It: Welcome to Derry Episode 5 sends fans rushing to underrated Stephen King movie

It: Welcome to Derry Episode 5 has fans flocking to one of the best Stephen King movies, but it’s not the one you’re thinking of.

The horror TV series has spent plenty of time fleshing out the mythology behind the doomed town, using smaller moments from King’s iconic novel to dive into why Pennywise is so intricately tied to Derry. While the show has expanded the lore behind Pennywise, and has armed Lily (Clara Stack) and the kids a weapon that could stop the alien creature, we know he survives until his next hunting cycle in the It movies.

Still, that hasn’t stopped Andy Muschietti from ramping up the horror with some truly grisly scenes, and it also hasn’t shied away from its connections to the wider universe it takes place in. After all, The Shining’s Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk) takes center stage as a key piece of the puzzle.

But It: Welcome to Derry Episode 5 reveals more information about how Hallorann’s supernatural abilities work, and it has fans flocking to one great King movie – and no, it isn’t The Shining.

It: Welcome to Derry fans are rewatching Doctor Sleep

Warner Bros.

During the fifth episode, Hallorann is plagued with visions of his grandmother who tells him to keep the box in his mind holding traumatic memories, visions, and ghosts firmly shut. But when he goes into the sewer with the rest of the military, Pennywise breaks into Hallorann’s consciousness and rips open the box while pretending to be his grandfather… More trauma!

All this talk of mind boxes and supernatural abilities might sound familiar to fans of King’s work, especially those who watched the (criminally underrated) Doctor Sleep from 2019.

The film follows Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor) as he reckons with the legacy left behind by his father, Jack Torrance, after he lost his mind in the Overlook Hotel.

During the movie, Hallorann’s ghost teaches Danny to lock vengeful spirits away in psychic boxes in his mind, something that lines up with Hallorann’s story in Welcome to Derry Episode 5.

Brooke Palmer/HBO

Fans on X raved about the connection between It: Welcome to Derry and Doctor Sleep, with one person writing, “If you’re watching Welcome to Derry and have not watched The Shining and Doctor Sleep, get on it! The question now is: What’s in Hallorann’s box?”

Another wrote: “Doctor Sleep was good! Now I see how it ties into Welcome to Derry!”

A third added: “After watching Doctor Sleep, It: Welcome to Derry makes so much sense. This universe is so good.”

Muschietti is smartly weaving threads from various King stories together to give Welcome to Derry some weight, without directly needing to make the story about other movies and books.

But until we learn more about Pennywise’s backstory and how Derry affects Hallorann in the future, take a look at the plotline Muschietti was forced to cut, discover why HBO had to change the finale, and check out our ranking of the best Stephen King movies.