As more of the story begins to piece together in the released trailers, we now believe that the R-rated supernatural thriller Doctor Sleep may be driving towards a big showdown between the protagonists Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor) and Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran) at The Overlook Hotel, the same hotel from The Shining book and movie.

The character Dan was first introduced as a child with psychic powers called “the shining”. In Doctor Sleep, Dan is all grown up but is now plagued by the same troubles his father had dealt with. The final trailer shows how Dan shares a psychic connection with a young girl named Abra who also possesses the same abilities.

The trailer also reveals more of the sinister Rose the Hat, the head of a cult called True Knot that feeds on psychic kids like Abra. Rose somehow develops a psychic connection with Abra and threatens to find her, forcing the girl to seek help from Dan. Despite dealing with his own traumatic past, Dan agrees to aid her.

It may seem like a pretty straightforward plot, as shown in the trailer. But if you’ve read the original book by Stephen King, you’ll know there’s so much more to the story. The final showdown is a big one but like the other parts of the novel, we don’t know how much of it is included in the film. Whichever the case, it’d be interesting to see how the film connects everything.

What we do know is that the upcoming thriller will contain material from the original novel, be an adaptation of it and use the same universe Stanley Kubrick had created in The Shining film. Doctor Sleep’s director and writer Mike Flanagan first began his research for the screenplay in the original book before incorporating the other elements. His goal is to ultimately make an original film too. And luckily, both King and Kubrick are happy with what he has accomplished.

Doctor Sleep makes its global cinematic debut on 30 October 2019 (8 November in US).

Watch the final trailer: