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And its pleasures dont end there: A score by the Newton Brothers thumps like an errant heartbeat.
The actors sparkle with chemistry.
ButDoctor Sleepproves stronger in parts than as a whole.
The latters outsize legacy inevitably looms large.
Here, Dan Torrance is a haunted man.
When we meet him, hes homeless and fiercely alcoholic.
But our pasts have a way of catching up with us.
Doctor Sleepis perhaps trying to do too much at once.
The film can never balance all these pursuits.
Flanagan undoubtedly understands and cares for horror as a genre.
The cult is feral, even vampiric as they feed.
I imagine your impression of it all will vary depending on your affinity toward Kubricks masterwork.
Ferguson is living dynamite.
Scenes burn with a slinky, sexily malevolent energy whenever shes onscreen.
Curran is an immediately thrilling presence with a bright, spiky energy that plays off McGregor particularly well.
How do childhood sorrows mutate and fester into adulthood?
Can we ever make peace with our pasts?
The film aims in its closing moments to be bittersweet yet hopeful.
Its a horror film with messy pleasures if youre able to meet it on its own level.
