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Room 237

Play trailer Poster for Room 237 Released Mar 29, 2013 1h 42m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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94% Tomatometer 132 Reviews 55% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
Filmmaker Rodney Ascher analyzes Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of Stephen King's classic horror novel "The Shining."

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Room 237

Room 237

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Critics Consensus

Mysterious and provocative, Room 237 is a fascinating journey into the world of obsessive cinephilles.

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Critics Reviews

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J. Hoberman Tablet Do the Kabbalist readings or wild free associations that Room 237 celebrates improve The Shining? Let's say that they create a parallel text: Lost in the Overlook, in search of the overlooked. Dec 31, 2015 Full Review Wendy Ide Times (UK) Don't watch this film and expect an authoritative critical analysis of the film; watch it and explore the distorting, drug-like pull that some art can exert on its audience. Rated: 3/5 Jun 24, 2015 Full Review David Thomson The New Republic A curious and entertaining documentary. Jun 12, 2013 Full Review Eddie Harrison film-authority.com ‘…while none of the theories offered up here are convincing, Ascher’s film forces us to look at the wealth of strange detail in one film, and consider why so many diverse people have been fascinated by The Shining's elusive, elliptical content…’ Rated: 3/5 Sep 30, 2024 Full Review Vadim Rizov Filmmaker Magazine I found Rodney Ascher’s doc an enjoyable excuse to look at a lot of great Kubrick shots in quick succession while having a familiar film shaken up, however unconvincingly... Jan 24, 2023 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review It's a compellingly made documentary in visual terms. Rated: 3/4 Feb 23, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Jacob B This film gives film analysis a terrible name! The only thing the “documentary” (or visual essay or whatever you’d like to call it) does well—maybe inadvertently— is show how a piece of art can elicit not only different reactions but also a myriad of different interpretations. In this piece, however, the people giving their personal interpretations are so incredibly pompous and off target. They seem to start with a predetermined conclusion and then work backwards trying to shoehorn tiny seconds of film or tiny, obscure set props into what they seem to think is hidden subtext left for them by Kubrick, the man with “an IQ of 300”, as they mention. Could any of the things they point out be something else: like editing mistakes, continuity errors, etc.? No!! Not in these peoples minds. But when the insanity reaches its apex midway through when a “film analyst” tells us that the clouds in the sky are air brushed to look like Stanley Kubrick and they OBVIOUSLY are not, that is when I feel as if the film starts to play as a parody that is mocking film analysts and critics. If you think I’m exaggerating, just listen to the man who blathers on about how “The Shining” is actually all about the Holocaust…I kid you not! Or another egghead that talks about how it’s actually about the killing of Native Americans….and those are a few of the more “well thought out” ones. Thankfully, several people actually involved with the making of “The Shining” and Stephen King as well (who’s own feelings about Kibricks film are well known) dismissed this mess as the ramblings of a very small group of film “scholars” who have spent too much time in their ivory towers. The only thing I feel the film did well was to show us what happens when people spend too much time reading their own personal beliefs into everything they see and being concerned about what they feel and think rather than what is. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 03/22/25 Full Review Mark J Some bits of this are really insightful and show how amazingly The Shining was constructed. Other bits are the ramblings of lunatics. Worth a watch if you don’t mind the latter. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/20/25 Full Review Almighty A It's all an illusion... Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/12/25 Full Review Joel P Absolutely ridiculous, pretentious garbage. Some people like to lay claim to a perspective because it defines them as insightful. Or so they believe. The opening narrative about being ‘terrified’ at the innocuous opening shots of scenery in The Shining turned me off immediately. Don’t waste your time on this. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 11/28/24 Full Review Simon T This film is ridiculous, trying to link far fetched connections that just aren’t there and making statements that are pure ignorance. So much that I couldn’t make it past the first 20 minutes. A few gleaming examples stood out. First is the comments that the Torrance family brought too much luggage…they were moving there with all of their belongings, did they even read the book on which the film was loosely based? Second is the fact that the creators of this atrocity didn’t even do minimal research on where Timberline Lodge is located…hint it’s not Fort Hood, it’s on Mt. Hood just outside of Government Camp, OR. The third and final straw was the utter lack of any professionalism by having one whackos kid in the background. What a horrible bag of ridiculous conspiracy theories. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 08/31/24 Full Review Evan T I was really invested in this doc until they went on a 15 mine rambling rant about the moon landing being fake. Disgusting conspiracy theorists. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/04/24 Full Review Read all reviews
Room 237

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Movie Info

Synopsis Filmmaker Rodney Ascher analyzes Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of Stephen King's classic horror novel "The Shining."
Director
Rodney Ascher
Producer
Tim Kirk
Distributor
IFC Films
Production Co
Highland Park Classics
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 29, 2013, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 1, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$259.8K
Runtime
1h 42m
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