Doctor Sleep | Canadian First Time Watching | Movie Reaction | Movie Review | Movie Commentary

[@spectral-tea]

Fun Fact: Jacob Tremblay (Baseball Boy) had a blast working on this movie and according to Mike Flanagan actually surprised and scared the cast with how good his acting was during his death scene. Afterwords he got up, high-fived his dad, and proceeded to get a snack from the craft service table (it's worth pointing out that he was also covered in fake blood during all of this). Meanwhile the adult actors just kind of stood there traumatized 😆

[@vickyvind]

Pure talent

[@zaman3399]

Yeah that scream OMG, makes me uncomfortable

[@silentassason]

I believe it, I was traumatized just watching that scene

[@barefootanimist]

Jacob's scream turns my stomach, every time I get to that scene.

[@Serenity113]

His death scene made me turn off the movie for a bit. I had mentally brace myself again to finish watching. Its horrific but with that being said, he did a great job.

[@textortexel8301]

23:32 To be fair Rose the Hat is exactly the type of person to read Moby Dick and think "Nah, I'd win".

[@nickb5371]

Shes hubris incarnate

[@Smokie_666]

@@nickb5371 Absolutely

[@Dilligff]

When she used the term 'whale' she was referring to the modern gaming term for 'cash cow' which are individuals who provide large influxes of income through their spending to mitigate losses from elsewhere. When her second referred to Moby Dick he was trying to warn her that this individual might (and did) prove to be a catch that was far too dangerous to pursue. It was a nice subtle hint that despite them being somewhat anachronistic they still kept up with the more modern lingo to blend in.

[@davidstenow5055]

@@DilligffI’m pretty sure that the whale metaphor is older, it comes from gambling. Like a high roller, big spender

[@Wanttowrite]

​@davidstenow5055 That’s how I know the term. I first heard it in Las Vegas TV show (the James Caan one).

[@martymcflown3707]

The way I need you guys to watch Mike Flanagan's entire filmography (tv series included). He's one of my favorite creators at the moment.

[@michelle6337]

Agreed! I've been watching horror movies for over two decades and he is the first writer/director to make me cry and jump at the same time. His work has so much heart.

[@b2ickwall978]

Exactly this!

[@msgSharke]

Yes yes yes!!!!!

[@mikelor84]

@@michelle6337 exactly. so much skill and so much soul. I cried my eyes out when I watched Hill House and Midnight Mass

[@666FallenShadow]

I'M honestly surprised they haven't done any of his netflix shows yet

[@Cadinho93]

Fun Fact: The guy who was talking in the stands at the baseball game was the original actor to play Danny, who returned to acting just for this film. Also, just my opinion, but the "Doctor Sleep Director's Cut" is a million times better than the theatrical version.

[@snowdenwyatt6276]

If not for the lack of facial scarring I would have had him pegged as David Meunier (Johnny Crowder on Justified).

[@Renoistic]

Interesting. I love the theatrical. I guess I should look it up.

[@DomIstKrieg]

The woman playing Shelly Duvall is amazing. Her voice is absolutely perfect.

[@fusiliers]

The guy doubling for Scatman Crothers is pretty amazing too!

[@JudoGeoff]

​@@fusiliers Carl Lumbly is great in just about everything I've seen him in. He was also in The Fall of the House of Usher (another Mike Flanagan project)

[@SCharlesDennicon]

I expected to see much more of her in the director's cut, it was kinda disappointing.

[@kylewestlake982]

And her body language and mannerisms, too. A flawless execution.

[@riseofazrael]

Alexandra Essoe, she has minor roles in Mike Flanagan's other horror projects on Netflix.

[@joshuacoldwater]

18:52- I agree, but, here is what people don't realize about that little actor Jacob Tremblay. He read the book, read the script, looked over the blocking, came in and did that scene in ONE TAKE. He then stood up SMILED, looked over to his dad and said "Think that was good?" As he was covered in fake blood. Filming that one take DESTROYED the other members of the cast- and it was the only one filmed. Even today Stephen Kind speaks about how seeing that scene, which he wrote, acted out changed his views. There were many seconds he actually couldn't watch. Jacob loved being in that scene. Which is the reason he was cast in that role.

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

What a fortunate child.

[@the_realmkc4452]

cool story bro

[@AceMoonshot]

The kid came to act. He and his father had fine tuned the performance to get the maximum effect. He and his dad were having a great day, that day. They were very confident in his performance. The rest of the cast and crew were caught a bit off guard. Which made it even more enjoyable, I have no doubt lol.

