Review of Room 237 (2012) by Rery M — 27 Nov 2013

This might be one of the most fun companion movies I've ever seen. You liking for it will largely depend on your feelings about Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining, which in my opinion is the greatest horror movie of all time and one of my top 20 films overall.

This movie is a documentary about five obsessive fans of The Shining and their various theories about/interpretations of Kubrick's great film. Some of these theories seem very far-fetched and unlikely, but even some of the craziest ones occasionally produce an interesting bit of evidence - why is Danny wearing that Apollo 11 sweater anyway? Simply as an example of close reading of a cinematic text, the film produces an almost giddy joy in watching people minutely dissect every little element of a work of art.

Even the most insane readings are at least entertaining to think about, and there's something genuinely spooky about the clips we see of The Shining projected forwards and backwards simultaneously.

We never actually see the people with the theories - the movie is made entirely of clips from The Shining and bits of other movies, sometimes very cleverly manipulated. If you're a fan of The Shining, you really should see this movie; if you haven't seen The Shining, you should watch it as soon as possible and then see this movie afterwards.