Dhruv Sharma
Directed by Stanley Kubrick, ‘The Shining‘ is known to be one of the best horror films to be ever made. The film establishes a very bleak atmosphere and haunts with its unforgettable disturbing visuals and moments. It is, by far, one of the best Stephen King adaptations and its claustrophobic cinematography blended with its morbid music can give you chills every single time you watch it.
That being said, since ‘Doctor Sleep‘—which is the direct sequel of the ‘The Shining’— has now hit the theatres, you might want to rekindle yourself with this classic. But before we tell you where you can stream it, let’s just quickly brush through its entire plot.
What is The Shining About?
‘The Shining’ centers a school teacher turned writer, Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), who decides to attend an interview for the position of winter caretaker at a desolate Overlook Hotel that’s buried far deep in the Rocky Mountains. Jack is informed that the hotel is built on the site of a Native American Burial Ground and it closes down during the hefty winters.
At first, the manager of the hotel, Stuart Ullman, tries to warm him up about the prestigious reputation that the hotel holds. Then he also gives him a subtle warning, informing him that the previous caretaker had developed cabin fever and had committed suicide after killing his family. Unaffected by this, he takes up the job and parallelly, his son, Danny, gets a horrifying premonition about the place. It is also revealed that Danny has an imaginary friend named Tony.
The family finally moves to the hotel and starts settling in. Meanwhile, Danny roams all around the place and runs into Dick Holloran. To his surprise, Dick uses telepathy to offer him ice-cream and tells him that the ability runs in his family. Labeling it as “The Shining”, he tells the boy that the entire hotel has a “shine” to it and also warns him that he must never go to Room 237.
After almost a month, Dick leaves them all by themselves and flies off Florida. Jack tries to work on his novel but to his dismay, he makes no progress at all. Danny and his mother just try to fill in their time by exploring the hedge maze at the hotel. Soon after this, even the phone lines die out because of the violent snowstorm outside and yet again, Danny is haunted by strange and disturbing visions. After this, everything begins to fall apart as Danny finally overcomes his curiosity when he finds the door of room 237 to be slightly open.
Jack begins to act really strange and even develops violent tendencies and his wife even dreams of him screaming while writing his book on his typewriter. As Jack further dwells into lunacy, he also dreams of killing his wife and son one day. When Danny later arrives with bruises, Wendy gets all paranoid and even accuses Jack of hurting their son.
Confused and enraged, Jack meanders into the Hotel’s Gold Room and runs into a bartender named Lloyd, with whom, he gripes all about his marriage with him. This is when Wendy, with terror on her face, tells Jack that their son claims he saw a “crazy woman” in Room 237 who tried to choke him to death and that’s how he got those bruise marks. Jack decides to examine the room himself and even finds the spirit of a dead woman but he lies to his wife and tells her that he saw nothing.
With their son in such deep trauma, Wendy gets concerned and starts arguing about how they should leave the Hotel. But Jack disagrees with her and returns to the bar which now starts brimming with strange figures. He then meets the ghost of Grady, who tells him that he must correct his son and wife before it’s too late. He also warns him that his son has already informed Hollorran using his talent. Out of concern, Hollorran makes his way back to the hotel, while Danny calls out “redrum” and slips into a state of trance where Tony seemingly takes over him.
The seriousness of the situation hits Wendy and she starts looking for Jack. This is when she finds his writings and realizes that he has written nothing but “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” When Jack does not comply with her demands, she knocks him out with a bat and locks him in the hotel pantry. While Wendy and Johnny try to find a way to leave the hotel, Jack converses with Grady and is soon freed from the pantry.
Danny, still in his state of trance, keeps reciting and drawing “REDRUM”. Wendy accidentally ends up seeing the mirror reflection of it and realizes that, if spelled backward, “REDRUM” becomes “MURDER”. As Jack makes his way into the quarters with an ax in his hand, Wendy somehow gets Danny out of the hotel from the bathroom window. Unfortunately for her, she is not able to fit herself out of the narrow opening.
Jack gets through the entryway but is forced to stop when Wendy slashed his hand. When Halloran arrives, he is instantly killed by Jack in the lobby. But using his snowcat, Wendy and Danny are able to leave while Jack freezes to death in the hedge maze. In the end, a photograph from 1921 is revealed where Jack stands amidst a crowd of buoyant party revelers of the hotel.
Is The Shining on Netflix?
Netflix has a great collection of horror films, but unfortunately ‘The Shining’ is not one among them. Though, you can check out other similar classic horror films on the platform.
Is The Shining on Hulu?
Lately, even Hulu has been catching up with other streaming giants and has slowly been adding new additions to its catalog. However, as of now, ‘The Shining’ is not available on this streaming service.
Is The Shining on Amazon Prime?
If you are an Amazon Prime member hoping to watch ‘The Shining’ for free, you might be out of luck. Though, because Amazon has such a vast repository of movies, you can rent or buy the movie here.
Where to Stream The Shining Online?
Apart from Amazon Prime, you can also rent or buy the movie on Itunes Store.
Can I Stream The Shining Online for Free?
Unfortunately, as of now, ‘The Shining’ is not available for free on any platform but Netflix’s free trial period allows you to stream other great horror films.
Read More: Movies Like The Shining
