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 story centers on Jack Torrance, a writer and recovering alcoholic who accepts a new position as the off-season caretaker of the Overlook Hotel. Jack brings his wife Wendy and his son Danny, who has a mysterious power known as "The Shining"). The film has been interpreted in many ways, including addressing the topics of the crisis in masculinity, sexism, corporate America, and racism). The setting is perfect, in a desolate winter hideaway, and the film presents its plotting with the thought of the unknown in mind. The Shining has been described as a seminal work of the horror genre and perhaps the most stately, artful horror ever made).