Doctor Sleep: Ewan McGregor Is Tormented In First Trailer For The Shining Sequel
REDЯUM has returned, and the world will shine again.
Warner Bros. Pictures invited viewers back into the mind of horror maestro Stephen King when it unveiled the first trailer for Doctor Sleep, the sequel to 1980's The Shining, on Thursday, June 13.
Directed by Mike Flanagan, Doctor Sleep stars Ewan McGregor as Danny Torrance, the now-grown son of Jack Torrance, an alcoholic who experienced a psychotic break in the ghost-haunted Overlook Hotel. Danny still possesses the "shining" abilities that the Overlook's phantoms were after, and he is still traumatized by the horrific events that took place at the isolated hotel when he was a young boy. For decades, Danny drifted around aimlessly and fruitlessly tried to break free from his late father's habits of alcohol abuse and violence. He begins a new life in New Hampshire, attends AA meetings, and finds steady work as a nursing home orderly. The job allows him to use his "shining" power for good, helping dying patients pass away peacefully, which earns the nickname "Doctor Sleep."
But this is a Stephen King story we're dealing with here, so there's no sunshine-y happy ending in sight. When Danny sees the sinister REDЯUM ("murder" backwards) marking on his mirror, he knows trouble is afoot. He soon meets Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran), a young girl who has the brightest "shining" ability there has ever been, and his inner demons begin to rise to the surface.
Even worse? A terrifying tribe known as the True Knot, led by Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson), is out to seize Abra's soul, as the steam that her body emits when she's being tortured can be used to grant them immortality. Danny must protect Abra from the True Knot while trying not to succumb to the darkness of the shining. Will he succeed, or will he and Abra lose their minds and their lives to forces beyond their control?
We're keen to find out, though some may not feel the same way. Many have argued about the necessity of Doctor Sleep and whether it's at all a good idea to follow up the genre-altering Shining. This footage won't sway every naysayer to the pro-Doctor Sleep side (it's the old "can't please everyone" adage at play), but it does seem to indicate that the sequel won't be the flame-out disaster that some feared it would end up. Doctor Sleep looks to lend additional emotional heft to director Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, using the terrors of that tale to build the foundation of this new, decades-later narrative. And that feels like a smart move: the Doctor Sleep team can present the best of both worlds with a faithful adaptation of King's novel that still gives nod to Kubrick's 1980 classic movie, without feeling too dry or too referential.
Having mega-stars like McGregor and Ferguson on board certainly helps, and there's arguably no one better than Flanagan to be the man to write and direct the feature. As his past credits on The Haunting of Hill House, Gerald's Game, Oculus, Ouija: Origin of Evil, and Absentia have proven, Flanagan has a deep love for horror and a real flair for crafting brooding atmospheres, creating well-rounded characters, and building tension until it inevitably bursts. Doctor Sleep is the perfect project for Flanagan, and he the perfect creative to bring it to the big screen. Let's just hope most moviegoers agree when Doctor Sleep creeps into theaters on November 8.
