Opening Image

An unseen force has set its sights on Jack Torrance as it follows his car around while he makes his way to the Overlook hotel. The closer we get to the hotel the eerier the music gets and the louder the strange voices become.

Theme

Jack is interviewed for the position of hotel caretaker during the winter. Before he could accept the job, the manager Stuart Ullman reveals that there was an incident with the previous caretaker, Delbert Grady who murdered his family before killing himself. The stranger thing being that Grady was known to be a man of excellent character and so doing what he did was very unlike him.

Set Up

Back at home, Danny Torrance’s imaginary friend Tony thinks moving to the hotel is a very bad idea. We learn that Tony is more than just a friend to Danny, he appears to be an embodiment of Danny’s sixth sense and is aware of things before they can even happen. When Danny asks Tony why he’s worried about the hotel, he is shown a mental image of blood flooding the hotel lobby.

Having fainted from the vision he was shown, his mother calls a doctor, who says these sort of episodes tend to have no specific cause but tend to be associated with emotional stress. She goes on to talk about self induced trances, all of which foreshadowing what is to happen to Jack at the hotel. Furthermore, Wendy brings up the incident when Jack accidentally dislocated Danny’s shoulder in anger telling us that he is known to have sudden outbursts.

When they reach the hotel Danny heads to the game room by himself and sees Grady’s dead daughters. Meanwhile Ullman reveals that the hotel was built on an Indian burial ground.

On their way to the hotel, Jack tells Wendy and Danny about the Donner family who were snowbound and had to resort to cannibalism to live. This statement summarizes the Torrance family’s struggle to survive at the Overlook hotel as the winter cuts them off from the rest of the world. The aspect of cannibalism comes partially into play when Jack loses his mind and tries to kill his family.

Catalyst

Dick Hallorann, the head chef gives Wendy and Danny the kitchen tour during which he telepathically communicates with Danny, leaving him speechless.

Debate

When Dick is alone with Danny, he tells him that they both possess a special ability which he calls “shining”. While it’s latent in most people, it allows them to look backward and forward in time, due to which Danny is able to see the ghosts that have been lingering in the hotel for a long time. He specifically asks about room 237 but Dick just warns him never to go in there no matter what.

Break into Two

A month later Danny is seen cycling around in the hotel and as he does so the camera follows closely behind him, creating the impression that he’s being followed by something or someone.

B Story

As Wendy and Danny explore the hedge maze, we see Jack looking at a model of it inside the hotel. The very next shot is a bird’s eye view of the maze implying that the ghosts in the hotel are watching them through Jack’s eyes. This aspect of the story deals with Jack’s descent into madness and the possession of his soul by the hotel’s ghosts, which clashes with the main plot of survival.

Fun and Games

Later on when Danny stumbles upon room 237, he tries to enter it but isn’t able to and he sees a vision of the Grady girls before backing off. It’s clear that whatever is present inside the room is scaring him.

Jack’s writing is interrupted when Wendy checks on him which results in him reacting very aggressively. The next day while Wendy and Danny are out playing in the snow, Jack remains indoors and watches in an unsavoury manner. Over time the phone lines go down due to the snow, further distancing them from the rest of the world.

Danny is once again seen cycling around but this time he runs into the Grady girls who call him to play with them “forever and ever”. At the same time, Danny sees mental images of the girls when they were murdered in the same hallway.

The next morning, Danny finds Jack sitting in bed and staring into the distance. He embraces Danny and tells him that even though he hasn’t been able to sleep lately, he still loves the hotel and wishes he could stay here forever and ever. This being the same thing that the Grady girls told Danny makes it evident that the ghosts are strengthening their grip over Jack. Danny starts becoming suspicious as well and asks Jack if he is going to hurt him and Wendy.

Danny is lured into room 237 when a ball rolls towards him out of nowhere and he finds the door mysteriously unlocked. On the other hand, Wendy rushes to Jack when she hears him screaming in his sleep. He tells her he had a nightmare wherein he brutally murdered Wendy and Danny, just then Danny walks terrified into the room with bruises on his neck. Wendy thinks it was Jack who did it so takes Danny and storms off.