[@MorriganAtwood]

The scene in the book is literally just a page long. It's from a pov that is going to be very cold and blase about the whole thing, so it makes sense. It is regarded as such a nothing moment, because the villains don't realize they made a huge mistake (the baseball kid was unvaccinated, so the entire Knot is now infected with a disease they have zero defenses against -- the race to get to Abra is also because eating a steamer who has been vaccinated is their only hope of surviving). So seeing it recontextualized as one of THE horror moments in the movie is refreshing and fascinating to watch. Tremblay did a great job.

[@chanceneck8072]

Can you guys please react to "Room"? One of my favorite movies of all time!

[@DesertHomesteader]

This movie got so overlooked but it is SOOO good. It didn't just do The Shining justice, it explained a lot of things that remained unexplained in The Shining. Rebecca Ferguson was amazing and the little girl was bad ass. Doctor Sleep is a great movie that deserves more attention.

[@PeacefulJoint]

I admit, when it first came out I was very hesitant to watch it. I was a surprised how much i actually enjoyed it.

[@VBane]

The end of this movie is actually how the original Shining novel ended, Jack was able to overcome the control of the house just enough to stop it from making him vent the boiler so it would blow and he died destroying the hotel. In the Dr Sleep story the final showdown is in a campground where the hotel once stood and Jack's spirit helped Danny stop Rose.

[@TheNowhereMan0]

Exactly. Flanagan did a great job adapting both the first movie and the sequel written by King.

[@zimvader25]

That’s also how jack dies in the mini series, which not even gonna lie, I enjoyed more than the movie.

[@HerbertTwack]

I can't help but think that would have worked better

[@joshbates9015]

There was a made-for-tv version of The Shining made in the early 90s with Stephen Webber as Jack Torrence. Stephen King was involved in the production due to his dislike of Kubrick's version. While closer to the plot in the book, it was low-key pretty awful except for Webber's performance. His character was a lot more sympathetic in the beginning and end than Nicholson, who just came off like an unhinged asshole from the get-go. Webber's performance really felt like a flawed man who was trying his best to be good, succumbs to the influence of malevolent forces, and then redeemed himself. Oh, and he doesn't kill Dick Halloran, so that's a bonus for him as well!

[@VBane]

@@joshbates9015 Own it on DVD. Not as down on it as other people, though DeMornay is pretty bland compared to Duvall.

[@LordVolkov]

Danny saying "Help me Tony" when he connects to Abra and Rose is both powerful and heartbreaking when you realize that he is Tony (Danny AnThONY Torrence), sending messages back to his child self.

[@robertyeah2259]

That’s in the book but the movie never really implies it.

[@_Tim115]

Danny Lloyd who played Danny Torrance in the 1980 movie made a cameo appearance as one of the spectators. He only has 3 or 4 movie credits and now world as a Professor of biology at a community college.

[@NextExiter]

Not just a spectator, but specifically the one with a speaking role.

[@wham-shirt-trimmer]

​@NextExiter He's the guy with the goatee at the little league baseball game.

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

Good to know.

[@montv291]

In the book, Billy has a bit of shine. That's how he sees things in people. Just a touch of it.

[@logical-fuzz]

14:25 In Stephen King's multiverse, the "shine" is common. "Everybody has got a little bit of shine" to paraphrase. Most people have so little that they're unaware of it. Nearly every child starts out with a stronger shine and it wanes with age. Danny has more than most. As did his father, Jack, which is why the hotel was so interested in him. Very few have the ability to use their shine or even be aware of it. Of those that can, it's sometimes just like a reflexive muscle.

[@18shuh]

@logical-fuzz I was looking for this comment, thank you

[@pencilnecked1579]

Aye, and between groups like True Knot consuming ones with higher levels of the Shine and the Sombra corporation grabbing them up to become Beam Breakers it certain explains Crow and Rose noticing fewer individuals with higher levels of the Shine are around at the time.

[@joshfacio9379]

Yup, the book also states how its genetic, and if theyre killing the most powerful then there wont be any kids who inherit their gifts.

[@wertfi908]

@@pencilnecked1579I think it’s also implied that the shining can flare up as a trauma response, meaning the true knot starving is partly because people, and children, aren’t suffering as much abuse and bullying.

