The Shack is a 2017 American Christian drama film directed by Stuart Hazeldine and written by John Fusco, Andrew Lanham and Destin Cretton, based on the 2007 novel of the same name by William P. Young. The film stars Sam Worthington, Octavia Spencer, Graham Greene, Radha Mitchell, Alice Braga, Sumire Matsubara, Aviv Alush, and Tim McGraw.
Filming began on June 8, 2015, in Vancouver, British Columbia. The film was released in the United States on March 3, 2017, and grossed over $96 million worldwide, despite being reviewed negatively by most critics.
Plot
Mackenzie “Mack” Phillips suffered physical and emotional abuse as a child at the hands of his drunken father, who abuses his mother as well. One day, Mack tells the preacher at his church of his abuse, and as punishment, his father harshly beats him, leading to Mack’s mother’s decision to leave them. It is implied that as a 13-year-old boy he planned to poison his father with strychnine.
As an adult he has a fulfilling life with his wife, Nan, and their three children: Kate, Josh and Missy. Mack’s life is shattered, however, when their youngest child Missy disappears during a camping trip while he is saving Kate and Josh during a canoeing accident. The police determine Missy is the victim of a serial killer after finding her torn dress and blood in a vacant cabin. Kate blames herself for Missy’s death because of her own reckless behavior in causing the canoe accident in the first place. The tragedy derails Mack’s faith and life until the onset of winter when he receives an unstamped, typewritten note in his mailbox. The surrounding snow is devoid of any incriminating tracks. The message is signed “Papa” (which was Nan’s nickname for God) and invites him to meet at the cabin.
Thinking this may possibly be an opportunity for meeting and capturing or killing the serial killer, Mack drives himself there and, finding the ruined cabin cold and desolate and empty, is overcome with frustration, rage and an almost irresistible impulse to turn his handgun on himself. But he suddenly encounters a mysterious trio of strangers who invite him to stay at their well-furnished, cozy little house that is situated just down the path and, oddly, in the midst of a beautiful, sunshiny, summertime wilderness.
The trio of strangers gradually reveal their identities: an African-American woman is God, a Middle Eastern man is Jesus, and an Asian woman is the Holy Spirit. The purpose of their invitation is to first help him better understand his life as seen from a much broader context or higher perspective. This realization helps free him from an inclination to pass judgment upon himself as well as upon everyone else who crosses his path. It is from that new starting point that he may then continue his long, slow journey into healing for himself and his family, and forgiveness for himself as well as for those who have grievously harmed him and his loved ones. He helps Jesus build a beautiful wooden box, the Holy Spirit to prepare a spot in her garden for a planting, and then Papa – in the form of an elderly Native American man – leads him to the cave where Missy’s physical body is located. Together they prepare her body for burial, place her in the box, and lay her to rest in the garden. He gets to briefly see Missy in Heaven, but is unable to be with her. Jesus steps through the boundary separating them to visit with her. Mack also visits another cave where God’s wisdom, in the form of a woman, Sophia talks to him. Eventually, the trio and Mack encounter the spirit of Mack’s father, who apologizes for his mistreatment of Mack and Mack reluctantly forgives him.
Finally able to move beyond his grief and his faith restored, he leaves the trio and returns home to his family. The ending differs from the book in that Mack does not lead the police to Missy’s body, and they therefore do not find forensic evidence to identify and convict her killer.
Cast
Sam Worthington as Mackenzie “Mack” Phillips
Carson Reaume as Young Mack
Octavia Spencer as God (Papa)
Graham Greene as Male Papa
Radha Mitchell as Nan Phillips
Aviv Alush as Jesus Christ
Sumire Matsubara as Sarayu
Tim McGraw as Willie (who also narrates the film)
Alice Braga as Sophia (Wisdom)
Megan Charpentier as Kate Phillips
Gage Munroe as Josh Phillips
Amélie Eve as Missy Phillips
Ryan Robbins as Emil Ducette
Reviews
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