From King’s Books to Flanagan’s ‘Doctor Sleep’: A Revelation of My Calling
By Harper Smith
Quite recently, I wrote a piece on how special it was to discover the work of Stephen King at a young age. My first (and still the undisputed) favorite author, King, reached into my heart and soul and gave a fractured young kid both a voice and an escape. Finding King’s books at that time in my life was such a big deal, it’s a moment I hold so very close. Since that day, I have followed every book, story, interview, etc. that King has released; to say I’ve paid equal attention to any and every film adaptation of the horror master’s work would be an understatement (I’m actually in the process of starting early preproduction of my own take on King’s short story “Mute” thanks to the author giving people his “dollar babies” to turn into short films). Any and all King is worth a shot in this writer’s eyes, and every time a new film adaptation of a King book is released, I’m like a child again, nervous and excited to see how the film turns out. Some have been good, some have been bad, some have been very good, and some have been very bad.
However, there are those moments in which a director’s vision aligns so precisely with not only the book it is adapting, but also alters the life of the viewer. It has happened to me a few times in my life: hiding in my neighboring theater as an abused seven-year-old discovering Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers and seeing The Exorcist III when I was nine. With my memory as clear as water, I remember those moments that caused a younger me to evaluate what I thought about surviving, about faith, and about my feelings on life and what comes after. Moments like those are few and far between — they come when you do not expect them, and they stay with you long after you expect them.
On January 21st, 2020, the director’s cut of Mike Flanagan’s Doctor Sleep arrived on digital. An adaptation of King’s novel of the same name, Doctor Sleep acted as a sequel, decades in the making, to King’s classic, The Shining. While the film’s marketing didn’t let viewers know enough about the film to warrant a big box office turnout, the film was pretty well received. Flanagan had quickly made a name for himself in the horror community for his films Absentia, Hush, Oculus, and others, as well as already having tackled a previous King adaptation, Gerald’s Game. The daunting task of turning King’s Doctor Sleep into a film would be a difficult one, being that King had notoriously hated Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of The Shining, and what viewers loved about that first film seemed to clash with what King did not enjoy. To make the film version of Doctor Sleep, Flanagan would somewhat marry the two, making the book and film versions of The Shining part of his take on the sequel.
I could go on and on about the making of the film or its themes, but this isn’t that kind of essay. This is a selfish one, devoted to telling you Manor Vellum readers how much I am better for what Flanagan gave us and, more specifically, gave me. Stephen King gave me a second chance. Mike Flanagan gave me the drive to chase that second chance.
Doctor Sleep follows an adult Daniel Torrance (Danny), played perfectly by Ewan McGregor. Plagued by a lifetime of trauma stemming from the events he suffered at the hands of his father during the events of The Shining, Danny is now an alcoholic, going from drink to drink falling deeper and deeper into his own self-abyss, leaving mistake after mistake in his wake. There’s something so broken about Danny, something so familiar to me when I watched the film for the first time, I began to feel discomfort. I saw myself in Danny — I had been there many times in my life, chasing the next drink to get me through whichever day felt unbearable, another drink to mask the pain of what I was feeling, drinking until it felt like I could make it through the day. And if I couldn’t, I’d at least be drunk and numb to what it was I was struggling with.
Following a wake-up call, Danny begins to make changes in his life in an attempt to better himself. As he does that, he uses the powers and skills he’s learned to help others on their way out, leading them to where they’re supposed to go into the afterlife. The arc that Danny goes through is a special one, and when the film’s main storyline begins to take shape, you’re already devoted to Danny and what he’s trying to do: make up for his own shortcomings in life by helping others avoid the same. It’s a passion.
When Abra, a young girl who also holds the special power of the shining, becomes the target of a group of soul-sucking energy vampires led by the charismatic Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson is so damn good), Danny’s life mission becomes clear: protect Abra and also confront his own demons in the process, something that fills the film’s last quarter of running time. Going to the Overlook Hotel location of the first film, Danny and Abra fight Rose and her vampires, while Danny also comes to terms with what had happened to him as a child and learns how to use that trauma to help Abra escape her own.
What makes Flanagan’s work so special is that the director has such a knack for character development. I have not seen a single Mike Flanagan film or series in which you do not know who you are following. Each character is so fully formed that it’s almost next to impossible not to relate to some of them; they’re never one-dimensional characters and each one is written in such wonderful ways. The Danny we see in Doctor Sleep is, to date, one of my favorite characters in film history. There’s a fractured quality to him, something that allows us to see the character rebuild himself in order to help someone else. It’s one of the most inspirational arcs I’ve seen.
As I sat there, watching Doctor Sleep, tears began forming in my eyes. I had spent 39 years lost, forever holding onto what had happened to me as a kid, forever unsure of what I was meant to do. I had always been a writer, a musician, a filmmaker, and many other things, and though I am very passionate about every one of those things, it never felt like any of them were my calling. In fact, I never knew if I had one. I went through life day to day, month to month, and year to year losing any value I had previously placed on dreams…until I watched Doctor Sleep.
I saw myself in Danny wanting to help others. I saw myself in Danny looking at that drink, knowing it would be my end if I took it. An alcoholic knows these things — it can just be very difficult to listen to that common sense. The dependency on substances is too strong for some of us but that’s just because we don’t have the right tools to combat those feelings, something I was passionate about helping others like me find, specifically those who struggle with the same demons I do, those who struggle with drinking and drugs. I am now seven years clean from pills, and while I try my best to remain completely sober from alcohol, I slip up from time to time. But instead of allowing those moments to pull me into a despair-filled depression, each time I try harder to break myself from it, doing it with a grace that most do not allow themselves or others to do. I try.
Flanagan’s Doctor Sleep touched my heart and touched my soul in ways that felt like the best of wakeup calls, allowing me the time needed to ask myself, “Why aren’t you chasing this now? What are you waiting for?” and sparking a desire to help others. I immediately applied for the drug and alcohol counselor degree courses. While the pandemic and another big hurdle popped up almost immediately and are still in my way, I have held on to the hope of becoming a counselor the moment I am able to do so. It is clear what I was meant to do, which is being devoted to trying to do exactly what Danny did: Be there at all costs.
It’s rare to be able to pinpoint a moment when your life changed, but readers, I can say that on January 21st, 2020, my 39th birthday, I found my purpose and couldn’t have done so without Stephen King’s books, and, more specifically, Mike Flanagan’s film. I will remember them both as two creators who inspired a scared little boy and a directionless adult to be there for others.
I found my calling. 🩸
About
Harper Smith is a film journalist and composer, hailing from the Central Valley of California. For over a decade now, they have annoyed readers of many sites and magazines with an overabundance of Halloween 4 love and personal essays. Follow them on X @HarperisjustOK and visit their website Rainydaysforghosts.bandcamp.com.
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