[@tightyellowshorts]

Attention Hollywood: you can recast parts and not use deepfakes or de-aging, and the audience won't care if the movie delivers. I think the original Danny was the baseball coach.

[@GarrettJayChristian]

@tightyellowshorts Plus pseudo-Jack Nicholson was Henry Thomas, who was Elliot in E.T. 😄

[@jvgreendarmok]

@@GarrettJayChristian I'm surprised they didn't cast David Harbour.

[@wham-shirt-trimmer]

He was the goatee guy at the little league baseball game.

[@GarrettJayChristian]

@@wham-shirt-trimmer @jvgreendarmok I thought he was the bearded guy in the True Knot. 😂

[@freeheeler00]

Frickin' eh!

[@Kardashev1]

Henry Thomas, who played Elliot in ET, was Jack Torrance, Danny's dad.

[@Kayjee17]

I thought that was him, but I wasn't sure. He's in The Haunting of Hill House and Bly Manor - both tv series also done by Mike Flanagan.

[@Beshuu]

​@Kayjee17 And "The Fall of the House of Usher", "Midnight Mass", and "The Midnight Club" Flanagan tends to use a lot of the same actors in his works.

[@GeorgeTropicana]

Terrible casting

[@RobbNesvick]

Disagree. It may not have been great Nicholson duplication, but they needed someone to embody and deliver a great performance. Not just something any old lookalike can manage

[@Moonbeamchild8]

@@RobbNesvickexactly. Agreed

[@neon_pixels]

38:58 The Hotel being a... well, a being, was more overtly stated in the Shinning novel. When it is destroyed at the end, Danny feels as if some nightmarish thing rises from the ruins and is banished, thus having the story go from supernatural to cosmic horror. Always loved that detail.

[@fynnthefox9078]

Lol I've always considered the Hotel itself as a villain whenever ranking horror villains.

[@WillShakes423]

I imagine it being the same way Room 1408 is; a place where so many awful things happened that all of the bad energy builds up in that place and in essence it develops a life all its own. A life that leeches off of that bad energy, lives off the pain and misery and anger and fear of whoever's there at that point, like a parasite. And if they don't give off that energy, it can make things happen. If they don't feel pain, it can cause them pain. If they feel no fear, it can make them afraid. It can do so by using the souls of those it's fed upon, souls that never could move on because of its hold on them. In essence, they're its puppets.

[@justmelv23]

Lovvvve 1408

[@Valyrenai]

Something WAS banished. When they were all standing outside at the very end, before they got on the snow mobile, either Danny or Dick (can't remember which) sees a large black shape fly out of one of the burning windows.

[@nickb5371]

36:40 Danny pointing out crow wasn't wearing his seat belt was so good

[@marcscott7382]

i love rebecca. her facial structure and eyes go crazy.

[@harryfieldson]

This movie is a perfect reminder that continuing a franchise isn't the problem, doing it purely as a cashcow with zero effort is the problem. What a fun way to reintroduce some of the classic moments.

[@parker469a]

It would have actually have been too much of a stretch to introduce as much as a new IP. Building on the old story actually helped it be less of a stretch. The amount of world building to get to the point that movie starts out at is only helped by being a sequel. That is what the problem with a lot sequels tend to be, they don't move the story forward enough to be their own story. Setup (act1), turn(act2), then payoff (finale) have to be somewhat equal to feel like a complete story.

[@ItDoesntMatterReally]

I actually prefer the Doctor Sleep novel over The Shining novel, and I think that's the true tell that King had something to say, and that this wasn't some cheap IP cash grab to bank off one of his more well known works. The movie does a really good job of interweaving the canon of both the film and the book, and I'm not sure if they could've done a better job of main casting either. Some of the re-casts are jarring (the guy playing Jack and a few odd released ghosts toward the end didn't hit the mark, but their screen time was limited), but Carl Lumbly nailed the Scatman Crothers' portrayal of Dick Hallorann and Alex Essoe could pass for Shelly Duvall in some scenes.

[@DeckWizard84]

So a fun thing about this movie is that we see from Abra's room that she's a fan of RWBY and even has a figure of the character Emerald. Emerald has the ability to make people see things that aren't there. When she traps Rose the Hat, Abra has Emerald's hair.

[@JakkFrost1]

I like how this movie kinda brought things full circle back to the original ending of the first book, with the boiler finally blowing and destroying the hotel.

