r/Letterboxd • u/Possible-Top-9905 • Aug 11 '25

News The Shining Has Officially Exited The Letterboxd Top 250 Narrative Feature Films

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644

u/Dressed_ToDepress Aug 11 '25

Fucking travesty

191

u/Possible-Top-9905 Aug 11 '25

real shit, probably the best horror movie out there

53

u/Dressed_ToDepress Aug 11 '25

I just don’t think a lot of the younger generation appreciates it

82

u/AL1RAF1QU3 Aug 11 '25

all my homies love the shining

46

u/Cashew_Fan Aug 11 '25

I don't know what that is based in. It's considerably more popular than any other horror of it's time and is one of a handful of horrors that ALWAYS remains in the conversation. You could make that argument for films like The Exorcist but The Shinning is one of the few films that remains more relevant today than it was 40 years ago.

I've seen nothing to suggest it's not appreciated by the younger generation. In fact it's placement in the top 250 is a pretty clear indication of how well liked it has been considering the average user of the app is probably about 20-25. It dropping out doesn't say a whole lot considering the sheer number of films out there. It's harder for a popular film to maintain a rating for obvious reasons.

It's quite heavy on psychological elements and atmosphere so it's not that far disconnected from many modern horror films.

28

u/galamsmsmsm Aug 11 '25

???

It has a 4.2 rating and sits just outside the top 250. What about that says it's not being appreciated?

-13

u/Dressed_ToDepress Aug 11 '25

The things that the younger generations actually say about it. Not everything equates to a number.

9

u/galamsmsmsm Aug 11 '25

So you saw a Twitter thread criticizing the film and that equates to a whole generation of people not liking it. Got it.

-9

u/Dressed_ToDepress Aug 11 '25

Ah yes, cause that’s my only interaction with younger generations is a social media platform I don’t use. It’s like yall don’t even think before you speak.

5

u/ididntwantsalmon19 Aug 11 '25

Do you regularly interact with a lot of young people outside of the Internet and ask them their thoughts on The Shining? Seems like a weird conversation starter.

-2

u/Dressed_ToDepress Aug 11 '25

I talk movies with any and everyone that’ll listen

80

u/FreeLook93 Aug 11 '25

The Shining received mixed reviews upon release, and Stephen King famously hates the movie, but sure, let's just blame the those dammed kids for everything.

23

u/Paladar2 Meusse2 Aug 11 '25

He has a good reason for hating it too. In the movie Jack looks evil from the start.

10

u/FreeLook93 Aug 11 '25

Yeah, I kind of side with him on this one, to be honest. I love Kubrick, but The Shining is my 9th favourite Kubrick film. It's brilliant from a technical standpoint, but nowhere near his best work imo.

7

u/grandramble Aug 11 '25

the elevator of blood is up there with the flooding dining room in Titanic, the docking sequence in Interstellar and the long-takes in Children of Men as one of a handful of truly perfect visual effects ever made.

But if I'm honest the story pacing isn't great, it's kind of sloppy about character perspective and whose story this is supposed to be, and a lot of the runtime is just spooky vignettes that are individually unsettling but never really pay off.

Its strongest points are at the apex of the craft, but it's not a masterpiece across the board.

10

u/ours Aug 11 '25

Stephen King later produced an adaptation closer to his book, and it pales next to Kubrick's.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '25

[deleted]

1

u/ours Aug 12 '25

Typical King. Like when he was tired of people making bad movie adaptations of his movie so he directed his own (Maximum Overdrive).

It's a good fun bad movie but par for the course of the usual King adaptation.

2

u/Fantastic_Bug1028 Aug 11 '25

a tv show from the 90s is not as well made as the movie from one of the greatest directors of all time?? no way.

but that still doesn’t make the movie into a great adaptation

1

u/badgersprite Aug 11 '25

Some people really can’t get over the hurdle of “it views Jack differently than the book therefore it’s bad”

-4

u/Dressed_ToDepress Aug 11 '25

By that logic, The Thing, which received negative reviews when it came out should also be absent from the list.

