Frustrated writer Jack Torrance takes a job as the winter caretaker at the opulently ominous, mountain-locked Overlook Hotel so that he can write in peace. His young son possesses a psychic abilities known as "The Shining" and is able to see see things from the past and future, such as the ghosts who inhabit the hotel. Some time after settling in, the family is trapped in the hotel by a snowstorm, and Jack gradually becomes influenced by a supernatural presence, descends into madness, and ultimately attempts to murder his wife and son.