[@wertfi908]

@@JakkFrost1 I also love how they also brought back the villains as an allegory for substance abuse, the thing that King really missed in the shining movie

[@dan_evilrobot]

I absolutely love this sequel. I did not know this but when Stephen King saw the early screening to Doctor Sleep the scene where the kid gets killed. he said "it was the hardest thing I ever sit down to watch that" and saying it was too much.

[@GarrettJayChristian]

George as the baseball boy is a bleak choice. 😳 Oh, and someone's probably said this on one of the other related videos, but since George is so into the lore expansion, John Coffey from The Green Mile canonically has a version of the Shining.

[@jeffreydobbins866]

Also it is a being of pure shine. That eats shine himself. Why he scares children to purify them for food. The losers club coming together create a more powerful shine that repels it from harming them.

[@Shyknit]

I was today year's old when I found out the green mile was by stephen king...

[@GarrettJayChristian]

@@Shyknit AND Shawshank and Stand by Me. Man got range!

[@TheGavrael]

This was an "Oh man, why make a sequel to such a great film?" that ended up being fantastic. Such a great balance between King and Kubric.

[@anamorphicmind]

The original ending to The Shining was the boiler exploding, taking the hotel out. Nice to see the used it as the end to the movie.

[@JonnySativaSeed23]

The casting in all of Mike Flanagan's works is perfect.

[@HelloTardis]

A little note for anyone wondering. Danny is always holding back a huge portion of his power to keep all those boxes sealed. Think about that! lol

[@mikemeggison5084]

A lot of the things ghost-Jack says are things in his head in the original novel when he goes bad. The book really goes down the rabbit hole of Jack's thoughts.

[@chance757]

i started the book a while ago and haven’t been able to get through it because of how different jack is. it was easier to despise him in the movie because kubrick made him a jerk from the beginning; it’s so sad to me to read how different he is in the book and how he was fighting not to lose his mind to the hotel 😔

[@Prowl76]

Abra did end up becoming their white whale in the end.

[@LordVolkov]

It's interesting that they fixate on Abra when Danny shines just as strong, if not stronger. Keeping his shine on the DL really saved Danny's life.

[@666FallenShadow]

@@LordVolkov if i'm not mistaken rose mentions that older people have their shine contaminated and less pure, that's why they keep targeting kids in the movie

[@LordVolkov]

@@666FallenShadow True, but they missed him when he was little and using his Shine constantly with Tony. His trauma from the Overlook and subsequent alcoholism suppressed his Shine for so long they just never found him.

[@CineRam]

For some reason, I completely missed that Jack Torrance is played by Henry Thomas in this movie. I didn't recognize him at all. Of course, he's changed a bit since he was in "E.T.", but it's not as though I'd never seen Adult Elliott before. He's been in plenty of stuff, such as "Gangs of New York". He's worked with the director before.

[@LordVolkov]

Mike has used Henry a couple times in his TV series. Mike's collection of favorites/regulars is something I really enjoy in his work.

[@aeneasfate]

Henry Thomas is the only Dad Mike Flanagan will ever accept.

[@stevemccullagh36]

I also missed until this reaction that Violet is played by the same actress who played young Nell in Flanagan's version of The Haunting of Hill House.

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

Quite true.

[@chandru4584]

This cinematic masterpiece failing in the theaters was devastating!

[@CarloisBuriedAlive]

They should have heavily leaned into it being a Shining sequel, even more than they did. Probably should have been called “The Shining: Doctor Sleep”

[@DannyMiller-p1u]

@@chandru4584 wow what a bad take

[@vishnunair7623]

Just goes to show how many people haven't read the books. Mike Flanagan did great justice.

[@RamblingRose08]

It also didn't help that it was around the beginning of Covid.

[@maul42]

@@RamblingRose08 This came out two months prior to COVID being designated as such, not really a factor.

[@derworfnet]

Stephen King never liked Kubricks _The Shining,_ and was originally very much against the idea of making an adaptation of his _Doctor Sleep_ novel a straight sequel to Kubricks film. But over time he warmed up to the idea to the point that he finally made his peace with the 1980-film. I find it interesting how many bases _Doctor Sleep_ covers: It’s a Sequel to Kubricks film but also an adaptation of the book (which naturally follows the story of the King-Shining, which differs a lot from Kubricks version). In n addition, it also features parts of King‘s Shining-Novel Kubrick didn’t use.