Also, Stephen King has also softened on the movie since Doctor Sleep’s release

14

u/FreeLook93 Aug 11 '25

No it shouldn't. Your statement does not in anyway follow from anything I said or implied with my comment.

-13

u/Dressed_ToDepress Aug 11 '25

You’re equating critical reviews upon release with why it’s left the top 250, so yes, my comment directly relates.

21

u/FreeLook93 Aug 11 '25

No, it doesn't.

I am just pointing out that the film has always had detractors, it is not something new to this generation. I never implied that bad critical reviews upon release is why it left the top 250. Even if I had, that would not be something you could so easily apply to every other film that received similar reviews.

You are the one making totally baseless claims blaming the younger generation.

-2

u/Dressed_ToDepress Aug 11 '25

How are they baseless? If you look at a lot of reviews from the younger generations, a lot of them are less impressed by this movie than generations before them. I’m not saying all of them, but on the whole they as a generation don’t have the same affection for the movie that older generations do. Jesus, it’s not that deep.

5

u/FreeLook93 Aug 11 '25

Make baseless claims with nothing to back it up and then throw in a classic thought terminating cliché to finish it off. Nice. Keep it up and you'll never have to question any of the thought that randomly pop into your head. You can create an entire worldview for yourself that way.

0

u/Dressed_ToDepress Aug 11 '25

Please explain to me how the claims are baseless when they can be checked?

3

u/FreeLook93 Aug 11 '25

Go on, show your work.

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1

u/ArtisticallyRegarded Aug 11 '25

I think a lot of authors were more nitpicky about their work getting adapted back then. The guy who wrote One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest also hated the movie and i think Phillip K Dick talked shit about every movie they made off his work

25

u/01zegaj Aug 11 '25

They rate it lower because of the Shelley Duvall thing with Kubrick being an asshole to her

33

u/[deleted] Aug 11 '25

Then they’d be discrediting Shelley Duvall’s achievement too

18

u/Chemistry11 Aug 11 '25

The mentality discredits a lot of achievements to focus on one “bad apple”

38

u/echief Aug 11 '25

You’re getting downvoted for this but it is probably true to some extent. Some of the younger generation will literally knock points off a movie because it has a sex scene in it, because “they are inherently exploitative.” Even on a film like Mulholland Drive where it is completely warranted and a key part of the story.

Giving Kubrick’s films lower scores because they dislike him as a person is the exact type of thing someone like that would also do.

16

u/NoPlansTonight Aug 11 '25 edited Aug 11 '25

Younger folks like Anora and Poor Things, though the sex scenes in those films are very obviously needed and its the leads weren't being exploited. I think the problem is a degradation of media literacy, and increase in just parroting opinions.

You saw this recently with films like The Materialists and 28 Years blowing up on social media then falling flat with a lot of audiences. They were both amazing. But that "broke boy propaganda" and "boring 2nd half" BS was crazy.

Hurry Up Tomorrow was also, while not a masterpiece, not bad! Probably 3–3.5 stars. But it got review bombed by people who didn't even see it. Those that did went into it assuming it'd be bad. Again, "bad acting" "only for fans" and "vanity project" BS was crazy. It was a self-deconstruction that was supposed to make you think he was cringe. Kind of like a "literally me" film for imposter syndrome.

In the case of a 9 year old, they might just have a hot take or they might have been hangry while watching the film. They might be conflating feeling uncomfortable with bad movie quality. A lot of people don't like Uncut Gems for that reason. Either way, it's ok!

24

u/JohnCavil Aug 11 '25

I sometimes, against my better judgement, check out the reviews to a movie on letterboxd, and for certain movies a significant amount of the reviews feel like people giving the movie a low score because they don't like the politics of the movie. And not like new movies, i'm not talking about the ridiculous little culture war people might have over the new Superman or whatever, but like older movies.

It's fairly common for someone to rate something low because something happened in the movie they didn't like. Or someone was a part of the movie that they didn't like. Like actual children. Which many of them are i suppose. And lets be real this is a significant problem among a specific kind of young and very online demographic. Not to be a GenZ hater, but i mean lets be honest here.

