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movie review - Doctor Sleep

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-eight years and a million words

Kawasaki, 2020.03.16

This is the story of what becomes of little Danny from The Shining. You remember Danny! "Danny's not here right now, Mrs. Torrence," Danny. Yeah.

Anyway, the answer is: not much. He's a drifter, a recovering alcoholic living in an attic apartment and scraping by on a low salary somewhere in New England (because of course). Over the course of the movie, it turns out he's been just about everywhere in the US over the course of his life, moving on when necessary because in large part of manifestations of his "gift". So he's about forty, living in an undefined time period without smart phone zombies, and doing his best.

Then he's contacted by a powerful young telepath who's in trouble. And now, at long last, adult Danny is going to do more than just murmur reassurances to the dying. He decides to get involved because a band of vampire-like telepathic parasites is sniffing through the region looking for the girl.

I really enjoyed this thing. The thought of a sequel of sorts to The Shining is brilliant, and the execution here is amazing. The vampire things are awful, the actress who plays the young telepath knocks it out of the park, and the story is so grounded that despite all of the absurdities you really feel peril. There is a non-trivial body count in this film but none of it is gratuitous.

Strongly recommended.

rand()m quote

One day you will take a fork in the road, and you're going to have to make a decision about which direction you want to go. If you go one way, you can be somebody. You will have to make compromises and you will have to turn your back on your friends. But you will be a member of the club and you will get promoted and get good assignments. Or you can go the other way and you can do something [...] for yourself. If you decide to do something, you may not get promoted and get good assignments and you certainly will not be a favorite of your superiors. But you won't have to compromise yourself. To be somebody or to do something. In life there is often a roll call. That's when you have to make a decision. To be or to do.

—John Boyd, US Air Force