History YMMV / DoctorSleep

* JerkassWoobie: Dan Torrance. He's now an alcoholic, but considering all the shit he went through as a kid in the first movie (witnessing Halloran's death, being stalked and chased by his own father who intended to kill him, and then losing him shortly afterwards) left him with severe trauma on top of losing his mom Wendy, losing his friend Billy after he's forced by a True Knot member to kill himself (right in front of him, no less), losing his ally David (who was Abra's father) after another True Knot member stabs him in the heart before witnessing said member kidnap Abra herself, having all the ghosts of the Overlook possess him and force him to go after Abra and then dying horribly by burning the entire hotel with himself still inside it, it's hard not to feel bad for him.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: In the time since writing ''The Shining'', King had struggled considerably with alcoholism and substance abuse, which explains his notably harsher stance on the topic than in the original book.

** Abra. She's stalked by a murderous cult due to having "the shining", watches Bradley be tortured by said cult to death, loses both her ally Billy and her father David to two True Knot members before she's kidnapped by the one who killed her father and loses her other ally Dan after he stays behind to destroy the Overlook Hotel and a comment from True Knot leader Rose implies that more True Knot members will hunt her down in the future. Poor girl needs a hug pronto.

* OneSceneWonder: Henry Thomas appears as [[spoiler:Jack Torrence]]/Lloyd the Barkeeper for a single scene where he attempts to tempt Dan to fall off the wagon and give up on helping Abra. The scene is generally agreed to be one of the most memorable in the movie. Though technically Thomas appears in a few other quick shots recreating scenes from the original movie as flashbacks, but those are only seconds long.

** The frequent use of shots designed to mirror those of ''The Shining'', particularly in the final act, can be distracting to the point of detracting from the actual story. It's particularly noticeable when certain shots are repeated - for example, ''every time'' an axe is swung, the shot is a replica of Jack swinging the axe at the door in the "Here's Johnny!" scene. The scenes in which Rose stops to watch blood rush from the elevator doors and [[spoiler:after the Overlook ghosts repopulate the hotel]] have been compared to the ''Shining'' sequence in ''Film/ReadyPlayerOne''.

* {{Narm}}: Some have felt that the make-up used on Henry Thomas to transform him into [[spoiler:Jack Torrance]] is this, saying that it looks like someone doing a Creator/JackNicholson cosplay, and that it would have been more effective if the character was kept entirely out-of-focus so that the make-up would be less distracting. Others have pointed to [[https://imgur.com/WA0C0UX this shot]] as an effective example of how the film could have done this.

* {{Anvilicious}}: Creator/StephenKing ''really'' wants you to know how bad alcohol use is. The message is presented without qualifiers, unlike ''Literature/TheShining'' where Jack Torrance knew several other members of the English department at Stovington Prep who were heavy drinkers but didn't let it control their lives, and he specifically recalls Zack Tunney, who could drink almost an entire keg of beer by himself on Sunday night, then show up on Monday sober as a judge without fail.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: {{Downplayed}}. ''Film/TheShining'' was still widely enjoyed in its own right and no sequel was necessary, but a lot of viewers were pleasantly surprised and found the movie an enjoyable follow-up to the Creator/StanleyKubrick adaptation. Even Creator/StephenKing complemented Creator/MikeFlanagan for "redeeming" the Kubrick adaptation. The film's predecessor was still highly regarded along side its unexpected sequel.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: {{Downplayed}}. ''Film/TheShining'' was still widely enjoyed in its own right and no sequel was necessary, but a lot of viewers were pleasantly surprised and found the movie an enjoyable follow-up to the Creator/StanleyKubrick adaptation. Even Creator/StephenKing complemented Creator/MikeFlanigan for "redeeming" the Kubrick adaptation. The film's predecessor was still highly regarded along side its unexpected sequel.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: {{Downplayed}}. ''Film/TheShining'' was still widely enjoyed in its own right and no sequel was necessary, but a lot of viewers were pleasantly surprised and found the movie an enjoyable follow-up to the Creator/StanleyKubrick adaptation. Even Creator/StephenKing complemented Creator/MichaelFlanigan for "redeeming" the Kubrick adaptation. The film's predecessor was still highly regarded along side its unexpected sequel.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: {{Downplayed}}. The ''Film/TheShining'' was still widely enjoyed in its own right and no sequel was necessary, but a lot of viewers were pleasantly surprised and found the movie an enjoyable follow-up to the Creator/StanleyKubrick adaptation. Even Creator/StephenKing complemented Creator/MichaelFlanigan for "redeeming" the Kubrick adaptation.

