Almost 40 years after Stanley Kubrick’s horror The Shining thrilled fans and pissed off Stephen King, Mike Flanagan, of The Haunting of Hill House fame, took on the challenge of bringing us its sequel Doctor Sleep, adapted from King’s 2013 novel of the same name. Now I know I was a little late to the party originally but if you’ve read my review of the 1980 classis then you may remember that I wasn’t particularly enamoured by it, meaning my expectations weren’t particularly high for Doctor Sleep which, as is often the case, turned out to be a good thing because I actually wound up really enjoying it.

Years after the events of The Shining, Danny Torrence is still haunted by the ghosts and memories of the past, resorting to alcoholism to manage his fear and pain. Eventually Danny moves to a new town, gets sober and finally starts living a peaceful life, that is until Abra, a teenager who shares Danny’s power, reaches out to him for help.

It turns out that Abra’s ‘shine’ is pretty darn powerful and, as a result, she witnesses the murder of a young boy hundreds of miles away by a mysterious cult known as The True Knot. This group of beings prey on children who ‘shine’, drinking their pain and eating their fear in order to sustain a near immortal existence. But when their leader, Rose the Hat, senses Abra’s power the hunt is on and it can only lead to one place…

Doctor Sleep is not a horror in the 2019 sense of the word, the film does not rely on the heavy use of blood and gore or use a distracting amount of jump scares, but instead Flanagan invokes the genre of yesteryear with a film that relies on the strength of a solid well delivered story, fantastic cast and a simple yet highly effective musical score.

Ewan McGregor is perfectly cast as the film’s lead and delivers a solemn and somewhat meditative performance of a man battling to overcome his personal, and literal, demons and to use those experiences to help those around him, whether it is as a mentor to the young Abra or as the final comfort to those leaving the mortal coil. He has a great chemistry with newcomer Kyliegh Curran whose engaged performance is a delight to watch and she holds her own against the strength of the acting calibre that surrounds her.

As good as Curran and McGregor may have been they are massively outshone (excuse the pun) by Rebecca Ferguson’s thrilling and captivating villain, Rose the Hat. Whether she is quietly meditating on top of a campervan or casually murdering young children, everything about Ferguson’s performance is perfection. If Flanagan wants to create a HIll House style spin-off exploring the origins of The True Knot then I would gladly give him my money, so long as Ferguson’s Rose is at the heart of it.

Overall, I think Mike Flanagan has perfectly executed his delicate balancing act of satisfying both King and Kubrick fans, whilst still delivering something that is distinctly his own. So, regardless of which side of the fence you fall, Doctor Sleep is definitely worth the watch.