"The Shining" is a 1980 horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick and co-written with novelist Diane Johnson. The film is based on Stephen Kings 1977 novel of the same name and stars Jack Nicholson, Danny Lloyd, Shelley Duvall, and Scatman Crothers. The movie is about Jack Torrance, a writer and recovering alcoholic who accepts a new position as the off-season caretaker of the Overlook Hotel. Jack moves into the hotel with his wife Wendy and their young son Danny, who has a psychic gift called "the shining." The hotels dark secrets and the isolation of the winter caretaker position take a toll on Jack, leading to dire consequences for his family). The film is not just about ghosts but about madness and the energies it sets loose in an isolated situation primed to magnify them. The movie ends with a powerful visual puzzle that forces the audience to leave the theater asking, "What was that all about?").