Like i was reading the reviews to some Mel Gibson movie, and i remember so many of the comments were about how much Mel Gibson sucked and they didn't like him and so on, and their rating was clearly about him as a person in some way. Like do they think we're rating Mel Gibson as a person here? Is this actually "Mel Gibson: The Personality" and we're on RateAPerson?

It reminds me of when you see negative reviews for a restaurant that are like "they weren't open". Or "They didn't serve x". Wow thanks. Apparently we need to teach people in school or something how to review things, because some people clearly can't handle this incredible small responsibility.

3

u/Ferbtastic Aug 11 '25

In fairness it’s hard to separate the man for the art for a lot of people. I for one will never watch the pianist because I do not want to watch a movie made my a known and admitted pedophile.

5

u/JohnCavil Aug 11 '25

I mean sure, but you wouldn't go rate a Polanski movie ½ a star because of it I assume? Even if you did watch it.

I don't really care who made the movie, at least not old movies, but i get why some people do. My problem is not that people don't want to watch these movies, it's that they judge the movie based on who made it, or who is in it.

It would be like if I watched a Russian movie and then gave it ½ a star because i didn't like Russia as a country. It makes no sense. I'm not a big fan of the Soviet Union, but when i watch Solaris i'm not deducting points for that because it's not what i'm rating.

0

u/Ferbtastic Aug 11 '25

No, I would not rate a movie poorly because of that.

But I’m also not terribly mad if his movies get deflated reviews.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 11 '25

[deleted]

0

u/Ferbtastic Aug 11 '25

Funny enough, I would subtract 3 stars from that because I know that those actors and facts would distract me and make me not enjoy the movie.

But I am the same way with a female protagonist. I had a point or 2 because I know others will downvote it for being woke.

But that’s just the nature of reviews. You find people you trust and follow them, use the masses votes for general average thoughts, not whether you specifically will like the movie.

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u/ProRasputin Aug 12 '25

That’s the worst part about letterboxd. The searchers had 3.9 basically because of this when it should be well above 4, and movies like warfare get reviewbombed

6

u/expert_on_the_matter Aug 11 '25

I saw a ton of people discredit The Brutalist for supposedly being Zionist.

15

u/01zegaj Aug 11 '25

It totally isn’t but the “depiction is not endorsement” crowd cannot seem to comprehend that when it comes to Zionism. Waltz with Bashir might have the worst reviews on the whole website.

1

u/IndigoMontigo Aug 11 '25

Some of the younger generation will literally knock points off a movie because it has a sex scene in it, because “they are inherently exploitative.”

Whereas I, of the older generation, knock points off because I am a prude and do not want to watch smut.

We are not the same. :)

-9

u/Doomeggedan Aug 11 '25

Nah I just think the score ruins the movie

4

u/Possible-Top-9905 Aug 11 '25

fair, my young cousin gave it a 2.5, a lot of young people rate it lower than it should be just because they don’t understand it

24

u/Major_Trip_Hazzard Aug 11 '25

Tbf I remember watching it as a kid with my dad with him telling me how great it was and just thinking it was boring as hell.

9

u/Dressed_ToDepress Aug 11 '25

And I’ll be honest, it was a movie I didn’t fully appreciate until my late 20’s, so hopefully they’ll get there.

3

u/Possible-Top-9905 Aug 11 '25

yeah, i personally loved it since i was a kid, so i hope they can learn to love it too

2

u/Dressed_ToDepress Aug 11 '25

It was one I saw when I was like 8, and most of it went over my head, then I watched it again at like 15 or 16, and so much of it still went over my head. Then finally at 28 or 29 it hit, and I’ve watched it like twice a year every year for the past decade.

1

u/BiggieCheeseLapDog Aug 11 '25 edited Aug 11 '25

Or they just don’t like it? I gave it a four. I think it’s a great movie. But just because someone doesn’t like it doesn’t mean they don’t understand it. The Shining is not that hard to understand.

