The Movies That Capture Women's Deepest Fears

"The movie's premise is that a woman and her young child are trapped in a remote setting with a man who, from the outset, seems to resent and even hate them; their forced confinement together over a long winter puts the woman and child in mortal danger. The Overlook Hotel is, yes, sinister and even demonic, taunting Jack Torrance with bizarre visions that Kubrick manipulates to create a mounting sense of dread."

"The Overlook Hotel is, yes, sinister and even demonic, taunting Jack Torrance with bizarre visions that Kubrick manipulates to create a mounting sense of dread. But Jack is also a man who, before he ever sets foot inside the property, once dislocated his son's shoulder in a drunken rage; his wife's hands visibly shake every time she lights a cigarette."

Kubrick's The Shining functions primarily as a domestic horror in which a woman and her young child are trapped with a resentful, volatile man whose confinement threatens their lives. The Overlook Hotel remains sinister and demonic, providing bizarre visions that Kubrick manipulates to build dread. Jack Torrance carries a history of violence, including a drunken episode that dislocated his son's shoulder, and prolonged isolation erodes the restraints that keep him in check. Wendy's visible fear and trembling underline immediate domestic danger. The film foregrounds male violence unleashed by seclusion while the hotel amplifies uncanny menace. The scenario illustrates how little ownership artists have over their work as it enters broader culture.

Read at The Atlantic