The Shining ending explained in depth: Jack Torrance might be reliving his experiences all along

Perhaps, out of all the twisted endings in cinematic history, The Shining shines the brightest, twisting upon us. That photograph at the end doesn't make sense. Jack Torrance and his family live in the 70s or 80s when they arrive at the Overlook Hotel. So, how is he in that photo from 1921?

Stanley Kubrick surely gave us something to scratch our heads about for decades. Interestingly, we are still doing it. More interestingly, we are about to do it again in this analysis you are about to read. All we know is that the film kept giving us hints that he might have been dead all along.

It gives us that common 'it's all in the mind' trope, like in Fight Club (1999). That's akin to this Interstellar (2014) theory, too. Maybe the confusion remains as some scenes were cut from the film, like when Jack's wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and his son, Danny (Danny Lloyd), are recovering in a mental institute. But this scene might've replaced the photograph scene, or it could've raised a new ceiling of confusion.

While the film has been sitting there without a rent in those horror-filled hearts, Stephen King, who originally wrote the story, wasn't happy about this film adaptation. There was depth to the story, particularly the lead character, Torrance.

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Were we (and Jack) reliving events in The Shining?

There's a conversation between Jack and Wendy, where the latter listens to the former speak while he holds his breakfast. He implies that being at the Overlook Hotel is like deja vu for him. He feels like events happening in there have happened before. He especially emphasizes the part where he came for his interview here.

What adds more strength to the fact that Jack has been dead all along is when he is in a conversation with the ghostly bartender Lloyd (Joe Turkel). Jack says,

"I like you Lloyd. I always liked you."

And then there's Delbert Grady, who tells Jack,

"You've always been the caretaker."

Many suggest that these are hints in The Shining that he is a reincarnation, which makes sense with that photograph at the end. But it also makes sense that he was already a dead man, and those events are in his consciousness. Maybe those events happened, but not in the 70s or 80s, but probably in the 20s.

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What do The Shining fans say about the film's ending?

The Shining's ending is still a hot topic, and we can see conversations picking up at regular intervals. So we scanned some of them and found some mind-blowing (which makes sense, of course) theories that have popped up on the internet before.

Among The Shining fandom, this one fan believes that the person we saw in the photo wasn't really Jack Torrance. It's kind of symbolic in the scene if we go by this theory.

Now, the most popular theory is that the hotel "absorbed" Jack. A fan has a similar one but is sort of different in its own way. Hear him out.

And then one not-so-The Shining fan chose to go the practical way and said the photograph scene was added to make the viewers intrigued and curious. Well. He may be out of line, but what's wrong with it?

With an ending like that, we ought to always have some juicy theories. But for now, let's just say all work and no play really made Jack a dull boy.

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Also Read: The Electric State ending explained: Does Christopher survive?