The Shining opens on an eagle-eye's view of a car traveling up windy Colorado mountain passes. This car belongs to Jack Torrance, who has driven three hours to the isolated Overlook Hotel for a job interview. Mr. Ullman, the hotel's manager, is interviewing Jack for a job as the hotel's caretaker during the winter months, when the hotel closes due to the harsh weather and impassable roads. Although Jack used to work as a schoolteacher, he explains that he is looking forward to the peace and quiet that the job will provide, as he aspires to become a writer. Ullman warns Jack that the job can be "mentally isolating," citing an incident in which the caretaker in 1970, Charles Grady, was driven mad by the cabin fever and murdered his wife and daughters with an axe, just before killing himself as well. Jack is unmoved by the story and accepts the job.
Meanwhile, Jack's wife and son, Wendy and Danny Torrance, are watching cartoons in their apartment in Boulder, Colorado. Danny expresses his doubts about living at the Overlook during the winter to Wendy, who assures him that it will be "a lot of fun." Tony, Danny's imaginary friend (voiced by Danny and embodied by his index finger), likewise expresses his reluctance to move to the hotel.
Danny retreats to the bathroom, where he stares into the mirror and asks Tony if he thinks Jack will get the job. Tony replies that Jack has already accepted the job and will call Wendy in a few minutes to tell her the good news. Lo and behold, Wendy soon receives a call from Jack explaining that he got the job. Danny asks why Tony is hesitant to move to the hotel and seems to experience a series of trance-like visions: blood pouring out of an elevator bank, followed by young twin girls in matching blue dresses. Finally, he sees himself, mouth agape, in a mysterious setting. Overwhelmed by these visions, Danny faints.
Wendy calls a doctor to visit Danny, who tells the doctor that he was talking to Tony, the "little boy that lives in [his] mouth," when he fainted. The doctor asks Danny if Tony ever gives him instructions, but Danny won't answer. The doctor tells Danny to stay in bed and returns to the living room to talk with Wendy. The doctor explains that there is nothing physically wrong with Danny and asks when Tony appeared in Danny's life. Wendy remembers Tony appearing when Danny began attending nursery school, where he had trouble making friends. She also details an incident in which Jack drunkenly dislocated Danny's shoulder in a fit of rage but assures the doctor that Jack is sober now, having promised Wendy that if he ever relapsed, she could leave him.
Days later, the Torrances drive up to the hotel. Wendy asks if they are near the site of the Donner Party tragedy, which prompts Jack to explain the story to Danny: a group of pioneers in the 19th century became trapped crossing the Sierra Nevada in the winter, and some of the members of the party resorted to cannibalism to survive. Arriving at the hotel, the family embarks on a tour of the hotel. Wendy finds the hotel breathtaking, and Mr. Ullman explains to her that it used to be a sought-after destination for movie stars and U.S. presidents. Next, Ullman shows them the hotel's outdoor 13 foot-tall hedge maze, remarking that he wouldn't enter it unless he had an hour to find his way out. Ullman also tells them that the hotel is built on a Native American burial ground. He shows them the Snowcat, the only vehicle that can access the snowed-in roads during the winter.
While the adults are on the tour, Danny plays darts in the hotel's game room. Behind him, he sees the twin girls he saw in his vision. They look at each other, smile, and leave.
Continuing the tour, Ullman shows the Torrances the Gold Room, the hotel's ballroom, and informs them that the staff removes the hotel's alcohol stock during the winter for insurance purposes. Jack assures him that they don't drink. Dick Hallorann, the hotel's chef, enters and introduces himself to the Torrances. Moments later, Ullman's secretary brings Danny, who she found wandering around outside, in to join his parents. Ullman instructs Dick to show Wendy and Danny the kitchen while he continues the tour separately with Jack.
In the mammoth kitchen, Dick assures Wendy that she will find every kind of food she might need during the winter. Along the way, he calls Danny by the name "Doc," and Wendy asks how Dick knew that was Danny's nickname. Dick explains that he probably heard Wendy call him that, but she maintains that she never did. Even as Dick continues talking to Wendy, Danny hears Dick telepathically ask him, "How'd you like some ice cream, Doc?"
While the adults finish the tour, Dick questions Danny about his telepathic ability. Danny is hesitant to talk about it, as Tony discouraged him from doing so. Dick explains that he, too, is able to communicate telepathically, and that he learned about it through his similarly talented grandmother, who called this power "shining." Danny asks Dick if he's scared of the hotel, and if anything bad has happened there. Dick comforts Danny, explaining that certain bad things have left a mark on the hotel that only people who "shine" can see. Finally, Danny asks Dick about Room 237 in the hotel. Dick reacts strongly, insisting that although there is "nothing" in Room 237, Danny should "stay out!"