[@Xervello]

Loved this, thanks for reacting to it! Welcome to the world of Mike Flanagan horror. If you like this type of deeper, deliberate horror, I highly recommend checking out his The Haunting of Hill House series (only ten episodes long) and Midnight Mass (only 7 episodes) or some of his other films like Oculus, Hush and Before I Wake.

[@LordVolkov]

Oculus is really good! I didn't know who Flanigan was when it came out, but connecting it to all his other work shows how much talent he had right out of the gate.

[@tylerfoster6267]

Obviously, you're free to interpret whatever you feel like, but I think it really is just supposed to be Jack (Torrance, that is). He has been inserted into the role of the bartender for the sake of the scene, but I don't think that means it isn't Jack in any way. The reality is just that Jack Nicholson is such an indelible figure both in pop culture in general and in The Shining itself, there's just no way you can cast someone else and have it live up to how people remember Nicholson in that film, so I think while he looks and sort of acts like him, I also don't think he's trying, because it's impossible. He's serving the scene in this movie between Danny and his dad, and not doing a Nicholson imitation, which is wise, because it'd be distracting. (If they'd wanted a Jack Nicholson impression, they could've cast Christian Slater, who is often considered to be imitating Nicholson, instead of the kid from E.T.; Nicholson himself has been unofficially but pretty obviously retired since 2010.) I think the importance of Greenwood's character's office echoing the hotel manager's is great because it's where the characters get a job that changes the trajectory of their lives. The difference is that of course it transforms Jack's journey negatively and Danny's journey positively. Firestarter is indeed a different Stephen King book. For the purposes of the joke you might as well imagine that he said Danny went on to marry Annie Wilkes, although of course part of it is that both the character from Firestarter and Danny are young children with supernatural abilities. The TV miniseries of "The Shining" is widely hated, because the movie is widely beloved, and it was made mostly because of King's hatred of the movie. It's amazing how well Flanagan manages to navigate the challenge of delivering on a movie that successfully adapts King's book (which was written after he hated Kubrick's film) while also making a sequel to the original movie. Further down in the trivia section, it notes that the ending to this movie is basically the ending to the original novel, which is one of the reasons Kubrick hated the movie: Jack overcomes the Overlook for long enough to let Danny and Wendy escape, and burns the hotel to the ground. This is the reason why King was accepting of Flanagan's vision and why returning to the Overlook became so important, as it rights that perceived wrong of the Kubrick film. Ultimately, I think the movie is really great, although I do feel like it succumbs slightly to "member berries" disease at the end when they return to the hotel. Danny looking around the room is reasonably justified, if he's looking for Jack's spirit, but I find Rose simply staring at the blood elevator and the appearance of Horace Derwent (the "great party!" guy) to be a little less necessary, and I could probably do with one less instance of the shower woman pulling back the curtain. That said, it's a small complaint. This director's cut also adds more to Danny's journey to sobriety, which I think is extremely important because that's what the movie is mostly about in a dramatic sense.

[@DavetheGrue]

"The good guy is now the scary one." Yeah, the movie makes it pretty clear Abra has a dark side.

[@LordVolkov]

The brightest lights can cast the darkest shadows.

[@ianrosenbalm6555]

True! The fact that she was really willing to fight back pretty early on. Anyone ready to fight monsters has to be willing to become a monster themselves---that's the darkness that serves you.

[@indigozulu9]

Mike Flanagan is one of the top tier modern horror directors. It's hard to go wrong with a Mike Flanagan movie or TV show. I would love it if you guys watched Hush from 2016, hands down one of my favorite movies from him, where a deaf woman is being stalked and tormented by a serial killer

[@Nixxsixx420]

This was such an amazing sequel. The attention to detail in the hotel amazed me. You can really see how much Mike Flanagan admires and respects the horror genre. Awesome reaction guys!

[@fallenhero3130]

So glad you guys watched this! I saw this movie back when it came out and it got very little attention, but am happy it has slowly built a fanbase these last few years. I really appreciate that it doesn't try to be THE SHINING 2. It does its own thing, and it zigs where THE SHINING zags. With that said, I seem to be in the minority in that I prefer the Theatrical Cut, which is more streamlined. The Director's Cut isn't bad; it just adds a lot more and makes some scenes much longer than they need to be.

