The Shining
1997
Original language: English
- sci-fi & fantasy
- drama
The story
A new caretaker moves with his family into the mysterious Overlook Hotel for the winter.
What it’s like
Wide winter exteriors of a mountain hotel under heavy snow give way to warm, amber-lit interiors of wood panelling and patterned carpet, lamplight fighting the blue cold outside. The camera works in conventional television coverage, with more close-ups and steadier movement than the austere originals, and the score swells with orchestral dread at each scare. The image has the softer contrast and slightly glossy finish of 1990s TV, and the topiary garden and hedge maze look more ornamental than uncanny. The vibe is slow-building unease under cabin-fever chill, suited to a stormy weekend or a late-night watch when the house creaks. Pacing is patient across its long runtime, spent largely on a family's strained ordinary days, and the central arc follows a father's slide into drink and rage while his wife and young son try to hold things together. Intensity is significant: domestic abuse with shouting, threats and physical menace, alcoholism, and supernatural horror including ghostly apparitions and some blood and violent imagery, though gore stays moderate. It suits viewers who want a closer, slower-burn take on the novel and can handle a harrowing portrait of a family in crisis.
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