Overview
A chilling descent into madness unfolds in a remote hotel during winter.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Slow
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- oppressive
- foreboding
- claustrophobic
- late night horror marathon
- rainy day
What critics said
Critics broadly recognize the film's extraordinary visual control, oppressive atmosphere, and commanding performances, while noting its deliberate pacing and emotionally distant characterization.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The Overlook's vast corridors, closed rooms, and maze-like grounds turn architecture into an active source of disorientation and fear.
Kubrick's symmetrical compositions, impossible spaces, patterned carpets, and recurring images make visual order feel ominous.
Jack's alcoholism, rage, and threats transform the family caretaker situation into a struggle for survival.
Danny's shining and Hallorann's warnings establish an intuitive channel through which the hotel's danger is anticipated.
Films like The Shining, and why
The Haunting
shares isolated architecture, supernatural dread, psychological breakdown, and slow-building horror
Rosemary's Baby
shares domestic terror, unreliable perception, supernatural menace, and claustrophobic atmosphere
The Others
shares an isolated setting, creeping paranormal threat, child endangerment, and oppressive suspense
Hereditary
shares psychological horror, familial violence, uncanny visions, and deliberately controlled pacing
Movie Details
- Director
- Stanley Kubrick
- Release Date
- 1980-05-23
- Runtime
- 144 min
- Rating
- 8.2 / 10 (19439)
Cast
- Jack Nicholson
- Shelley Duvall
- Danny Lloyd
- Scatman Crothers
- Barry Nelson
- Philip Stone
- Joe Turkel
- Anne Jackson
- Tony Burton
- Lia Beldam
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC, TCM
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Plex
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Shining about?
- A blocked writer's winter caretaking job turns an isolated Colorado hotel into a pressure cooker of supernatural dread, alcoholism, and family violence.
- What is The Shining like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Shining as slow, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Shining violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in The Shining as graphic.
- What did critics think of The Shining?
- Critics broadly recognize the film's extraordinary visual control, oppressive atmosphere, and commanding performances, while noting its deliberate pacing and emotionally distant characterization.
- Which films are like The Shining?
- Films with a similar feel include The Haunting, Rosemary's Baby, The Others, and Hereditary.
- How long is The Shining?
- The Shining runs 144 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Shining?
- In United States, The Shining streams on AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC, TCM.