[@CraigWelchans]

I always think of Grounds Keeper Willie, got the shinning boy😊

[@vickyvind]

Rebecca Ferguson ATE! And thats all im saying 🙌

[@TheBeardSpeaks]

When hasn't she

[@spectral-tea]

I was so stoked to find out that you guys were doing this and I'm glad you enjoyed it! Mike Flanagan is definitely high up on my list of favorite horror directors. I can't recommend his stuff enough and I look forward to more potential reactions in the future!

[@Kayjee17]

I'm looking forward to his adaptation of The Dark Tower series!

[@jacobalbores]

Alex Essoe, who plays Wendy Torrance, has quite the horror filmography. Worth checking them out, specifically Starry Eyes.

[@caveritt82489]

Hope this is the first of many Mike Flanagan movies/series you guys do!!

[@jthomann71]

Mike Flanagan strikes again. Probably our best modern horror master. He's got Haunting of Hill House, my favorite horror TV show, and this possibly my favorite horror movie.

[@IndySidhu88]

Glad you’re watching the extended version. This film is one of the best sequels ever made. This and Blade Runner 2049 are perfect sequels. It creates a sequel that satisfies the book retroactively and film independently, respectively. The same Mike Flanagan actors from his other projects are really great here too. A great sequel and companion to the book and film The Shining. Dick Hallorann tells Danny that “shining” is, at its core, a fusion of telepathy and clairvoyance. Being able to shine means being able to communicate with others using the mind, and gives people the ability to see things that have happened in the past, or will happen in the future. There’s also no major revelation about the connection between Dan and Abra in the movie. In the book, when Dan goes to visit Concetta (book character) , he learns that Abra’s mother is none other than Jack Torrance’s daughter. Yes, the book’s version of Dan and Abra’s mom are half-siblings, which means that the character that Abra chooses to call “Uncle Dan” really is, well, Uncle Dan. This fact might have made it easier to understand why Abra and Dan maintain such a firm connection, and possibly even suggest that shining powers are hereditary.

[@nickb5371]

2:46 all the recreation scenes are AMAZING they did so well

[@heregellas]

I loved the Mistborn reference btw you guys told ahah, being a big fan of Sanderson's works I wasn't expecting to hear that during a movie reaction :D

[@Hortonfantastic4]

Yeah he references Stormlight occasionally too

[@ferchrissakes]

Another vote for “you need to watch all of Mike Flanagan’s work”. Seriously. Best shows in years. Very different stories each one, but you’ll see a lot of the same actors; Flanagan tends to work with the same ones.

[@thomasriddle7005]

If you like trauma than Flanagan is your guy!

[@Shyknit]

​@@thomasriddle7005 Trauma and bittersweet endings

[@alyxgriffen5073]

Since in the novel, *The Shining,* the Overlook Hotel was destroyed at the end, there was no showdown in the hotel at the end of the novel of *Doctor Sleep.* In the novel, both Danny and Abra's father survived.

[@ashleywetherall]

One of my favourite sequels . Not only is a great Stephen King film, it does the impossible by holding with Kubrick's visual style while keeping most of Kings story intact. That said there are a number of changes from the novel. But for me they work perfectly for this film..

[@smileyjosh]

If you like this, you would LOVE Gerald's Game!

[@Shyknit]

Why would you do that to Simone 😭

[@biguy617]

The scene Danny has with the ghost of his father, makes me think the original Lloyd, from the Shining, was Danny’s Grandfather. In the book, Danny’s grandfather was also a alcoholic.

[@MoviesandCoffee]

Mike Flanagan is amazing: The Haunting of Hill House (2019), Bly Manor, Oculus, Ouija Origin of Evil, all perfection

[@ashleywetherall]

I love the fact that The actor playing Jack also helped ET to go home...

[@nessaarandur7740]

Jacob Tremblay who played Bradley Trevor (Baseball Boy) was also in Room with Brie Larson and the voice of Flounder in the new Little Mermaid. A bunch of other things as well. I also love that Abra was so badass in this - it was a great representation of what Danny could have been if his father hadn't been an alcoholic. George hit the nail on the head that this (and the Shinning) is all just an allegory for the struggle with alcoholism and how trauma can be the demons we pass on to our kids.

[@DavetheGrue]

I am surprised but very pleased to see this get a reaction; I didn't think enough people had seen it. I really like its more low-key horror style.