* HolyShitQuotient: The first trailer's reveal that the film would be a sequel to the movie version of ''The Shining'', as opposed to the book version, was an absolute shock to the fandom, given King's famously stated dislike of the movie version and how he specifically ignored it when originally writing the sequel novel. Another way to also be assured the film (despite having to ''live up'' to ''The Shining'') will do alright is who's directing the film: Creator/MikeFlanagan. Yes, ''[[Film/{{Absentia}} that]] [[Film/{{Oculus}} Mike]] [[Film/OuijaOriginOfEvil Flan]][[Series/TheHauntingOfHillHouse agan]]''.

* ToughActToFollow: Given that this is the sequel to a classic Kubrick movie, this was bound to be the reaction from some viewers and critics.

** In the climax, Dan encounters Rose the Hat in person on top of the staircase at the Overlook Hotel...[[spoiler:[[Film/RevengeOfTheSith and it's from a certain point of view]] [[DontExplainTheJoke (in which he has the high ground)]]]].

** The movie Snakebite Andi is watching in the theatre is ''Film/{{Casablanca}}''. Interestingly, Scatman Crothers, two years before taking the role of Dick Halloran in the original 1980 film, played a spoof of Dooley Wilson's role from the former film in the FilmNoir parody ''Film/TheCheapDetective''. He also played Sam himself in a short-lived TV adaptation of the film.

* TooCoolToLive: [[spoiler:Billy]]

* {{Anvilicious}}: Stephen King ''really'' wants you to know how bad alcohol use is. The message is presented without qualifiers, unlike ''Literature/TheShining'' where Jack Torrance knew several other members of the English department at Stovington Prep who were heavy drinkers but didn't let it control their lives, and he specifically recalls Zack Tunney, who could drink almost an entire keg of beer by himself on Sunday night, then show up on Monday sober as a judge without fail.

* JerkassWoobie: While many of the True Knot could count as the only reason they do what they do is to survive, Snakebite Andi is a stand out example as she gets more backstory than the rest. Even Dan [[SympathyForTheDevil feels some pity for her]] before she cycles out, begging her Daddy not to hurt her, mirroring some of his own bad experience with Jack.
* ParanoiaFuel: The True Knot travel around by presenting themselves as middle-aged/retirees who drive RVs and spend their time at campgrounds. [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse They're exactly the type that most people would overlook]], even if they have to now have to work harder due to modernized security and surveillance of post-9/11 America. However, they're very well-funded and connected; it's mentioned in passing that they obtained their tranquilizing drugs from one of their assets in the NSA and they have hundreds of mail drops at UPS and other mailing stores. Just imagine where ''else'' they've infiltrated.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: It's often debated upon by viewers ''if'' [[spoiler: the Jack Dan confronts in the Gold Room ''was'' really Jack Torrance]]. Some argue that [[spoiler: it is Jack, since the Jack of the 1980 film was shown to be a rather aggressive and angry man who resented Wendy and Danny]] whereas others [[spoiler: believe it was the Overlook creating an image to drive Dan into drinking like his father]]. Others just believe [[spoiler: it is Jack, but being absorbed by the Overlook made him a shell of his former self]].
* AuthorsSavingThrow: In the Director's Cut, Dick Hallorann explains to a young Danny that Jack's descent into insanity wasn't all his fault -- the Overlook itself influenced him, saying that Jack "had some light in him, too, just like you got some dark. We all got both."

** After all of the pain and misery it caused the characters, [[spoiler: Danny destroying the Overlook Hotel by overloading the boiler]] is immensely satisfying.
** When confronted by the ghostly visage of [[spoiler: his father]], Danny rejects the offer of alcohol cementing himself as better than [[spoiler: his father]].
** Watching the True Knot cycle out painfully is also cathartic due to their abominable penchant of kidnapping children and killing them for their steam on top of torturing Bradley to death and [[spoiler:killing both Billy and Dave.]]
** After spending the entire film basically acting like the BigBad and constantly acting smug and superior, seeing Rose actually be knocked down a peg [[spoiler: when Abra crushes her hand when Rose snoops in her mind]] and especially [[spoiler: when Dan lets out the spirits of the Overlook to feed onto her]] is immensely satisfying.
* ContestedSequel: Some viewers see this film as a disappointing followup to the Kubrick adaptation of ''The Shining'', which is generally regarded as a classic. However, others favor this film as an EvenBetterSequel because of its more faithful adherence to the original Creator/StephenKing novels.

