Stephen King’s sequel novel Doctor Sleep is a wholly different beast than its predecessor The Shining. Though it picks up shortly after young Danny Torrance has fled the Overlook Hotel with his mother Wendy, the main storyline is set decades later with Danny as an adult. It seems Dan is doomed to follow in his father’s footsteps until he meets 12-year-old Abra Stone, a bright girl with immense “shine” powers unlike any before. They’re so strong that it’s caught the attention of a paranormal cult called the True Knot, who will stop at nothing to claim and devour her power. Dan is determined to protect Abra from the vampiric True Knot. It’s an epic tale of good versus evil, childhood trauma, and redemption; the precise kind of King story that makes Mike Flanagan’s attachment to the feature film adaptation so exciting.
But adapting this sequel novel likely comes with more intimidation than most King properties, considering King was not a fan of Stanley Kubrick’s vision for The Shining. A major departure from the source material, the film adaptation of The Shining became a heralded classic in its own right. One of the bigger questions when stepping foot on set of Doctor Sleep was how Kubrick’s seminal horror film would factor into Flanagan’s if at all. Flanagan has proven to be uncannily adept at adapting King’s work at this point.
More importantly, how involved was King in this feature? Producer Trevor Macy answers, “Mike and I had a relationship that we valued very highly with Stephen after Gerald’s Game, so when this became an opportunity for us, we were very careful to ask Stephen King how he felt about that. He was very supportive of us being involved. We let him know very early on what we wanted to do with the script. When the script was ready, he was the first to read it, and he’s been immensely supportive. We also talked to him about cast and key crew and approach and that kind of stuff. So, he’s absolutely been involved, but he hasn’t been sort of intrusive or disruptive or anything. We found him amazing to work with.”
We’re speaking to Macy from within a very aged Room 237, one that looks identical to the cinematic version from Kubrick’s film. Danny was haunted by the woman from 237 in the earliest moments of the Doctor Sleep novel, but considering the hotel’s fate from the novel it’s still an interesting choice. Naturally, we wanted to know more.
Flanagan explains, “The thinking behind that was, you know, trying to straddle that line between honoring the source material of the novel and the importance of Kubrick’s film. For us and, I think for a lot of the readers, when I first read the book, I loved what he did with Dan and I loved kind of revisiting that universe, but I just had this real ache to go back to The Overlook and I was really, you know, kind of bummed when the book didn’t do that, and so, for us it was a question of how do we try to combine those two worlds in a way that’s going to make Stephen feel really satisfied with what we did and also honor the legacy of the Kubrick film and what it means to cinephiles. It’s one of the most influential, if not the most influential horror movie of all time.” Flanagan shares of his intimidation in calling King about his desire to revisit the ominous Room 237, “So, that was a tough call, and we needed to get Stephen on board, but when we explained how we wanted to do it he was actually really enthusiastic about it, which was quite a pleasant surprise. If he had not wanted to do that, I don’t think …“ Macy interjects, “We wouldn’t have done the movie, to be honest with you.”
Doctor Sleep may be completely different from its predecessor in nearly every way, but it’s a perfect complement to The Shining. Flanagan delves into the themes and why this story drew him, “I grabbed the book the day it was published, grabbed the hardcover, wolfed it down in 48 hours and I loved it. And what I loved the most about it was that the difference in King as a storyteller from when he wrote The Shining, aware of his own alcoholism and writing that as an expression of the fear of what that could do to his own family.
“As he’s gotten older and was sober, looking at The Shining being about addiction and Doctor Sleep being about recovery. And that, to me, felt so perfect…
“And that was a journey that Jack as a character could not take,” Flanagan continued, “so it was up to Dan to pick that mantle up and succeed where his father failed, that kind of stuff just, oh man, got me.” That Flanagan’s chance to adapt it following the heels of the highly successful series The Haunting of Hill House is almost kismet, considering the lessons he learned from the arduous and long process.
