This used to be much further down the list, but then I saw the 3hr Directors Cut, which is unquestionably the superior version. The short version can’t solve the impossible task of working as a respectable continuation of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining while satisfying the vision of Stephen King, who famously was not a fan of Kubrick’s adaptation. The bulk of the movie is typical of a Mike Flanagan film, with a series of villains (led by a terrific Rebecca Ferguson) who have more in common with Pennywise the Clown than Jack Torrance. The short version is all friction between Kubrick and King, but with a little more space, Flanagan gets his own style in there and manages to feel be to Kubrick’s film while working as a solid adaptation of King.
Recasting Jack Torrance is an impossible ask, and it’s interesting to see Henry Thomas try for a performance that doesn’t imitate Nicholson but does Jack Torrance now at peace as the bartender of the Overlook. Carl Lumbly does an amazing job as Dick Hallorann. I’ll take this over deep fake effects anytime.
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