** Also, the person who read only Stephen King's novel ''Literature/TheShining'' will be very confused to see the Overlook Hotel still standing.
* HarsherInHindsight: Henry Thomas playing the role of TheAlcoholic [[spoiler:Jack Torrance]], who views whiskey as medicine, is a lot more wincing considering Thomas was charged with DUI in Oregon just a month prior to the theatrical release of the film.

** The movie Snakebite Andi was watching in the theatre was ''Film/{{Casablanca}}''. Interestingly, Scatman Crothers, two years before helming the role of Dick Halloran in the original 1980 film, played a spoof of Dooley Wilson's role from the former film in the FilmNoir parody ''Film/TheCheapDetective''. He also played Sam himself in a short-lived TV adaptation of the film.
** In the climax, Danny encounters Rose the Hat in person on top of the staircase at the Overlook Hotel......[[spoiler: [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith and it's from a certain point of view]] [[DontExplainTheJoke (in which he has the high ground)]]]].
* HolyShitQuotient: The first trailer's reveal that the film would be a sequel to the movie version of ''The Shining'', as opposed to the book version, was an absolute shock to the fandom, given King's famously stated dislike of the movie version and how he specifically ignored it when originally writing the sequel novel. Another way to also be assured the film (despite having to ''live up'' to ''The Shining'') will do alright is who's directing the film: Mike Flanagan. Yes, ''[[Film/{{Absentia}} that]] [[Film/{{Oculus}} Mike]] [[Film/OuijaOriginOfEvil Flan]][[Series/TheHauntingOfHillHouse agan]]''.
* JerkassWoobie: Danny Torrence. He's now an alcoholic but considering all the shit he went through as a kid in the first movie (witnessing Hallorann's death, being stalked and chased by his own father who intended to kill him and then losing him shortly afterwards) left him with severe trauma on top of losing his mom Wendy, losing his friend Billy after he's forced by a True Knot member to kill himself (right in front of him no less), losing his ally David (who was Abra's father) after another True Knot member stabs him in the heart before witnessing said member kidnap Abra herself, having all the ghosts of the Overlook possess him and force him to go after Abra and then dying horribly by burning the entire hotel with himself still inside it it's hard not to feel bad for him.
* JustHereForGodzilla: Twofold. Some fans of Creator/EwanMcGregor only went to the film because of his casting, while some {{WebAnimation/RWBY}} fans went to see it just to get the context for the Emerald references.

*** There's also "Heeeeere's Obi!" in reference to how [[spoiler:Danny is possessed like his father was. Yes, he carries and uses the axe, too.]]
*** "It's over Rose! I have the high ground!"[[note]]Specifically when Rose the Hat sees Danny wielding a bat at The Overlook's main staircase[[/note]]
* MoralEventHorizon: The True Knots as a whole are already beyond the horizon, but of those that stand out:
** Rose establishes her ruthlessness by luring and killing a little girl with the Shining.
** Barry the Chunk pokes fun at Bradley's baseball playing skills as he [[spoiler: assists in torturing him to death]].
** Crow Daddy kidnaps Abra after [[spoiler: coldly murdering her father]] as revenge for the death of his group.
** Snakebite Andi [[spoiler: forces Billy to commit suicide]] before succumbing to her wounds.
** The ghost of [[spoiler: Jack Torrance]] more or less reveals that [[spoiler: he]] always despised Danny and Wendy, thus making [[spoiler: his actions in the first ''Shining'' film]] all the more deplorable. Though it is debatable on whether that truly was [[spoiler: Jack]] or if it was just the hotel playing tricks.
** The Overlook itself is already presented as a malevolent force responsible for a number of tragedies in its long history, but it crosses it when [[spoiler: after feeding on Rose, it possesses Danny into going after Abra to kill her]].

* {{Squick}}: The murder of the young Bradley is played out quite graphically and with extended focus on his tortured suffering.

* WinTheCrowd: In a surprising way, ''Doctor Sleep'' manages to succeed not only as a horror movie, Stephen King adaptation and not just any sequel but to an iconic classic horror movie. Some fans even prefer the sequel over the original, and it shows why it is a great sequel.
* TheWoobie: So many:

** Abra. She's stalked by a murderous cult called the True Knot due to having "the shining", watches Bradley be tortured by said cult to death, loses both her ally Billy and her father David to two True Knot members before she's kidnapped by the one who killed her father and loses her other ally Danny after he stays behind to destroy the Overlook Hotel and a comment from True Knot leader Rose implies that more True Knot members will hunt her down in the future. Poor girl needs a hug pronto.
** Billy. He befriends Danny and assists him in killing multiple True Knot members [[spoiler:only to be killed by one of them in turn via being telepathically forced him to kill himself by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head all while he can do nothing to fight back. The fact that this happened in front of Danny makes it worse.]]