A month later, the family is settling into life at the hotel. Jack expresses his sense of comfort and happiness with the hotel, adding that he felt a kind of intense déjà vu upon seeing it for the first time, almost as if he "knew what was...around every corner." Later, he attempts to write in the hotel's Colorado Room but is unable to focus, instead throwing a tennis ball against the walls. The ball drifts into the lobby on one of his throws, and he follows it there, noticing a scale model of the outdoor hedge maze, where Danny and Wendy are taking a walk. Leaning over the scale model, Jack seems to see tiny, doll-like versions of his wife and child reaching the center. Simultaneously, life-size Danny and Wendy reach the maze's center outside.
One Thursday, Danny rides his toy bicycle through the halls of the hotel. He stops in front of Room 237 and finds the door is locked. Nearby in the Colorado Room, Wendy finds Jack typing furiously and asks him if he'd like the sandwich she made him. Irritated, Jack explains that she shouldn't bother him while he is writing, because it breaks his concentration. He snaps at her to "get the fuck out," and she obeys.
Days later, snow sets in, and Danny and Wendy play in it outside the hotel. Jack stares at them through the window, looking deranged.
On Saturday, Wendy finds that the hotel's phones aren't working. She uses its radio system to call the local rangers, who tell her that the phone lines will probably be down all winter, as they are experiencing one of the worst snowstorms in years. Meanwhile Danny, riding his bicycle again, turns a corner only to find the same twin girls waiting for him. They ask him to come play with them "forever and ever," prompting Danny to experience another vision. This time, he sees the bloody murder scene in which the girls died. Danny covers his eyes, and when he opens them, the girls are gone. Tony encourages Danny to pretend the images are pictures in a book.
On Monday, Danny is watching cartoons with his mother in the hotel lobby. He returns to the family's hotel room to retrieve his toy fire engine, tiptoeing so as to avoid waking his father, but he finds that Jack is awake and staring out the window. Jack invites Danny to sit next to him and asks if he's having fun at the hotel. Danny looks profoundly uncomfortable, but answers that he is. Jack says he would like to stay at the hotel "forever and ever," echoing the twin girls' words. Danny asks Jack if he would ever hurt him or Wendy, and Jack reassures him that he wouldn't.
On Wednesday, Danny is playing with his toys in a hallway when Jack's tennis ball rolls to him out of nowhere. He rises to investigate and finds that the door to Room 237 is open.
Meanwhile, Wendy is tinkering with the hotel boilers when she hears Jack moaning. Running to investigate, she finds Jack in the midst of a terrible nightmare. He wakes and explains that he dreamt that he had killed her and Danny, cutting them into tiny pieces. He admits that he believes he's losing his mind. Just then, Danny enters, and Wendy sees that his neck is covered in bruises. She instantly assumes that Jack is responsible, and leaves with Danny.
Angry at Wendy's accusation, Jack mutters and storms through the halls, reaching the hotel's Gold Room bar. Talking to himself, he admits that he would "give [his] goddamn soul for a glass of beer." A bartender, Lloyd, mysteriously appears behind the counter of bar. Jack complains to Lloyd that Wendy won't let him forget about the time he hurt Danny years ago, calling her "a bitch." Moments later, Wendy enters the Gold Room holding a baseball bat. She is frantic and tells Jack that Danny said a crazy woman in Room 237 tried to strangle him.
Simultaneously, Dick Hallorann seems to have a vision while watching news coverage of the Colorado snowstorm in his Miami bedroom. Danny, too, appears to experience a vision.
Jack enters Room 237 to investigate, and he sees a figure in the bathtub. It is a young, beautiful woman, and she rises from the tub to approach Jack, putting her arms around him. He kisses her, but when he opens his eyes, he finds himself kissing an old woman with rotting flesh. He backs out of the room and locks the door as the old woman laughs at him. Returning to his room, Jack tells Wendy that he didn't find anything in the room and believes Danny bruised himself, linking it to Danny's episodes. Wendy suggests they take Danny away from the hotel, but Jack is furious that Wendy would suggest leaving, as it would break his contract with the hotel. He blames her for screwing up his life and promises not to let her screw up this opportunity. Meanwhile, Danny has a vision of the bloody elevator bank.