Jack angrily makes his way to the Gold Room which houses a bar and sees it completely empty, he states out loud that he would be willing to sell his soul for a drink and as if in response the bar is suddenly stocked and the bartender, Lloyd pours him a drink, stating that its for free when it’s actually in exchange for his soul. Jack confesses to Lloyd that though he didn’t harm Danny just now, there was an incident a few years ago when he accidentally broke his arm in anger, highlighting that Jack has a violent side which is most likely why the ghosts are targeting him. Soon enough, Wendy comes running to Jack and the second she steps into the room, it’s empty again. She tells Jack that it was actually some crazy woman who hurt Danny.

Midpoint

As Jack heads to room 237 to investigate, Danny sends a telepathic message to Dick Hallorann for help. In the room Jack finds a naked woman in the tub, she steps out and Jack kisses her passionately, but when he looks into the mirror he sees that he was actually embracing the decaying corpse of an elderly woman. Jack runs out of the room absolutely shaken.

Jack heads back to Wendy and suddenly appears calm and unfazed about his encounter, he tells her that he didn’t see anything in the room. Out of concern for their safety, Wendy strongly suggests that they need to leave the hotel but Jack again reacts aggressively refusing to do so. Meanwhile, Danny sees a vision of a door with the word “Redrum” scribbled on it. With Jack now completely absorbed by the hotel, Wendy and Danny won’t last long, thus crossing the B Story to the main plot.

Bad Guys Close In

When making his way back to the bar, Jack finds the hallway suddenly covered with balloons and party decoration. He enters the Gold Room and sees a party being held there as he is further deluded by the hotel. This time Jack is willing to pay for his drink but Llyod declines it saying his money is no good to them.

As Jack makes his way around the party, a waiter spills a few drinks on Jack and escorts him to the washroom to get it cleaned out, calling him “the important one”. In the washroom, it’s revealed that the waiter is actually Grady who warns Jack that Danny is attempting to get Dick involved and that he needs to deal with his family the same way Grady dealt with his.

The police try to check on the Torrance family over the radio, but aren’t able to do so after Jack disables it. Nevertheless, Dick makes his way to the hotel.

Wendy starts looking for Jack in the room he’s mostly seen writing in and sees that during all this time, he’s just been typing the same sentence over and over again “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. When Jack confronts her, we hear multiple voices speaking over Jack’s making it clear that the possession is now complete and the hotel is speaking through him. Wendy pleads with Jack to leave the hotel but he just lashes out saying he cannot do that because he has to answer to his employers, he states the plural because he’s referring to the Overlook ghosts, no Ullman.

All is Lost

Wendy manages to knock Jack out and locks him in the pantry vowing to return with help. Jack tells her that she and Danny aren’t going anywhere because he’s disabled the radio and snowcat. The stakes are now higher than ever as Wendy and Danny have to fend for themselves with no way out.

Dark Night of the Soul

Grady visits Jack and offers him one last chance, agreeing to release him from the pantry provided he completes the job he agreed to do. On the other hand, Dick desperately tries to get to the hotel before it’s too late.

Back in the room, Tony speaking through Danny keeps saying “Redrum” over and over again, he becomes louder after he scribbles it on the door with lipstick and wakes up Wendy. Wendy sees the reflection of the door on the mirror and sees that he has written “murder” backwards.

Break into Three

A completely deranged Jack starts breaking down their room’s door with an axe. Wendy locks herself into the bathroom and manages to get Danny out through the window, but is too small for her to squeeze through. This brings together the main plot of survival vs the B story of the hotel’s ghosts acting through Jack.

Finale

Jack hears a snowcat approaching and heads out, drawing him away from Wendy. He murders Dick and then moves on to kill Danny. Meanwhile, Wendy keeps running into other ghosts in the hotel as she tries to find Danny.

Jack chases Danny into the hedge maze, making it the first time he’s ever seen leaving the hotel. Danny manages to elude Jack after he creates a false trail to trick him into misdirection. Eventually Jack gets lost in the maze which enables Wendy and Danny to escape on the snowcat.

Closing Image

In the beginning we saw the ghosts of the hotel targeting Jack and now we see a picture dating back to 1921 showing Jack amidst other party guests implying that he’s now one of them forever and ever and ever.