15 Most Overrated Movies Of The Decade (So Far)
3. Room 237
Just what is the deal with The Shining? Is it a simple ghost story? A warped example of cabin fever? A representation of domestic violence? A straight laced exploration of insanity?
Or, is it actually a confession on behalf of Stanley Kubrick for faking the moon landings? That's one of the cases put forward in Room 237, a documentary that attempts to untangle the mystery surrounding Stanley Kubrick's horror masterpiece and show the diverse readings various fanatics of the film hold.
As Kubrick is such a notoriously detail-oriented filmmaker, there's certainly an allure to going further into The Shining and seeing just how deep his obsessions ran. But there's another side to the thoughts behind Room 237 - the film isn't just looking at what Kubrick hid in there, but what the talking heads think he hid in there; there's arguments that Kubrick hid his face in the clouds (he didn't), structured the film so if you play it superimposed in forward and reverse then images match up (he definitely didn't) and, yes, was revealing his part in the Apollo hoax (he obviously wasn't).
The problem is, it just presents these arguments in situ, with no comment on their validity and no attempt to highlight the stronger ideas. So what it really winds up being is a movie version of the early-internet conspiracy pages. Yet, for some reason, the critics loved it (93% on RottenTomatoes). Audiences certainly didn't (55%).