The Shack

Movie Review #777 THE SHACK.

Long awaited movie version of William P Young's novel of the same name sees Sam Worthington as Mac, a grieving father who is invited to spend time at the shack where his daughter was brutally murdered.

Thing is the invite is from none other than God himself, portrayed as an older African American woman and beautifully played by Octavia Spencer. He also encounters representations of Christ & the Holy Spirit thus completing his weekend with the Trinity and as a result, finds himself sending plenty of missiles their way in order to make sense of his grief.

However he find his preconceptions ultimately and vigorous challenged by all three and has to confront his fears and grief in a way he never thought possible. There has been some criticism of The Shack for its representations and I wonder whether some folks try to take the allegories far too literally.

For me I could see the conceptualists behind the story and found it to be a beautiful commentary on forgiveness and very nicely answers questions like 'why does God allow....'. Mr Worthington sometimes slips into his native strine accent however I have to say this is about the only blip, if it can be called that, in an otherwise masterful telling of one man's journey to peace from a tragedy that would be every parent's worst nightmare.

Pretty much avoids too much sentimentalism but does occasionally spill into a little mushiness, not that that is necessarily a bad thing in this case. Strong performances from the leads and in particular, Sam W who delivers a raw and heartfelt portrayal. Overall 9/10.