Room 237

This is a documentary about bizarre interpretations and conspiracy theories surrounding Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of "The Shining."  It's crazy.  It's hypnotic.

The movie is interesting not only in its subject and the interviewees but in the way it is assembled.  The various interviews are delivered solely as voice over narration.  All the visuals are relevant footage from "The Shining" or clips of other films edited in clever ways to create bizarre, cinematic reenactments of mundane, real-world events.  It works incredibly well to immerse you in the world of cinema.

The weird theories as to the true meaning of "The Shining" are the real draw though.  Some of the ideas being thrown around seem borderline plausible.  But that's part of the fun.  All the people involved are insane.  Somehow, they just happened to latch onto this one film.  Their delusions become more and more apparent as they explain (usually in a disjointed ramble) the hidden truths in the movie.  The filmmakers play the scenes in question while the person discusses it and any sane audience member will see that they are seeing things that are not there. 

It is intensely fun to be immersed in such unbridled insanity.  The interviewees are at their best when they have a kernel of reality to hinge their theories on.  They are the folks who practically preach their message.  They speak with the conviction of a 9/11 "truther" but without being offensively moronic.  I spent a lot of this film laughing and yelling, "What are you talking about?"  These people see something so strongly that I began to feel a little crazy for not being able to see it too.  "Room 237" takes you down the rabbit hole for 100 minutes and returns you safely to reality.

I loved every second of this lunacy.  I'll be revisiting it at some point, probably after watching "The Shining" again.  I'd hate for director Rodney Ascher to be type-cast, but I'd love to see more wacky interpretations of classic movies. 

8 out of 10