Who hasn’t trembled before The Shining? But who went to see its sequel to the cinema, Doctor Sleep? Not a lot of people. But the film has just landed on Netflix and it is already a hit.
In 2019, Doctor Sleep is released in theaters, a risky bet. The film, directed by Mike Flanagan in 2019 with Ewan McGregor, is the sequel to the mythical Shining by Stanley Kubrik and adapted from Stephen King’s new novel published in 2013.
We find Danny Torrance, played by McGregor, the son of Jack Torrance from The Shining. Traumatized by the dramatic events of his childhood, he is lost in his adult life and fails to stabilize himself. Like his father, he fell into alcohol. But when he arrives in a friendly little town, and well surrounded, he regains control of his life.
Two other stories develop in parallel to finally come together. On the one hand, we follow a group of dangerous individuals, led by Rebecca Ferguson, who hunts and kills children with the “Shining” or the Gift, like Danny when he was little.
On the other, we meet Abra (Kyliegh Curran), a young girl who also has the Shining but has extraordinary power. Using her psychic powers, she witnesses a child murder from a distance and she contacts Danny to ask for his help.
A belated success
If the film was a flop at the cinema when it was released – it collected $72 million for a budget of 45 million – its release on Netflix was greeted with fanfare as the film climbed to 5th place in the top 10 movies in just a few days. A nice performance!
And a daring program in the middle of Christmas, more conducive to romantic comedies than to psychological and fantastic horror films…
This success is not without irony when Mike Flanagan has just left Netflix. After a fruitful collaboration, which gave birth to very beautiful series including The Haunting of Hill House, Bly Manor and Midnight Sermons, Netflix has decided to cancel the latest: Midnight Club.
This new horror drama was canceled after just one season as the creator had plans for a sequel. His contract with the platform coming to an end, Mike Flanagan decided to look elsewhere. He signed a multi-year contract with Amazon and plans to develop in series The Dark Tower according to Stephen King.