The Shining Ending Explained: Why Jack Is In The Photo

One of the many mysteries of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is why Jack appears in the photo at the end, and it actually has a semi-simple explanation.

#horror #theshining #stephenking #movies #explained

Check out Screen Rant’s official TikTok!

Our Social Media:

Our Website:

Video By: Chris Goodmakers @ThatsASpaceStation

[Theonetruewonderfly]

That's kind of a "Well, duh" explanation. "Jack's spirit was absorbed by the Overlook" is the answer we came up with decades ago.

[divinuminfernum]

i love that final photograph in the film and it is so authentic looking - with how everyelse is dressed and their makeup, or lack there of and facial features - the people look like that have the diets of people in the 1920s - or was Jacks head just added to an existing photograph? if so again it is flawless

[Pyromaniac]

My attention span is such that I clicked on this video and then it was over and I only heard none of it

[richardsmith]

Actually, it may be far more complex than that.
Danny and his mother never existed outside of Jack’s imagination.
Jack Torrence is the caretaker at the overlook, but not in the story we see.
He is alone at the overlook at winter and uses his spare time to write a novel based on his seclusion, the rumours of how his predecessor committed murder suicide, and the stories of ghosts that he had heard from the staff during the summer season.
Jack is not just there for the winter, he is permanently employed as the caretaker.
“You have always been the caretaker “
Jacks novel ends with Danny and his mother escaping and the fictional Jack dying of hypothermia in the maze.
After the last scene from Jacks book, we see Jack looking younger than he looks in the movie at a party in the 1920s. This is the real Jack, the one who wrote the story and who has been the caretaker at the Overlook hotel since the 1920s, which may even be when he started writing his book.
Apart from his murederous predecessor, he has indeed always been the caretaker.
There are many points in the movie that point to this possibility.
In the few scenes when we see Jack alone, before all the craziness breaks out, he seems a different character completely from the short-tempered, unhinged family man. When he’s typing alone, his typewriter is black, when he’s typing in his story and the others are present, the typewriter is a grey/blue colour. The layout of the hotel changes depending on whether we are in the story or reality. In the beginning we see the Overlook from above and there is no maze, however Jack needs a maze for his story to work and so he creates one (artistic license). Jack walks into the lounge bar to get inspiration for the next part of his story and begins acting out how his character would behave by asking for a drink at the bar, his imagination takes over and a bartender appears, jack doesnt seem as surprised as you would expect from this because “this” is exactly what he wants to happen his story, he is merely planning out a scene. Lots lots more. Things that would appear to be mistakes by Kuberick, seem way too aparent to not be there for purposeful reasons

[stormchaser]

Imo, it means that he's now a permanent 'resident' of the Overlook as a ghost, since he died in it when the boiler blew up

[RWAC]

The Shining Is The Greatest Horror Movie Of All Time.
The Shining Book Is The Greatest Horror Book Ever.

[blaze]

I think this movie along with blade runner and 2001 a space Odyssey might be the most overrated films of all time.