Mack Phillips is happily married with three children. When a family tragedy shatters their carefree existence, Mack becomes bitter and depressed and the family starts to drift apart. Out of the blue he receives an invitation to return to where the tragedy took place, a deserted cabin known simply as The Shack. Thing is - the invitation is from God...
Well-intended but clumsy and long-winded. The aim was to portray the Christian message in a relatable way, especially how it pertains to tragedy and grief. However, it takes forever to get there, and does so in a folksy, licence-taking, sermonising sort of way.
Part of the problem is that the producers hedged their bets in terms of who their target audience was, trying to make it for Christian and non-Christian audiences alike and thus diluting the effect on both parties. Christians will probably find the movie overly simplistic and dumbed-down, and even inaccurate in some respects. Non-Christians, and movie-goers in general, will be put off by the overly long set-up before the important stuff, and then then how that is also drawn out. In addition, the message delivery is not too subtle, so the feeling that you're being lectured to may be off-putting to some too.
It's not all bad though. There are some good messages along the way and the end ties things together reasonably well. That would require watchers to make it to the end though...
Plot summary
A grieving man receives a mysterious, personal invitation to meet with God at a place called 'The Shack'.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
May 18, 2017 at 08:21 AM
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Well-intended but clumsy and long-winded
Definitely a movie for beleivers
I knew something wasn't the norm when too much time was taken over close spiritualist conversations. Sure enough the relationship with the daughter proved to be the peg that this movie hinged on. A lot of soulful moments learning about forgiveness. Not a movie to grab and hold one's attention and probably best watched alone so one can reflect upon life. Good for the soul.
looking for answers
Okay, I liked it. I don't call myself a Christian. I was raised Catholic but I don't practice.
Just because someone isn't a Christian or a fundamentalist Christian or whatever else there is doesn't mean this is a bad film. If you're a spiritual person, much that is in this movie rings true.
I liked the performances from Sam Worthington, Octavia Spencer, and the rest of the cast.
A very touching story of a man in great pain looking for answers. And there are plenty of them around today.