Dick tries calling the hotel but cannot get through, so he asks the ranger station to radio the hotel. Jack storms off to the Gold Room, where a lavish ball is being thrown. He has a drink with Lloyd, who refuses to let Jack pay for his drinks based on "orders from the house." A waiter passes by and bumps into Jack, spilling liquor on his jacket. The man begs Jack to follow him to the restroom, where he introduces himself as Delbert Grady. Jack recognizes the name Grady and asks the waiter if he used to be the caretaker at the hotel, pressing him about the famous Grady murders. Grady has no recollection of the murders and assures Jack that Jack himself has "always" been the caretaker of the hotel. As the conversation intensifies, Grady warns Jack that Danny is attempting to communicate with Dick Hallorann about the supernatural goings on of the hotel, and Jack blames it on Wendy's interference. "Perhaps they need a good talking to," Grady says. "Perhaps a bit more." He then tells Jack that his daughter tried to burn the hotel down years back, which led him to "correct" his family.
Back in the Torrances' room, Danny has another episode in which Tony seems to take over, warning Wendy that "Danny's not here" anymore. While walking through the lobby, Jack hears the hotel's radio being called and removes three of its internal pieces.
The rangers inform Dick that they weren't able to reach the hotel, so Dick boards a plane to Denver. Once there, he calls the local mechanic, Larry, and lies that he needs to access the Overlook to figure out if the Torrances need to be replaced. Larry agrees to rent Dick a Snowcat once he reaches town.
Wendy looks for Jack in the Colorado Room, baseball bat in hand. Finding the pages he's typewritten, she realizes that he has only been typing one sentence—"all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"—thousands of times. Suddenly, Jack appears behind Wendy and asks, "How do you like it?" She jumps and backs away from him, gripping the baseball bat harder. Wendy frantically expresses her belief that they should take Danny to a doctor. Furious, Jack accuses her of failing to understand his responsibilities to the hotel. Chasing her up the hotel's grand staircase, he threatens to "bash [her] brains in," so Wendy hits him in the head with the bat. She drags him to the hotel kitchen and locks him in the storage room, grabbing a kitchen knife to defend herself. Although he pretends he is sorry for scaring her and asks her to get him a doctor, Wendy firmly explains that she is going to take Danny down the mountain in the Snowcat. Jack laughs and promises her a "big surprise," and Wendy finds the Snowcat's engine in pieces outside.
Delbert Grady knocks on the door of the storage room where Jack is waking up from a nap. Grady encourages Jack to deal with his family matters in the "harshest possible way." Jack agrees, and Grady unlocks the storage room door.
Back in their hotel room, Danny is experiencing a vision again, and repeats the word "REDRUM." He writes the word in lipstick on the family's bathroom door, and Wendy wakes up from a nap. She seizes the kitchen knife Danny holds from his hand. Seconds later, Jack strikes an axe against the family's hotel room door, and Wendy hides with Danny in their bathroom. She helps Danny escape from the bathroom window, but she is unable to fit through it herself. Jack makes his way to the bathroom door and begins chopping it down, spouting odd references to Johnny Carson and "The Three Little Pigs." Wendy stabs Jack's hand with the kitchen knife as he tries to unlock the door, injuring him temporarily. Both of them pause at the sound of a Snowcat outside, driven by Dick.
Dick enters the hotel lobby, calling out, and Jack follows his voice. Suddenly, Jack jumps out from behind a column and strikes Dick with an axe in the heart. Danny, who has re-entered the hotel and hidden in a kitchen cupboard, screams, and Jack follows his voice. Meanwhile, Wendy leaves the bathroom and runs through the hotel trying to find Danny. On her way, she sees a number of horrific images, such as a room filled with partying skeletons and the bloody elevator bank that Danny envisioned earlier.
Meanwhile, Jack chases Danny outside and turns on the hedge maze's exterior lights. Both father and son enter the snowy hedge maze, and Danny realizes Jack is tracking his footprints. Backtracking slowly, Danny diverts from his path, confusing Jack while he runs out of the maze. Finding his way out, Danny sees Wendy riding Dick's Snowcat and jumps aboard. They escape down the mountain as Jack grows increasingly cold and confused.
By the next morning, Jack is frozen solid in the hedge maze.
A black-and-white picture of one of the hotel's elaborate parties hangs on the wall outside the Gold Room. It is dated "July 4th Ball, 1921." As the camera zooms in further, it is evident that Jack is pictured at the center of the celebration.
