Welcome back to the Overlook Hotel I'm your host Paul and this video we're breaking down
the ending of the Shining.
After our initial breakdown on the film hit the one million view mark I thought I'd return
to one of my favourite finals to discuss it's final shot in detail.
Throughout this video we'll be going over what it really means, all the theories behind
it and hopefully finally giving some closure to the movies final shot.
Now this is something that has had people scratching
their heads for the best part of 4 decades.
Incase you don't know the book takes place in the year 1975 with the 1980 film taking
place roughly around the same time.
It follows the Torrance family as they move into the overlook hotel to act as caretakers
over the winter.
Jack ends up seemingly going insane and after he tries to kill the family they manage to
escape leaving him lost in the hotels vast hedge maze.
Overnight he sucummbs to the elements but we close out with a big mystery.
In a hotel hanging up is a photo with Jack seemingly in attendance at the July 4th Ball
in 1921.
Now this roughly puts the event as something that happened almost 60 years prior seemingly
cementing that jacks always been the caretaker there.
-
When discussing the ending Kubrick preferred to keep things ambigious but he did give a
little insight to what may be going on.
The director stated that:
“The ballroom photograph at the very end suggests the reincarnation of Jack.”
As we know, thoughout the film we get a lot of lipservice given to the idea that Jack
has always been part of the hotel and it is possible that this final shot shows him from
a past life also working there as the caretaker.
This is mirrored in Delbert Grady as well who we meet at one point in the film.
-
Eventually we discover that he infact killed his children because they were attempting
to destroy the hotel.
He did this with an axe and the twins that haunt Danny are of course meant to make us
instantly think it's them.
The story about the murder is told early on when Jack goes for the job and that should
explain everything right?
Well on rewatches you might notice that not everything lines up and in fact there are
some inconsistencies.
When the manager is telling Jack the story he refers to Grady by a slightly different
name and also gets something incorrect with the twins.
-
Now though he says that they're different ages, when we see them they are clearly twins.
Kubrick hired twins to play the role and I think that it's unmistakable theyre the same
age.
But why would Kubrick get such an important detail wrong and why did no body catch the
differences in the names when they were writing the scrips.
Well I believe that's because it's intentional and it further backs up the idea of reincarnation.
There were likely two different Gradys at the hotel at some point or another with them
potentially both being called there through fate or a higher power.
That's what I feel is the case with Jack as well and potentially the two spirits of them
are trapped in a cycle involving it.
If we're sticking with this idea I think the life of one of the quote unquote caretakers
is that they're born, they live to a certain age, one day hear of a job at the overlook
and apply for it.
Upon getting it they end up murdering their family and are then born again and repeat
the cycle.
I believe that the hotel retains some of their essense similar to the ghosts that we see
floating around but I'll talk about this absorption theory later on.
Now if this is the case then theyre not fully formed, almost like burnt toast, whilst the
newborn version of them is out there in the world.
Upon them returning to the hotel they somewhat feel whole again and slowly the visions of
their past life comes back.
This is why Jack witnesses a party not too dissimilar to the one he attended as thats
an element of his past life coming back to him.
Now due to them being a certain age by the time they get to the job the hotel would likely
need another to feed on in the interim.
This is where the other comes in and the cycle continues.
Rather than having 30-40 years in between the character being born and then getting
to a point where theyre old enough to take the job they have another running alongside
them who is probably in their early twenties when the other is being born.
Hope that makes sense as its a little difficult to understand but both characters are clearly
operating at different times and carrying the murders out at different times too.
The idea of cyclical violence is something that the hotel itself is very much built upon
so it makes sense it would operate in this manner too.
It was built on a Native American Burial Ground which was likely conquered through bloodshed.
Charles and Delbert Grady both killed their families with an Axe and Jack was attempting
to try and replicate that.
That book talks about all the violent acts that have happened there over the years and
at one point Jack even finds a scrap book detailing everything involving it's entire
history.
