SummaryA documentary that explores the numerous theories about the hidden meanings within Stanley Kubrick's The Shining which continues to inspire debate, speculation, and mystery more than thirty years after its release. Using voice over, film clips, animation and dramatic reenactments, Room 237 investigates five very different points of view drawing t... Read More
Directed By:Rodney Ascher
Written By:Rodney Ascher
Room 237
Metascore
Generally Favorable
80
User score
Generally Favorable
6.2
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
87% Positive
26 Reviews
26 Reviews
10% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
3% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Mar 28, 2013
100
Like “The Shining” and its maze within a maze, Mr. Ascher’s movie is something of a labyrinth. Puzzling your way through its compilation of vaguely lucid and crackpot ideas is pleasurable though, for avid movie lovers, it may also feel like a warning.
Feb 10, 2013
100
Room 237 captures the true nature of viewing, talking about and dissecting movies to the nth degree and it is infectious.
User score
Generally Favorable
53% Positive
57 Ratings
57 Ratings
28% Mixed
30 Ratings
30 Ratings
19% Negative
20 Ratings
20 Ratings
Sep 25, 2013
9
Great Documentary!! Huge Kubrick fan and this is a must watch for any of his fans. You will not be disappointed. Very intriguing and pieces a lot of information together from The Shining.
Mar 12, 2015
8
Highly entertaining. A must watch for any fan of the Shining. Some theories are a little far fetched and over analyzed, but interesting nonetheless. The ambient music is very well done and enhances the viewing experience. Feels like being in the 80's ****.
Feb 10, 2013
90
Nutty, arcane and jaw-dropping in equal measure, this is a head-first plunge down the rabbit hole of Kubrickiana from which, for some, there is evidently no return.
Mar 29, 2013
80
Even these ludicrous notions illustrate the real point of Room 237, as I see it, which is that “The Shining” is a disturbing, complicated and highly unusual creation of pop cinema that works on many levels, and whose slow-acting toxin continues to spread through our cultural veins more than 30 years later.
Feb 10, 2013
80
[Room 237] raises very interesting ideas about how we view a film, about what happens if we take the act of viewing down to a deeper, molecular level, and about how a movie's significance and effect need not be those intentionally willed by the director.
May 10, 2013
63
Are these enlightened critics or dark nutcases themselves?
Mar 28, 2013
38
I’m probably more intrigued than 99.3 percent of the American public by the idea of deconstructing the hidden symbols in Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” but the theories proposed in the doc Room 237 aren’t eye-opening. They’re laughable.
Jul 29, 2013
8
Very interesting docu on The Shining. Instead of talking heads the docu consists of shots from Kubrick and other movies while you hear different people explaning stuff. Cool approach! Some stuff is really far fetched but they do acknowledge that, but if you've seen the Shining and wan't to know more about it's hidden meanings I can highly recommend this!
Sep 7, 2017
6
Room 237 is an elegantly produced and enormously entertaining documentary, although I must clarify that it will only appeal to those who enjoyed The Shining and saw it as more than just a horror movie.
After all the creator of that film is one of the greatest geniuses that the cinema has given the world and his film is an exceptional.
Dec 23, 2013
6
An interesting topic selection when it comes to the theme the doc is contributing. But, poor execution and unclear when the main suggestion is that the Moon landing was fake and that was Kubrick who directed the so called video of it. Could have been better
Dec 23, 2013
3
Yeah, I love Stanley Kubrick and all of his films (except Barry Lyndon beautiful to look at but snooze time). The Shining is a great film and is totally picked apart by a strange group of people who fill this documentary with odd findings and conspiracy theories that really demand patience from the audience more than anything else. I found very little of it interesting (if I had found none I would have rated lower), and found most of it just silly. I found myself amused by the absurdity of it more than interested by the premises.
Apr 1, 2013
3
There are some really interesting points about Kubrick's use of perspective and there is probably something to the Indian genocide theory. But then it tries to make a connection with the fake moon landing hoax?? Not only that but the filmmaker just assumes the viewer believes that crap and gives no evidence that the moon landing was faked, the nut case narrating just says its fake... so it is. Overall its an interesting watch all the way up to when they talk about how Kubrick filmed the moon landing and then you can just turn it off. Unless you're one of the morons who think we didn't go to the moon, then keep watching and enjoy the idiotic lies.
Production Company:
- Highland Park Classics
- The Ebersole Hughes Company
Release Date:Mar 29, 2013
Duration:1 h 42 m
Tagline:Some movies stay with you forever...and ever...and ever.
Website:
Awards
Cinema Eye Honors Awards, US
• 4 Nominations
Cannes Film Festival
• 2 Nominations
Indiewire Critics' Poll
• 2 Nominations