* HolyShitQuotient: The first trailer's reveal that the film would be a sequel to the '''movie''' version of ''The Shining'', as opposed to the book version, was an absolute shock to the fandom, given King's famously stated dislike of the movie version and how he specifically ignored it when originally writing the sequel novel. Another way to also be assured the film (despite having to ''live up'' to ''The Shining'') will do alright is who's directing the film: Mike Flanagan. Yes, ''[[Film/{{Absentia}} that]] [[Film/{{Oculus}} Mike]] [[Film/OuijaOriginOfEvil Flan]][[Series/TheHauntingOfHillHouse agan]]''.

* {{Narm}}: Some have felt that the make-up used on Henry Thomas to transform him into [[spoiler:Jack Torrance]] is this, saying that it looks like someone doing a [[spoiler:Creator/JackNicholson]] cosplay, and that it would have been more effective if the character was kept entirely out-of-focus so that the make-up would be less distracting. Others have pointed to [[https://imgur.com/WA0C0UX this shot]] as an effective example of how the film could have done this.

* EvenBetterSequel: Surprisingly, several fans even prefer the sequel over the original.

* ParanoiaFuel: The True Knot travel around by presenting themselves as middle-aged/retirees who drive RVs and spend their time at campgrounds. [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse They're exactly the type that most people would overlook]], even if they have to now have to work harder due to modernized security and survaillance of post-9/11 America. However, they're very well-funded and connected; it's mentioned in passing that they obtained their tranquilizing drugs from their one of their assets in the NSA and they have hundreds of mail drops at UPS and other mailing stores. Just imagine where ''else'' they've infiltrated.
** On a similar note, the way they track down Abra is eerily plausible. Aside from starting with Rose's vision of Abra's location, everything else they do to continue the search is surprisingly practical. They know the name of the store and that there are mountains nearby, so they use a Google Earth-esque site to narrow the potential place to only a handful of towns. Then they looked up any recent odd events in those towns, and came up with the earthquake that Abra caused. This gives them not only the name of the town, but the street the earthquake was localized on. Then Jimmy Numbers gets into the town's middle school site to find photos and addresses of the potential targets. Then Crow is able narrow it down to Abra by just going to her street and observing her interaction with Billy.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: In the Director's Cut, Dick Hallorann explains to a young Danny that Jack's decent into insanity wasn't all his fault -- the Overlook itself influenced him, saying that Jack "had some light in him, too, just like you got some dark. We all got both."

* EvilIsSexy: Creator/RebeccaFerguson as Rose the Hat. Especially if you have a foot fetish.

* HolyShitQuotient: The first trailer's reveal that the film would be a sequel to the '''movie''' version of ''The Shining'', as opposed to the book version, was an absolute shock to the fandom, given King's famously stated dislike of the movie version and how he specifically ignored it when originally writing the sequel novel. Another way to also be assure the film (despite having to ''live up'' to ''The Shining'') will do alright is who's directing the film: Mike Flanagan. Yes, ''[[Film/{{Absentia}} that]] [[Film/{{Oculus}} Mike]] [[Film/OuijaOriginOfEvil Flan]][[Series/TheHauntingOfHillHouse agan]]''.

* {{Narm}}: Some have felt that the make-up used on Henry Thomas to transform him into [[spoiler:Jack Torrance]] is this, saying that it looks like someone doing a [[spoiler:Creator/JackNicholson]] cosplay, and that it would have been more effective if the character was kept entirely out-of-focus, so that the make-up would be less distracting. Others have pointed to [[https://imgur.com/WA0C0UX this shot]] as an effective example of how the film could have done this.

* WinTheCrowd: In a surprising way, ''Doctor Sleep'' manage to succeed not only as a horror movie, Stephen King adaptation and not just any sequel, but to an iconic classic horror movie. Some fans even prefer the sequel over the original, and it shows why it is a great sequel.

** Billy. He befriends Danny and assists him in killing multiple True Knot members [[spoiler:only to be killed by one of them in turn via being telepathically force him to kill himself by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head all while he can do nothing to fight back. The fact that this happened in front of Danny makes it worse.]]

* AuthorsSavingThrow: In the Director's Cut, Dick Hallorann explains to a young Danny that Jack's decent into insanity wasn't all his fault -- the Overlook itself influenced him, saying that Jack "had some light in him, too, just like you got some dark. We all got both."