By Bill Friedell
One of the biggest points of debate in the current landscape of franchise filmmaking is over the use of callbacks to previous entries. Some see these references as fun additions while others see this as distracting and creatively bankrupt. The worst thing a film can do when using a callback is distract the story, or worse, serve as the substance of a film. In my opinion, I find that the best way to use callbacks to previous films in a franchise is when it serves the story it is telling. One of the best films to practice this idea was released last year; Mike Flanagan’s Dr. Sleep (2019), the sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror classic The Shining (both Dr. Sleep and The Shining are adapted from novels by Stephen King). By carefully choosing its references and having those references support the story it is telling, Dr. Sleep acts as one of the best examples of a sequel to a decades old film.
Dr. Sleep tells the story of grown up Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor) as he moves to a new town, looking to run away from himself, as he’s become an alcoholic and is still haunted by his experiences as a child. Thanks to the compassion of a local townsperson, he begins to recover from his alcoholism and begins to use his ability to shine. He uses this as a supernatural sense that allows him to see the dead and communicate with his mind) to comfort the elderly who are about to die (giving him the nickname Dr. Sleep). At the same time, a gang of vampire-like creatures who eat people’s ability to shine is discovered by Abra (Kyliegh Curran), a girl with similar shine abilities to Danny. Wanting to stop them, Abra seeks out Danny for help.
It is the restraint that took me by surprise on my viewing of this film. The plot of Dr. Sleep is fairly removed from the story of The Shining. The supernatural elements in the original films were limited to ghosts and the ability to shine. So this new threat of these “vampires” creates an antagonist that is seperate from the Overlook Hotel (the location and central threat of The Shining). And while there is a ghost from The Shining referenced at multiple points in the film (the woman from the infamous room 237), she is used to get across a thematic idea central to the story. She represents the trauma Danny went through in The Shining. The horror he saw left a mark on him that he never fully recovered from. The only way he was able to cope with the “ghosts” of the Overlook Hotel was to lock them in boxes within his mind. This reference isn’t there to simply remind you of The Shining, but is making a statement about the trauma Danny has experienced since childhood. It is used as a benchmark for how both Danny and Abra handle the hardships they face, as each must eventually face her.
Spoilers ahead.
It isn’t until the third act of the film that the Overlook Hotel becomes a part of the story. In order to confront Rose (Rebecca Fergusen), the leader of the band of vampires, they need to overwhelm her with the Overlook Hotel, as he was in The Shining. This is where a lot of referencing and homages occur. Danny and Abra’s ascent up the mountains to the Overlook Hotel is similarly shot as the opening of The Shining as the iconic main theme of The Shining plays. As Danny goes through the hotel to “wake it up”, it acts as a sort of haunted walk down memory lane, as each room is directly from The Shining. This is able to work as we had experienced the horrors that alluded to by watching The Shining, having experienced the horror of Jack Torrence (Jack Nicholson) breaking down the bathroom door, so when we see the crack through the door, it feels like an old memory, because it is to the audience, putting us in Danny’s shoes.
Dr. Sleep tells the story of grown up Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor) as he moves to a new town, looking to run away from himself, as he’s become an alcoholic and is still haunted by his experiences as a child. Thanks to the compassion of a local townsperson, he begins to recover from his alcoholism and begins to use his ability to shine. He uses this as a supernatural sense that allows him to see the dead and communicate with his mind) to comfort the elderly who are about to die (giving him the nickname Dr. Sleep). At the same time, a gang of vampire-like creatures who eat people’s ability to shine is discovered by Abra (Kyliegh Curran), a girl with similar shine abilities to Danny. Wanting to stop them, Abra seeks out Danny for help.
It is the restraint that took me by surprise on my viewing of this film. The plot of Dr. Sleep is fairly removed from the story of The Shining. The supernatural elements in the original films were limited to ghosts and the ability to shine. So this new threat of these “vampires” creates an antagonist that is seperate from the Overlook Hotel (the location and central threat of The Shining). And while there is a ghost from The Shining referenced at multiple points in the film (the woman from the infamous room 237), she is used to get across a thematic idea central to the story. She represents the trauma Danny went through in The Shining. The horror he saw left a mark on him that he never fully recovered from. The only way he was able to cope with the “ghosts” of the Overlook Hotel was to lock them in boxes within his mind. This reference isn’t there to simply remind you of The Shining, but is making a statement about the trauma Danny has experienced since childhood. It is used as a benchmark for how both Danny and Abra handle the hardships they face, as each must eventually face her.
Spoilers ahead.
It isn’t until the third act of the film that the Overlook Hotel becomes a part of the story. In order to confront Rose (Rebecca Fergusen), the leader of the band of vampires, they need to overwhelm her with the Overlook Hotel, as he was in The Shining. This is where a lot of referencing and homages occur. Danny and Abra’s ascent up the mountains to the Overlook Hotel is similarly shot as the opening of The Shining as the iconic main theme of The Shining plays. As Danny goes through the hotel to “wake it up”, it acts as a sort of haunted walk down memory lane, as each room is directly from The Shining. This is able to work as we had experienced the horrors that alluded to by watching The Shining, having experienced the horror of Jack Torrence (Jack Nicholson) breaking down the bathroom door, so when we see the crack through the door, it feels like an old memory, because it is to the audience, putting us in Danny’s shoes.
 Jack (Jack Nicholson) iconically sticks his face up to the crack he made with an axe. |  Danny (Ewan McGregor) looks through the crack his father made years ago. |
Perhaps the most direct homage is found when Danny goes to the bar in the ballroom. Both scenes begin with each respective character talking to seemingly nobody, until the camera cuts to the bartender ghost. The difference is when “Lloyd” is revealed to the audience, it isn’t the Lloyd (Joe Turkel) from The Shining, but is revealed to be Jack Torrence (Henry Thomas), Danny’s father. The hotel torments him by reminding him of how the it devoured Jack and their shared demon of alcoholism. It isn’t a homage just for the sake of homaging a scene from The Shining. This is important for Danny’s development as he is facing his trauma head on. It is in service of Danny’s character arc as he faces the trauma of his past and what he could become (his father) if he stayed on the path he was on in the beginning of the film.
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This meeting with Jack isn’t the only reunion he has; his next confrontation with his past happens when he releases all of the ghosts he kept in his head to defeat Rose. After she is killed by the ghosts of the overlook, they turn to him as the hotel overtakes Danny, making him act like his father in The Shining, axe and all. This frames Danny as becoming his father and is succumbing to his demons (or in this case, ghosts). It takes Abra to reach him, giving himself enough time to destroy the house, sacrificing himself.
The purpose of the callbacks in Dr. Sleep doesn't simply remind you of The Shining, giving you empty nostalgia. It seeks to use the original film to explore the idea of trauma through the shared experience of a character and an audience. The film uses references to inform the development of Danny Torrence and allow for a new story to be told while incorporating references where it says something about the characters and their development. It isn’t a crutch to rely on, but a tool to effectively tell its story.
The purpose of the callbacks in Dr. Sleep doesn't simply remind you of The Shining, giving you empty nostalgia. It seeks to use the original film to explore the idea of trauma through the shared experience of a character and an audience. The film uses references to inform the development of Danny Torrence and allow for a new story to be told while incorporating references where it says something about the characters and their development. It isn’t a crutch to rely on, but a tool to effectively tell its story.