“Coming into this, because the book is also giant- I mean, it’s a sprawling story. That was a great training ground for a lot of work we’re doing here. But, it’s the same philosophy. We’re leaning heavily on three really fascinating characters, who don’t really fully collide with each other until the end. You know, we’ve got Dan’s movie, we’ve Abra’s movie, Rose’s movie; and the way we braid those together and kind of bounce off of each other thematically doesn’t really bring those worlds together until our final act. And that’s a really fun structural difference for me. It’s me juggling three narratives, trying to find a good way to get ’em to collide properly. Hill House was definitely a great way to kind of flex those early and get ready for this.”
Rose is the film’s primary antagonist, the cunning leader of the True Knot and played by Rebecca Ferguson. While Rose will be just as terrifying on screen as she is on the page, Flanagan has made some changes to her cultish family. “We’re taking them in a bit of a different direction because they went for kind of the kitschy polyester, RV culture that I think might be funny if we were to kind of present that literally. And so, Rebecca and the cast really, kind of, helped shape this new, very weird, interesting and darker version of them that I think is going to be a pleasant surprise for a lot of fans of the book. Because, as cool as I thought it was in the story, these kind of silver-haired, plaid, geriatric vampires, it’s funny. And so, our cast is much younger because part of the appeal of that family for me is what if you can bring a family unit together like that with the promise of living young forever, which is I think at the heart of all vampiric stories.
“You’re watching this family unit that just has one kind of caveat to what keeps them together and it is the brutal murder of children.
“But, aside from that, when they’re not doing that they really get to live and explore the world and amass wealth and go where they want and kind of operate completely outside the grid. And that family has its own weird little connections and hierarchies and she’s a very maternal figure with them in this, which is a little different than in the book. And the family suffers its own losses, it’s just, as viewers, we’re going to be like, ‘Yes! Good! Kill them please!’ So yeah, it’s its own twisted little family unit and the collision of these two families being kind of completely opposed to each other as far as interest is a really neat balancing act to play with.”
Of creating this twisted family and their predatory nature, the actors portraying the True Knot developed unique predatory movements with motion-capture performer and movement expert Terry Notary. Ferguson explains, “The True Knot, and Rose…for me, I’ve done lots of incredible characters, and I love them all, but there was something so familiar. I mean, the True Knot is a family, a gang of misfits basically. All the actors are misfits, and just so funny and geeky and weird and quirky. They’ve all been friends, and worked with Mike [Flanagan] before. So for us, when we were playing around, we had Terry Notary, the movement coach- he did a lot of characters in Planet of the Apes. He plays many of the apes. He did The Square, for example, with Ruben Ostlund as the guy who jumps up and does the weird table dance. We played around in our group to see what it’s like to be a sort of predator character. So everything that came around creating our connections within the Knot made this film for me.”
Fans of the novel know that Ferguson’s character is known as Rose the Hat for that tiny little hat that stays on her head at an impossible angle. Something the actress became instantly fond of, “I think that’s something that is so brilliant with Mr. King as well. There’s the explanation of the hat, that it balances on the back of her head that questions the art of gravity. With the hat comes her history. It’s never really explained. In my own thoughts, it was passed on by the person who turned her, and that’s why it has such importance and gravitas. And it makes it a little more interesting, doesn’t it? And it’s a bloody good hat. The hat was a normal top hat. I said it was too high; it looked too goofy and silly. But the shape of it was incredible. So they cut out the middle bit, and put the top back on and made it shorter. I was going to steal it, but I didn’t.”
We can expect to see some familiar faces within the True Knot, too. “You’re going to see Robert Longstreet in there as Barry, and Catherine Parker, from Absentia and Hill House, is Silent Sarey; my brother James is Diesel Doug. Carel Struycken from Gerald’s Game is Grandpa Flick. A lot of them are my family and so, it was just this delightful band of weirdos, who were just -whenever they got together on set, were kind of the most fun and happy and vibrant goofballs that we have in this cast and it’s kind of ironic. Then we roll and they turn into these into horrible, horrible people,” Flanagan divulges.