[@Marky11694]

42:10 Bingo. Yes it is meant to be an allegory on Alcoholism and letting the alcohol take your Sanity

[@nickb5371]

40:26 Danny looking through the door is so cool especially when you take into account as a child he wasn't even there for this scene and learned about it by looking into the doorway just now

[@tackysum]

The "remember berries" only served as garnish for the overall story, not as primary dish which makes for a masterful filmmaker. I love all of Mike Flanagan's work. Great reaction guys. Simone, you handled that pretty well.

[@shainewhite2781]

There were talks of a prequel to the movie, Halloran, where it would have involved Dick Halloran and how he received his Shining abilities, but it was cancelled as the film was a box office disappointment. However, Mike Flanagan was interested in making a sequel with Abra Stone.

[@tremorsfan]

The titular cat is inspired by a cat named Oscar that lives in a hospice and is said to sleep on people who are on the edge of death.

[@Patriiiiick]

I love all the fade cuts in this film. Reminds me of Mandy.

[@BadassRaiden]

In case you didn't notice, the director is Mike Flanagan, famed creator of the Netflix Originals Haunting of Hill House, Haunting of Bly Manor, The Fall of the House of Usher, and Midnight Mass. If you notice, the little girl in the beginning, the first victim is the little girl who plays young Nelly in Haunting of Hill House, and the gentleman "filling in" for Jack Nicholson is the guy who played the main character's father in Midnight Mass, the young version of the father in Hill House, the uncle of in the wealthy Wingrave family in Bly Manor, and the eldest Usher son in House of Usher.

[@potterj09]

Cliff Curtis was casted here perfectly I gotta say. He plays that measure of the tough love only a good and exampliary sponsor knows. My guess is he's legit seen alot outside of acting. I've loved him since Once Were Warriors.

[@andrewwiggin]

Doctor Sleep is an absolute classic. Abra is so powerful she can sense Danny's shine. She might have contacted him earlier but his drinking muted his shine. This movie goes hard.

[@DannyMiller-p1u]

@@andrewwiggin it's shit

[@justmelv23]

In the book she reaches to him even as a baby

[@richardb6260]

Since the Overlook burns down at the end of book, The Shining, and the climax of the book, Doctor Sleep, takes place at the site, which is little more than the foundation, the director asked permission from King to change the ending so it took place in the still standing Overlook. Since King is not a fan of Kubrick's film, the director thought he should check with King before he referenced the movie.

[@backgroundMASCAL]

must watch for Halloween : "Barbarian" 2022 by Zach Cregger

[@GlynDwr-d4h]

Dan lives in the book. Also, the woman who plays his mom was in a great body horror film called Starry Eyes. She's great in that one too.

[@andrewhelmer6853]

Oh God …… waiting for THAT scene . So difficult to watch and listen to . I know it wrecked me , can only imagine how Simone and George will react …. 😢

[@Marky11694]

This scene was put in to fix The Shining since in the original Story Stephen King had written Jack Torrence would regain his sanity and in his last moments he would blow up the Hotel by not doing anything to fix his previous mistake and allowing the pressure to build up in the Boiler. This of course occurred because Danny realized that Jack forgot to relieve pressure on the boiler and tells the hotel that it's about to explode.

[@silentassason]

So cool, y'all are checking this out. It was such a fun movie, and I loved how it continued the story and tied things in from the short story King wrote while being a sequel to the movie.

[@nicquinn7291]

Hearing mistborn talk is awesome. Wax and Wayne are great too

[@JosephHernandez-u1n]

Rebecca Ferguson actually cried from the baseball boy's performance right before she was supposed to act her part of the scene.

[@rikmoran3963]

When I watched this, I didn't know it was a sequel to The Shining. All I knew was that it was a horror film of sorts. Needless to say, I absolutely loved it, and it was a great surprise. i couldn't have believed that someone could do a sequel to The Shining that ended up being a great movie in its own right.

[@almightyshippo1197]

Yeah, I came into the movie blind too. I just came across it one day, thought it sounded like an interesting horror movie, and gave it a shot. It had been so long since I saw The Shining that I didn't even make the connection right away, I certainly wasn't expecting a sequel to that classic bit of horror. I agree completely, it's an amazing movie in its own right. They really nailed it.

[@silkypnub]

I had no idea there was an extended cut! This movie was so badass. This was highly anticipated by my family. Great reaction guys.

[@nicodemogawronski2052]

I loved the books and movies. Mike Flanagan is just great. I am really looking forward to the new Dark Tower adaptation

[@MatthewBarton-8440]

The guy talking about the little league baseball player about hitting the ball at the game when he's at bat, is the original Danny Torrence from THE SHINNING all grown up.

