What age is The Shining appropriate for?

The Shining is rated R and PopcornCheck recommends it for ages 17+, based on reading the actual screenplay. The film includes Jack chasing Wendy through the kitchen and bathroom swinging a baseball bat at her, a prolonged axe-chase through the hotel and hedge maze that endangers Danny, and Jack's graphic nightmare about cutting up his wife and son into pieces.

Does The Shining have swearing or bad language?

The Shining has Extreme language. Strong profanity is frequent: 'fuck/fucking' is used 18 times and 'goddamn/goddamned' 12 times, plus 'hell' 3 times.

Is The Shining violent?

The Shining has Extreme violence. Jack grabs Danny's arm too forcefully, dislocating his shoulder, leaving Danny with visible bruises later found on his neck after a separate bathtub incident.

Is The Shining scary for children?

The Shining has Extreme scary scenes. Ghostly twin girls appear in a hallway inviting Danny to 'play with us forever,' a disturbing and iconic image.

Is The Shining OK for Kids?

Name: The Shining
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Released: 1980
Duration: 144 min
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers, Barry Nelson

HorrorThriller

17+

R⭐ 8.4 / 101980 · 2h 24m

Stanley Kubrick

Where to Watch

United States

Rent

Rent or Buy on Amazon

Streaming data by JustWatch

What's In It

Based on the actual screenplay

🗡️Violence

Extreme▼

Moments in the script, mildest → most intense

Cartoon / Comedic

Action & Peril

Injuries & Death Shown

Graphic & Disturbing

Jack grabs Danny's arm too forcefully, dislocating his shoulder, leaving Danny with visible bruises later found on his neck after a separate bathtub incident.
Jack has a graphic nightmare about cutting up his wife and son into pieces, described in disturbing detail.
Jack attacks Wendy with a baseball bat in the kitchen and bathroom in a prolonged, graphic struggle where she is forced to defend herself by swinging back.
Jack chases Wendy and Danny through the hotel corridors and hedge maze with an axe in the film's climactic sequence, with Danny fleeing for his life through the maze.
A ghost bartender references Charles Grady, a previous caretaker who killed his family with an axe and then shot himself.
No character deaths are shown graphically on screen in the extracted material, but weapons include a baseball bat and an axe, and the overall tone escalates from domestic tension to sustained, terrifying violence against a child and spouse.

💬Language

Extreme▼

Moments in the script, mildest → most intense

Mild Words

(damn, hell)

Moderate

(ass, b**ch)

Strong

(sh*t)

Extreme

(f**k)

Strong profanity is frequent: 'f**k/f**king' is used 18 times and 'godda**/goddamned' 12 times, plus 'hell' 3 times.
The racial slur 'nigger' is used twice, spoken by supernatural entities in the hotel.
Moderate language includes 'b**tard' (1), 'a**/a**hole' (2), and 'b**ch' (2).
This is not a film with mild or absent profanity — language is pervasive and includes an extreme racial slur, making it unsuitable for younger audiences regardless of other content.

👻Scary Scenes

Extreme▼

Moments in the script, mildest → most intense

Mildly Tense

Startling Moments

Genuinely Scary

Deeply Disturbing

Ghostly twin girls appear in a hallway inviting Danny to 'play with us forever,' a disturbing and iconic image.
A decaying woman rises from a bathtub to attack Danny, a genuinely scary jump-style scene.
Jack's conversation with the ghost bartender Lloyd and the ghost of Grady is quietly disturbing, showing supernatural manipulation encouraging violence.
Danny's recurring 'Redrum' visions and warnings build dread throughout the film.
The startling 'Here's Johnny!' moment, where Jack breaks through a door with an axe, is a famous jump scare.
The final axe chase through the hotel and hedge maze is intensely frightening, with Danny in direct danger; resolution comes only when Danny escapes and Jack is left behind, but the supernatural threat is never fully 'defeated.'

💕Romance

Moderate▼

Moments in the script, mildest → most intense

Crushes & Holding Hands

Kissing & Dating

Suggestive

Sexual Content

The only romantic/sexual content is Jack's line referencing 'a problem with the old sperm bank upstairs,' a suggestive comment implying marital/sexual dysfunction between Jack and Wendy.
There is no kissing, dating, or depicted intimacy in the extracted content.
Overall romance is not a focus of this film; the reference is brief and adult-toned rather than visual.

🍺Substances

Moderate▼

Moments in the script, mildest → most intense

Mentioned in Passing

Shown Casually

Featured Prominently

Glorified or Abused

Jack breaks a 5-month sobriety pledge by drinking bourbon at the ghostly Gold Ballroom bar, shown as a warning sign of his unraveling.
Jack delivers a lengthy, unsettling monologue about craving alcohol and saying he'd give his soul for a drink, framing addiction as a destructive force rather than something glorified.
Past alcohol abuse is referenced multiple times as backstory for Jack's character and his strained relationship with his family.
There's a casual mention of removing alcohol from the hotel premises to reduce insurance costs.

⚡Stimulation

Extreme▼

Moments in the script, mildest → most intense

Gently Engaging

Exciting

Intense

Overwhelming

Jack chasing Wendy with a bat through the kitchen and basement is a tense, rapid sequence.
The climactic axe chase through hotel corridors and the hedge maze is fast-paced and relentless.
Jack's psychological breakdown escalates overwhelmingly throughout the film, with mounting dread and sudden violent outbursts.
This film's slow-burn dread combined with sudden intense violence is not suitable for sensory-sensitive children or those easily overwhelmed by prolonged tension.

The Shining — Heads Up for Parents

Despite being a classic horror film often assumed to be 'tame' by modern standards, parents should be aware the script contains an extreme racial slur used twice by supernatural characters, alongside pervasive strong profanity, which may catch parents off guard given the film's reputation as a stylish psychological thriller.

About The Shining

A family moves into an isolated, snowbound hotel where the father, Jack, is slowly driven insane by supernatural forces while working as the winter caretaker. His young son Danny has psychic 'shining' abilities that let him see the hotel's violent past, and the film builds into a terrifying cat-and-mouse chase as Jack turns homicidal against his wife Wendy and son. It's a slow-burn psychological horror film with intense violence and disturbing supernatural imagery.

⚠️

Watch with your child

The domestic violence (Jack chasing Wendy with a bat, the axe chase endangering Danny), addiction themes, and disturbing supernatural imagery are heavy for teens; a parent should be present to contextualize the depiction of family violence and addiction relapse for viewers under 17.

Family Takeaways from The Shining

What it gets right

✓The film shows Dick Hallorann treating Danny with warmth and taking his fears seriously, modeling how adults outside the family can offer a child safety and validation.
✓Wendy's arc shows a parent recognizing danger and acting decisively to protect her child, despite her own fear and Jack's earlier dismissiveness of the abuse.

The Shining Cultural & Values Guide

Cultural & Values Guide

Values & Themes

●Traditional family values

The film centers on the breakdown of a nuclear family under the pressures of isolation and addiction, with Wendy's protective maternal instincts and the theme of parental responsibility and failure driving much of the plot.

Community Notes

Racial language/slurs used by supernatural entities, including two uses of an extreme racial slur, has drawn attention regarding the film's depiction of race in a horror context.

Cast:Jack NicholsonShelley DuvallDanny LloydScatman CrothersBarry Nelson