This prompted the question as to whether we’d see another Flanagan trademark in Doctor Sleep; the appearance of the antique mirror from Oculus, an Easter egg that he’s hidden in all of his work so far. Flanagan grins, scoots his chair closer, and reveals an interesting tidbit about the mirror, “Alright, so, when I first pitched Oculus to Trevor, I pitched Oculus, the mirror itself, as a portable Overlook hotel. That was the entire selling point for that movie. And so, I am having the hardest time resisting the urge to put the mirror somewhere in the film. Part of me feels like it’s crossing the streams and but yeah, totally gonna do it.”
Constant Readers may have been surprised with the casting of Ewan McGregor in the lead as Dan Torrance, since the novel described the middle-aged iteration of the character as resembling Charlie Hunnam from TV series Sons of Anarchy, but McGregor is such a great fit that Flanagan shared of King’s response and the actor, “I was curious to see how he’d take it, but he came back very enthusiastic about Ewan. And it’s really neat. I think Ewan brings an endearing quality to him. He’s built decades of goodwill with viewers, but he can tip himself just over the edge where you start to feel this danger, and you start to feel that darkness that he can tap into for something like this, and it’s been really fascinating watching him straddle that line throughout production. It’s a very interesting take on the character. I hope you guys like him when you see it, because he’s pretty fucking good in this, so it’s going to be cool.”
For McGregor, that respect is clearly mutual. “He’s so efficient. Gerald’s Game is a story that takes place all in one room really. Yet, he keeps our attention and the audience on the edge of their seats because he’s very clever and efficient with his shot so I like to watch that side of him,” the actor says of Flanagan before diving in to what interests him about his character, Dan, “I think, for me, there’s some very key things about Dan. One is, he’s an alcoholic. We find him at the beginning of the story as a drinking alcoholic. Then we see his rock bottom. We flash some time forward, and he’s now a sober alcoholic. So, that’s running through everything, I think for me, as an actor. And then he’s a son, obviously to his mother and father, and his past with them that’s very traumatic. In that he went through this huge traumatic experience where his father tried to hurt him. Thirdly, his Shining. His psychic abilities that have shown themselves in sort of the worst way in his past, which he’s trying to forget.”
McGregor is a seasoned actor, but for Kyliegh Curran, the young actress is just getting started. As Abra, she’s the central character that ties all of the characters together. Her immense power terrifies her parents, but it’s her strong will and intelligence that propels the battle of good versus evil forward. In the scene observed, a much younger Abra is being tucked into bed by her mother Lucy (Jocelin Donahue) in what will be a flashback sequence. Abra’s intense powers are emerging, having made a terrifying display at her birthday party, which leaves Lucy shaken. Still, she kisses her daughter goodnight with a promise that she still loves her fiercely.
When talking about Abra, it’s obvious Curran exhibits many of the same traits, “I definitely think this is a coming of age story for Abra, going from this naïve little girl who just wants to jump in there, no armor, and then realizing what could really happen,” but it’s her relationship with McGregor’s character that means the most to Curran, “I think a lot about the relationship with Dan and Abra, and I think her strong will is what really ties up Abra. And of course, the Shining. It’s what really brings her, compels her to help these kids.” McGregor adds, “She’s tough. Abra is tougher than Dan really. Not just because of her youthfulness; she’s tough.”
The level of talent involved from both the crew and cast gives a strong indication that this production of Doctor Sleep will capture every bit of the emotion from King’s novel. The magnitude of detail and consideration Flanagan has put into both the Kubrick film and King’s novel of The Shining also instills a lot of confidence. Doctor Sleep is an epic journey that spans the country, and decades, and it looks as though this may be Flanagan’s most sprawling, larger-than-life work yet. It’s clear he’s relishing every minute of it, too, with many surprises yet to be revealed.
From the set recreation of the eerie Room 237, Flanagan looks around in awe and simply says, “I’m having the time of my life. This is crazy that I get to do this.”