[@jimballard1186]

Love this movie. It breaks my heart in a couple of places. I agree about the callbacks being earned: it's a movie about generational trauma, after all. The cycle repeats.

[@milostewart8738]

Such an amazing sequel. I didn’t have high hopes for this when I watched it on dvd, but I was SOOOO impressed with it. I wish I would have seen it in the theater!! They did an AMAZING job with this movie and balanced the original book with the original movie so well. I wish they could have made more Abra movies.

[@MrZeek1519]

Doctor Sleep was so underrated in my opinion. Great movie.

[@pillar81]

The first victim we see in this movie has actually been in a Mike Flanagan miniseries, Haunting of Hill House, before Doctor Sleep. She was also in the Black Widow movie, as well as in M3GAN. Also, Henry Thomas, who plays ghost Jack Torrance is a Regular on Mike Flanagan shows as well.

[@morrisgautreau6704]

The actor playing Jack Torrance is Henry Thomas who also played Elliot in E.T.!

[@pauldourlet]

Footnote --the Bartender at the Hotel (Lloyd)is played by Henry Thomas, who was the boy Elliott in E.T

[@4The1sKarmaMissed]

This is definitely one of my favorite movies!!! Love Rebecca Ferguson as Rose the Hat!!

[@duckprints7]

you two are very cool and fun.

[@falcychead8198]

36:20 I love that she has Danny's eyes at this point, that's such a cool touch.

[@bisseefamily9698]

Amazing book, amazing movie! Rare to have a story expand and improve an earlier tale, but Doctor Sleep does it! Great reaction Simone & George 🤩

[@markpekrul4393]

IMHO, the original The Shining was a series of individually brilliant moments awkwardly connected by, for Kubrick, surprisingly sub-par filmmaking (after the Kubrickians come for me, tell my story!). THIS is a great film. It ties both novels and both films exquisitely. Ewan McGregor gives one of his best performances, and Kyliegh Curran as Abra is remarkable. The scene where the little-leaguer was killed was so hard emotionally on the adult actors that they had to keep stepping away...the kid apparently LOVED it.

[@1938superman]

17:52 This actor, speaking about the kid hitting the ball, is the actor who originally played Danny in The Shining. It's the first time he's acted in anything since the early 80s.

[@jjkk1630]

Having read Moby Dick myself, I don't know if I could sincerely recommend it to anyone without mentioning the full implications of what reading it would entail. The thing to be aware of with Moby Dick is that it's a very long book, but only about half of it tells a story. What you guys should do though is react to the 1956 film version of Moby Dick with Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab, which is a classic of cinema and a very good translation of the story into film.

[@TheNeonRabbit]

I liked that they got a Jack Torrance that looked enough like Nicholson to be sure we know who it's supposed to be but they didn't do a Nicholson impersonation, same with Duvall and Scatman.

[@evanreid6917]

Fun Easter egg Danny Lloyd who plays the original Danvny in the shining is in this, as the parent at the baseball game with the ball cap on. He become a college professor after the shining many years later.

[@MariaSanchez-sf6oj]

Thank you so much for reacting to this movie!!!

[@burnikshrapnel]

Jack Torrance was played by Henry Thomas. A Flanagan regular and played Elliot in ET.

[@Iron-Van]

I nerded hard like George did ,the first time I saw this, when they went to the Overlook, as soon as the score started I was all "Hell Yeah"

[@fes4ever950]

This movie is easily one of my favorite movies, if not my favorite movie of all time. Glad to see you two react to it.

[@KC1976fromDetroit]

The man at the youth baseball game who said "it's like the boy can predict the pitches before they're thrown"...or something like that...was played by Dan Lloyd, the original Danny Torrence from "The Shining".

[@louielouie22]

Alien Abduction 2014. This movie was filmed from a kids camcorder. 😱🤯

[@DAVIDELLIOTT]

Fun fact: the bartender in the hotel (Henry Thomas) is the little boy from ET

[@SilentBob731]

20:49 Good call, George. 👍 42:16 Another good call, at least regarding the original. Cheers. 🥃 47:27 Nice nod to the end of the original novel.

[@WarrChan]

I liked it. Just the fact that there wasn’t a 20 minute drive up to the overlook in the beginning already beats the Shining.