While the debate over the best Stephen King adaptation will likely rage into eternity, any serious conversation must include Stanley Kubrick’s take on The Shining. A mesmerizing spiral into madness and hysteria, it still commands critical esteem and midnight movie crowds nearly 40 years later.
No easy task to follow up such a feat, and yet that’s precisely what the new trailer for the sequel Doctor Sleep assays to accomplish. Based on a 2013 novel penned by King himself, the new film rejoins Danny Torrance as a grown-up with the rugged good looks of Ewan McGregor.
Danny finds himself falling into his father’s old patterns, such as making contact with flashes of a surreal unknown, and pursuing a robust career in alcoholism. While attempting to make sense of his haunting memories, Danny discovers a cult feeding off of the energy from children that their leader (Rebecca Ferguson) refers to as “steam.”
In a departure from most of King’s work, this film takes place not in Maine, but in New Hampshire. It’s important for novelists with longevity to continue to stretch their repertoire.
We’re in boom times for Stephen King adaptations, and if the impending second installment of killer-clown saga It draws a monstrous box-office on par with its predecessor’s, that trend won’t flag any time soon. If you’re a partially-decomposed cat, a homicidally possessed car, or any other ghoul with a liking for the cool climes of New England, that’s good news.
Doctor Sleep comes to cinemas in the UK on 31 October, and then the US on 8 November.
Published 13 Jun 2019
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