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Celie Collins
English 2231
Julie Roundtree
February 27, 2026
Film Analysis of The Shining
Stephen King, one of the most prolific horror writers of our time, lives up to his last
name, as he is the king of fright. What put him on the map for most non-thriller readers was the
movie The Shining. Not only was it a terrifying adaptation of the novel, but it was also an
unprecedented feat of artistic direction. The film submerged viewers into the atmosphere like
never before seen in a horror movie. This is mainly attributed to the atmosphere created by the
artistic decisions made by the director, actors, and sound team. Though the film adaptation
differed significantly from the novel, it put Stephen King’s name on the map and introduced
people to his other works, such as Carrie, which was adapted into a movie a few years prior. The
elements of cinematography, music, and acting are pivotal to The Shining’s identity, success, and
the degree of viewers’ immersion.
The Shining film, based on Stephen King’s novel by the same name, was directed by
Stanley Kubrick in 1980. It starred Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, and Danny Lloyd and was
set in the 1970s in the snowy Colorado Rocky Mountains. The movie is about a family of three
becoming the winter caretakers of the Overlook Hotel. Jack Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson,
is an aspiring author who was looking for a place to write without distractions and brought his
wife, Wendy Torrance, who was played by Shelley Duvall, and his son, Danny Torrance, played
by Danny Lloyd. The family arrives at the Overlook Hotel, where they are told the history of it
being built on an Indian burial ground and that a previous caretaker got stir-crazy and killed his
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family, warning the Torrences that there would be no way off the mountain without help from a
snowplow. There is a strained atmosphere between the members of the family regarding Jack’s
career stress and his alcoholism, which he gave up after an incident of abuse towards their son. It
is also revealed early that Danny, a six-year-old, has a certain psychic ability dubbed “shining”
that allows him to see things others don’t. After a month of living there, Jack gets nowhere in his
writing endeavor, and the heavy snowfall had taken out the phone lines, causing anxiety. As time
goes on, Jack starts to change and becomes more irritable, and Danny keeps having frightening
visions relating to the past inside the hotel. As Jack’s mental health is corrupted further by the
hotel, he starts to see visions of parties and people pressuring him to drink and be violent towards
his family. At the climax, Jack chases Danny and Wendy with a fire axe through the hotel and
the hedge maze. The two escape the mountain while Jack is misled and freezes to death inside
the hedge maze.
The messaging of The Shining goes beyond “isolation” and also delves into domestic
violence, alcoholism, and mental health. The scenery of winding halls, the hedge maze, and even
Jack getting nowhere in his writing allude to the psychological turmoil Jack is falling deeper
into. The blood-red color found around the hotel foreshadows the violent climax of the film, and
the winding roads to the hotel hint at the obstacles ahead. The hotel itself can be seen portrayed
as a living entity that is trapping the family, making this movie a paranormal thriller. The Shining
was the first of its time to use slow-burning and psychological scares and dread instead of jump
scares and loud music, revolutionizing how horror stories could be told. This is attributed to the
cinematography, actor direction, and the sound used.
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Stanley Kubrick, known for his unique directing style and artistic choices, is still known
today as one of the most influential players in all of filmmaking history, still heavily referenced
by many films. He chose to tell stories through atmosphere, lighting, and camera angles that may
seem unconventional but invoke certain feelings in the viewers that Kubrick wanted. In The
Shining, Kubrick used wide shots of tapering hallways, conveying the feelings of anticipation
and apprehension toward the hotel. He used overhead shots of characters running through mazes,
symbolizing the ensnarement that the hotel had the characters trapped in and the state of Jack’s
current psyche. He portrayed fear and anxiety in revealing shots through the character’s
perspectives, putting the audience directly into their shoes, making them empathize with the
situation the characters are currently in. The way Kubrick utilized anticipation enveloped the
viewers in dread and a sickening feeling of foreboding. He even used elements of foreshadowing
that stuck unconsciously in the back of the viewer’s mind, causing general unease up until the
height of the climax. Because of the cinematic risks that Kubrick took, the film adaptation of The
Shining reinforced our understanding of the story.
Aside from Stanley Kubrick’s directing, the music also influenced the plunging of the
audience into the world of The Shining. The score was composed by Wendy Carlos, considered
an electronic music pioneer, and Rachel Elkind. The opening score played in the background of
the family traveling up the winding mountain road is deep and unsettling, setting the ominous
tone for the whole movie and hinting at what is to come. The song played during Jack’s illusion
in the party room was a stark change from the previously foreboding music. The music in that
scene not only signaled a time shift to the hotel’s past but also sought to brighten the atmosphere.
Though the song was more upbeat and happier, the sudden shift was so fast that it was less
comforting and seemed more like a trap, putting the audience on edge. The music of The Shining
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is so integral to the overall identity that hearing it can bring one back to the snowy peak of the
Outlook Hotel.
Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, and Danny Lloyd had very different roles to play in The
Shining, each conveying a myriad of emotions. Jack Nicholson’s character, Jack Torrance, was a
headstrong, caring father with issues relating to alcohol. Throughout the movie, Jack Torrance is
influenced by the hotel and becomes increasingly deranged, irritable, and violent. Jack Nicholson
did a fantastic job of portraying a slow descent into madness. He did a believable and realistic
job of slowly transitioning a flawed family man into a murderous antagonist. This shift was
shown through his tone of voice, subtle actions, and, especially, his facial features. The control
he had over his facial muscles and the ability to shift them ever so slightly to go from a normal
look to crazed was horrifying. Without Jack Nicholson’s ability to seamlessly represent a mental
break, the impact of the hotel’s effect would have fallen flat. Shelley Duvall’s desperation to
protect Danny was felt through the screen, causing the viewer to feel Wendy Torrance’s anguish,
while Danny’s childlike fear and timidness evoked the audience’s sympathy, rooting for him and
his mother to escape. The iconic performances given by the actors contributed heavily to the
believability of each scene and engaged the audience by making them care for the well-being of
the characters.
The Shining remains an important milestone in the history of horror films due to the
effort and risks that went into making the film by its director, composers, and actors. Kubrick's
unconventional cinematography created an environment that was suffocating yet enthralling and
chilling to the audience. Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind's chilling musical scores stayed in the
viewer's mind, keeping them in a perpetual state of unease. Finally, the performances by Jack
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Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, and Danny Lloyd added an air of realistic emotion to the terror that
was both supernatural and relatable. Together, these factors combined to transform Stephen
King's novel, The Shining, into something uniquely its own, a slow-burning descent into
madness that redefined the boundaries of horror films. Even today, The Shining remains an
important reminder that true horror lies not in what scares you, but in what gets inside your head.
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Works Cited
Sbravatti, Valerio. (2010). The Music in The Shining.
http://www.archiviokubrick.it/risorse/saggi/The_Music_in_The_Shining.pdf. Accessed 26
Feb. 2026.
The Shining (1980) ⭐8.4 | Drama, Horror, www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/. Accessed 26
Feb. 2026.
Kubrick, Stanley. The Shining. Performance by Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, and
Danny Lloyd, Warner Bros, 1980. Accessed 26 Feb. 2026.