs where Wendy had been backing up and rose Instead of it being Jack coming at him. It's Rose coming at him. So that's kind of a throwback to this moment of Peril where they Yeah, they just mirror it from the shining and I thought it was super super cool So Danny because yeah, and then I wrote down truly in the end Danny becomes Halloran and Abra becomes Danny because But different because you know as we all know in the shining Halloran was coming to save Danny and Danny actually is able to save Abra, so it's what the intent was with Halloran going to save Danny But he gets act like axed like as soon as he gets the overlook hotel, which always bothered me So I like that. It's kind of set right in a sense in Dr. Sleep Because you know Danny goes into it and kind of realizes that you know I got to give it my all I may be giving my life But I'm gonna protect Abra because it's basically like him protecting the younger himself, you know and You know writing the wrongs of the past in a sense by doing that Doing what Halloran was trying to do but succeeding at it Halloran died, but he didn't achieve what he was trying to do before he died Abra makes the opposite choice of what Danny did Danny finally listened to Halloran What Halloran said and passed it on to Abra? I'd kind of talked about that before about how you know Danny was kind of Pushing away Halloran's Advice and then he accepts it eventually and passes everything on to Abra like you supposed to So in the very very end when Abra goes into the bathroom I think that that indicates her choice of totally accepting her situation and accepting her shining and showing Not mastery of it, but control over it because in the very beginning We see Danny all the time going into those rooms and it's the it's the bathroom in room 237 And he's trying to run away with it or won't run away with it run away from it Well in the end Abra is going into a bathroom Confidently and that's the showing of the juxtaposition between where Danny was in the beginning and where she is at the end and Her making the exact opposite choice of what Danny was making. She's running full force Headlong into head headstrong into it saying I'm accepting this when he was running away from it So I thought that was cool thing and then just a few things to wrap it up at the end I feel like this film speaks to the trauma passed to children from their flawed parents Who don't deal with their issues? Well, obviously, that's very strongly seen in the shining and carrying over to dr. Sleep with how terrible Jack Torrance is and also to a degree how terrible Wendy was in just letting things happen And not getting her son out of there because she was very clearly in denial And we know that because of the way she explains away the physical abuse that happened to Danny Torrance with you know Jack grabbing him and yanking his arm and hurting his arm So and then the final thing I had down was Danny connecting to his father through drink Speaks to the unhealthy relationships people have with their flawed parents just because they're their parents Obviously Jack tried to kill Danny at one point so he doesn't want to have like a real relationship with him after the fact but He also can't help it and it kind of speaks to that issue of Family is family and you end up having these very unhealthy Relationships because you feel like you have to have relationships with your parents and with family members in general So you fall into these very unhealthy relationships, and that's how I kind of viewed in the film Him being you know jumping into the alcohol and basically living like his father did so Good film. I did like it. It's obviously Not going to hit as high as my rating for the shining If you didn't see my review, I gave the shining five stars. I love love love that film It's amazing, but I will say you know Mike Flanagan did a really good job with this I really would like to read the books at some point to see you know What he did reconcile between the the shining book and the shining movie one day one day because those are long books But um, yeah, I mean it looks really good. I expected that from Mike Flanagan He's a very good director. The music was really well done. The acting was really good I mean so many aspects of it awesome It's just story-wise like I wasn't really feeling the whole soul vampire thing and it did get kind of slow like I said so With five stars in play out of five stars with half stars in play. I'm gonna give it four stars I think it deserves a four star. That's good. I'm down with it Yeah, I liked it. So now's the time where I ask people comment down there Tell me your thoughts on doctor sleep. Tell me your thoughts on the connection between the shining and doctor sleep I'm very interested in that if you have thoughts on it Also, if you you know think I'm off on some of the stuff I said in this or you agree with it You know go ahead and let me know and do me a quick favor Hit that subscribe if you're not already subscribed because that's how I keep encouraged because I'm not making money doing this Or anything it's just a hobby So encourage me with a subscribe and if you've already subscribed encourage me with a thumbs up and let me know You're still watching but thanks everyone for checking this out and until next time keep it brutal