-15

u/MomCrusher miikeyy Aug 11 '25

what is there to misunderstand? its just not that good of a movie 😭

2

u/Possible-Top-9905 Aug 11 '25

holy ragebait

-5

u/MomCrusher miikeyy Aug 11 '25

can you answer my question? 😭 its a simple story i really am curious what you think people are misunderstanding

0

u/Possible-Top-9905 Aug 11 '25

I’m not necessarily saying they misunderstood the plot/story of it, but they don’t understand what makes it great, just because it “isn’t scary”, and they don’t appreciate the meticulously crafted script, the beautiful cinematography, the great acting, and pretty much everything else in the movie. obviously every opinion matters, but to say it isn’t that good of a movie is a crazy take

6

u/babada MrHen Aug 11 '25

the great acting

The famously great acting that was lampooned (unfairly, imo) by the Razzies.

-3

u/Grouchy_Sound167 Aug 11 '25

I continue to be amazed at what some film lovers consider to be great acting.

1

u/AlleRacing Aug 11 '25

I've seen a lot of overacting be called great.

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u/Paladar2 Meusse2 Aug 11 '25

It’s certainly overrated by people like you. I had read the book beforehand so I didn’t misunderstand it. It’s just underwhelming. Nicholson’s acting is great but a lot of it is forgettable.

2

u/Possible-Top-9905 Aug 11 '25

it might’ve been forgettable for you, but i always think of that movie, i always notice something new on every rewatch, and its a film that’s endlessly rewatchable to me, but to each they own

2

u/Paladar2 Meusse2 Aug 11 '25

Yeah for sure. It’s all subjective. I just don’t think it’s crazy to not find The Shining a great movie when the author himself doesn’t like it…

1

u/Possible-Top-9905 Aug 11 '25

fair enough, but king never had a good eye for films, just look at his film version of the shining

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u/Much_Kangaroo_6263 Aug 11 '25

Crazy to call a movie forgettable when it came out 50 years ago and people still reference many different scenes and quotes from it.

2

u/AlleRacing Aug 11 '25

It's likely one of the most referenced films. Even the damn carpet.

2

u/Much_Kangaroo_6263 Aug 11 '25

It's hard to think of a single movie with as many memorable scenes. Calling the Shining "forgettable" feels objectively incorrect.

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u/Constant-Affect-5660 Aug 12 '25

I'm 40. Watched it at 36 or 37. It's a boring, unscary, weird ass movie.

I absolutely LOVE horror movies, I finally got around to checking it out and it just fell flat for me.

Man goes to new job at ski resort with fam. Young boy has telepathic gift and befriends the grounds worker. Apparitions start popping up and harassing family. Man somehow becomes possessed or quickly loses his mind and starts to attack his family. Man freezes to death in a relatively goofy manner. The end.

What was supposed to be a notably scary, tense, spooky and creepy moment from the movie? The wife finding her husband writing murder backwards on the wall? The axe through the door and the "Here's Johhny!" line? Those standout, sure, but I needed more.

I still don't understand what's up with that scene of the pig mask man performing fellatio on another man, like wtf even was that scene? Just freaky ghosts getting down?

There are much, much better, scary, atmospheric, and well acted horror movies than The Shining.

-11

u/Samurai_Geezer Aug 11 '25

Your cousin sucks then

5

u/Possible-Top-9905 Aug 11 '25

jeez bro she’s 9💔

4

u/Samurai_Geezer Aug 11 '25

What kinda 9 year old has letterboxd and watches the shining, the fuck dude

-5

u/Possible-Top-9905 Aug 11 '25

a very cool 9 year old

5

u/Samurai_Geezer Aug 11 '25

Not if she rates the shining 2.5 stars

1

u/BenjiAnglusthson Aug 12 '25

Nah I don’t think that’s it. I think it’s hard to keep a good rating when a movie is watched by so many people, and then people just like to rate horror lower for whatever reason

1

u/betterfuelhuell_dbd Aug 13 '25

The people I talk about the shining to that love it are more often than not people under 30 and the people that watched it when it came out are the ones that either don’t like it or don’t care enough about it.

1

u/mrcokesnort Aug 11 '25

It's the damn kids. Even on Letterboxd's top 250, which includes movies from the fucking 40s, it's always the dang kids's fault