The Shining Subtly Set Up The Novel's Ending (But Completely Forgot About It)

Summary Kubrick changed The Shining's ending, forgetting the book's boiler explosion, which is key to the original story.

Kubrick's ending differed to be unexpected, killing Hallorann & preserving the hotel's villainous presence.

Doctor Sleep offers closure by exploding the Overlook, mirroring Jack's fate in the book and fixing The Shining's mistake.

Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining made many changes to Stephen King’s novel of the same name, and it subtly set up the novel’s ending but, ultimately, completely forgot about it. King’s novels have been a source of inspiration for many artists for decades, especially filmmakers. Various King’s novels and short stories have been adapted to the big screen, some more successfully than others, and one of the most famous yet controversial ones is Kubrick’s version of The Shining. Kubrick took the premise and characters of King’s novel but made many changes to it, to the point where many don’t consider it an adaptation of the book.

The Shining follows Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), a struggling writer recovering from substance abuse disorder who takes a job as the off-season caretaker of the Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Rockies. Jack takes his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and son Danny (Danny Lloyd) with him, but after a blizzard leaves them trapped in the hotel, the supernatural forces in it start messing with Jack’s mind. One of the biggest changes Kubrick made to The Shining was the ending, and though he subtly set up the novel’s ending, he completely left it behind as the story progressed.

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The Shining Set Up The Overlook’s Boiler Problem

The Overlook Hotel Had A Problem In Its Boiler Room

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When Ullman explains to Jack what the job is about, he mentions the boiler room, as the basis of the job is to “cope with the very costly damage and depreciation”, which consists mainly of running the boiler.

The Shining opens with Jack arriving at the Overlook Hotel to meet manager Stuart Ullman (Barry Nelson), who tells him all about the job and the basics of the hotel, including the story of Charles Grady and how he murdered his family when he worked as the off-season caretaker. When Ullman explains to Jack what the job is about, he mentions the boiler room, as the basis of the job is to “cope with the very costly damage and depreciation”, which consists mainly of running the boiler.

Throughout the rest of the movie, Jack isn’t seen in the boiler room, and instead, it focuses on the decline of his sanity. At the end of The Shining, Wendy and Danny manage to escape from Jack and leave the Overlook on Dick Hallorann’s snowcat, after Jack kills Hallorann inside the hotel. As for Jack, after he fails to catch Danny in the hedge maze, he’s last seen freezing to death in it, while the final shot of The Shining shows a picture inside the hotel of a July 4, 1921, party, with Jack standing at the front of the crowd.

Jack forgets to relieve the pressure on the hotel's boiler, and at the end of the book, the boiler explodes, destroying the Overlook and killing Jack.

In the novel, Jack is also told to keep an eye on the boiler room as the hotel’s boiler is unstable, so Jack has to relieve the pressure on it. With everything that happens with the strange presences in the hotel, Jack’s mind, and Danny’s “shine”, Jack forgets to relieve the pressure on the hotel's boiler, and at the end of the book, the boiler explodes, destroying the Overlook and killing Jack, but not before Danny, Wendy, and Hallorann escape. Kubrick’s The Shining could have easily led up to it but took a completely different route.

Why Stanley Kubrick Changed The Shining’s Original Ending

Among Stanley Kubrick’s Many Changes To The Shining Was Its Ending

Kubrick said the ending of the novel seemed “a bit hackneyed and not very interesting”, and instead, he wanted an ending that the audience wouldn’t expect.

In an interview with Michel Ciment, Kubrick was asked about his decision to change The Shining’s ending, and the director was pretty honest about it. Kubrick said the ending of the novel seemed “a bit hackneyed and not very interesting”, and instead, he wanted an ending that the audience wouldn’t expect. This is why Kubrick chose to have Jack kill Hallorann, too, as he would have been expected to be Wendy and Danny’s rescuer. Speaking to EW in 2017, The Shining screenwriter Diane Johnson shared that Kubrick found it cliché to have the hotel blow up and that there had to be something else that was “metaphorically and visually more interesting”.

As for the photo at the end, Kubrick said it suggests Jack was a reincarnation of an earlier official at the hotel.

By not destroying the hotel, Kubrick allowed the villain of The Shining to continue haunting, and because this was a horror movie (despite Kubrick not wanting it to be), he thought someone had to get killed, as in the novel, only Jack dies. As for the photo at the end, Kubrick said it suggests Jack was a reincarnation of an earlier official at the hotel, confirming all those theories (via Michel Ciment).

How Doctor Sleep Did Justice To The Shining’s Original Ending

Doctor Sleep Made Up For The Shining’s Biggest Mistakes

Mike Flanagan’s Doctor Sleep is an adaptation of the novel of the same name and a sequel to Kubrick’s The Shining. As such, it made some changes to the novel to fit the events of Kubrick’s film and answer some of its biggest questions, such as what happened to Jack after The Shining. At the end of Doctor Sleep, a now adult Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor) and Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran) arrive at the Overlook to confront Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson), and Danny sets the boiler to overload, knowing it is unstable.

After breaking free from the hotel’s possession, the Overlook explodes, killing Danny the same way that Jack died in The Shining novel. The Shining completely wasted its boiler setup and went for a different ending, but Doctor Sleep seized it and did justice to King’s novel, while also giving closure to Kubrick’s film.

Sources: Michel Ciment, EW.