In the book it goes on for chapters and chapters and they phrase it in a way that he's researching
it to write his own book on the hotel.
However what it tells the reader is that this is a violent place where lots of evil things
have gone down at.
We see these ghosts throughout the film and lots of them appear in the final act especially.
This shows that these apparitions become almost trapped in the hotel for eternity with Jack
likely suffering the same fate which the photo demonstrates.
Now when going back through the film it's clear that Jack has The Shining and this is
made even more apparent by the movie Doctor Sleep.
Like his dad, Danny shares his alcoholism which we learn is actually used as a way to
dull the visions.
This is why I think Jack drank and it also explains how hes able to see the ghosts.
Now this time around the hotel wants to take not only him but also Danny as well because
this will make it even more powerful.
This kinda builds off the back of the absorption thing we talked about before and constantly
taking the essense of people could help it grow and stay alive.
Now though Doctor Sleep hadnt been dreamed up at this point we did see something similar
in that.
In the film we meet the true knot who feed off the steam given to them by powerful pshycics.
They retain some of this steam in a jar and breathe it in in order to keep themselves
young.
That could be the case here too with the hotel constantly draining the life from Jack and
its guests.
It may constantly call them back and then feast off the new life theyve been given.
Its also important to bear in mind that Jack appears as the bartender in Doctor Sleep so
that could cememnt it.
AGain I know thats kinda retroactively changing the ending but its clear that at least mike
flannigan thought the hotel absorbed him too.
There are theories that those in the photo could be the victims that the hotel has taken
and rather than this being a photo of 1921, jacks just been absorbed into the images there
and its now showing his face to the world.
This would explain why the family never walked past the photo and noticed it though they
may have just not been paying attention to it.
It is kinda terrifying to think that Jacks soul is trapped behind that photo screaming
for eternity while outwardly his face is forever frozen in this unwavering grin.
Now if the absorption theory is incorrect then the reincarnation thing could just mean
that this version of Jack was just snapped at the party and then years later he showed
back up there in a new life.
Either way what this represents is that the hotel has had and will continue to have violent
events attached to it.
It doesnt matter how long it takes it will eventually happen and the same sorts of people
and mindsets will be pulled in by its allure.
Whether its the isolation or the rage bubbling over the top within people the hotel will
lure those in that it can manipulate and eventually they'll fall victim to it's wicked and evil
ways.
Jack is a broken man due to his alcoholism and he's been fired from his job teaching
due to a violent outburst against a student.
We also know that he hit Danny as well and he's clearly someone that the hotel has and
will sink its teeth into in order to get what it wants.
It chooses victims like this because they have weaknesses but also violent aspects to
their personalities that make them the perfect fit to be someone to carry out its misdeeds.
It is kinda scary to think about but I think that's what makes the movie so everlasting.
Now the original photo itself actually has an innocent story behind it and it was just
taken at a ball during a party in 1923.
This was originally shown in a book discussing how super imposition was carried out and it
discussed the tehcniques used to replace heads before computers existed.
Anyway its crazy how much this final shot has remained in the minds of viewers over
the last 43 years.
This is a film that arguably has one of the most haunting final frames of a film ever
and I really hope youve enjoyed us going back through it to discuss what it could actually
mean.
I'd of course love to hear your thoughts on the film as well so make sure you comment
below and let me know.
Please drop a like on the video and if you want to support the channel as a member of
the Spoiler Society then please click the join button.
You'll get early access to videos every week and it goes such a long way to helping us.
We also have our merch store over at shopzeroedition.com which sells lots of nerdy inspired t-shirts
hats and more.
We've just launched a secret invasion slash pulp fiction inspired t-shirt so if you wanna
head over there and help us out then the links in the description.
Now if you want something else to watch we have a video on screen right now _____________________
With that out the way, huge thank you for sitting through the video, I've been your
host and I'll see you next time.
Take care, Peace.