Le refuge

I never thought I will appreciate movie genres like this.Lately I have been watching sci-fi, suspense and romance themed movies. At first I have no plan of watching this movie, but my attention was caught when a friend of mine told me what was this all about. I must say, the movie was "divinely crafted". This was the first movie that really punched my ego and played my emotions. Some parts of the movie can rip your soul and enlighten you about the divinity of God, the nature of life, the circumstances that we do not understand. The story was beautifully and intricately written, absolutely.

If you watch the movie, you will really feel that God was there, in front of you, talking to you, loving you, giving you ideas that encompass human comprehension.

"Why does it have to happen?, why do we have to suffer?, If God does exist, why wont he show then?", these are questions common to us, surely you have asked these questions yourself.

If you are that person who questions the incomprehensible course of fate, circumstance and life, this movie is for you.

Every day, the average person finds themselves working to do the right things. Whether this be for others, themselves or in other places, it feels good to do them. It brings closure and gratification to the doer knowing that someone else will feel good too. But in life, not every waking moment is filled with joy and happiness. Sadness and tragedy is also a part of this cycle and sometimes it happens to people who are not deserving of such horrible acts. For those who believe in a higher power, this becomes quite the challenge for the religious. So many questions begin to flood the individuals mind asking why and how come. The problem is, the more one thinks about it, the more consumed they can become. This is similar to what happens here.

The plot is about Mack Phillips (Sam Worthington), a loving husband and father of three children. One weekend in the summer he goes on vacation with his family, only to not pay attention during a certain moment to have his youngest daughter Missy (Amélie Eve) kidnapped. Sadly when she is found in shack, the worst of his nightmares came true. Sometime later, he receives a mysterious letter inviting him back to the shack. Wanting to take matters into his own hands, he sets off. When he arrives, he realizes he's come to meet God and thus begins his journey of self enlightenment. Based on the book written by William P. Young, the script adapted by John Fusco, Andrew Lanham and Destin Daniel Cretton makes good use of its character development on Mack. The direction was headed by Stuart Hazeldine, who had only lead Exam (2009), which was more of a thriller. For this he does a decent job.

Throughout the running time, Mack goes through many ups and downs while talking with his creator. Questions that many ordinary people would ask themselves too. Why must bad things happen to innocent people? What was the point? Why do bad people get away with good things? As time passes Mack begins to learn the answers to his questions and realizes certain things he never thought were possible. He also discovers things about himself and how that affects his wife Nan (Radha Mitchell), his son Josh (Gage Munroe) and daughter Kate (Megan Charpentier). How Mack interacts with the higher entity is also done in a unique way. Instead of just having God present himself as an all powerful being, he gets split into four different people. Octavia Spencer plays papa, the nickname Mack gave his god, Avraham Aviv Alush plays Jesus and Sumire is Sarayu. These three more or less are a reflection of Christianity's holy trinity. Then there's Alice Braga who is the personification of Wisdom and also has lesson to teach.

There's even an appearance from Graham Greene as another character portrayal of papa when Mack hits an even harder roadblock. Tim McGraw is also cast as one of Mack's closest friends. For all the actors involved, they all perform very well. For those who believe in a higher power, this film may even give insight to those who wonder themselves. The emotion looks authentic and the feeling of loss is relatable. If anything, Sam Worthington still can't seem to get rid of his English accent every now and then. He's convincing most of the time, but every so often his original accent slips out. However even with all these positives, the film still has moments that are off putting. For one, the idea that God is always happy and believes even he does no wrong. It seems almost too sure of oneself. Almost arrogant sounding and in some scenes. It just doesn't sound right.

The other problem is expected Christian movie clichés. Some are just so blatantly foreshadowed, it can be quite obnoxious. It's understandable that something's are supposed to be emotional and heartfelt, but then there are points where it begs the question why must a story always try to lead it's audience to a sense of false security. Just stop it already. Aside from this though, the music and camerawork were well executed for this production. Declan Quinn as the cinematographer to this movie had a number of captivating scenes that had beautiful scenery. Having experience in other coming of age movies like This Is My Father (1998), In America (2002) and Ricki and the Flash (2015), Quinn has an eye for getting the right shot. Areas like the shack, where Mack meets God or even being at home is visually pleasing. The music is also on the same level with Aaron Zigman composing the score. Utilizing as much piano as possible, many of the key strokes used are grounded and touching. Since this isn't really a franchise it's not expected to have a main theme really.

This movie may seem rather heavy at first, but the overall message to the story is interesting enough to at least have viewers listen. While it does have some strange moments about God in general and the usual Christian genre clichés, the main cast perform well. The characters develop nicely, the camerawork is pretty and the music is effective.

I'm not really a huge fan of most "Christian" movies. I say that as a Christian and as a pastor. But for the most part I find them formulaic to the point of boring and usually badly (even horrendously) acted. And usually the more seriously they try to take themselves the worse they end up being. So I confess that I had very low expectations of "The Shack." I watched it because my wife wanted to watch it. She had read the book (I've not bothered with it either - for no particular reason) and wanted to see the film adaptation. Well, I watched it with her and I was pleasantly surprised. All in all, I thought this was a pretty well done movie and an interesting story.

First, I thought that Sam Worthington did a great job playing Mackenzie. Abused - and watching his mother be abused - by an alcoholic father as a child, Mackenzie grew up and managed to become a pretty good dad to his three children. Then tragedy strikes. On a camping trip his youngest daughter is kidnapped and murdered (and presumably raped - this was never said but was certainly implied.) Mackenzie and his family are devastated, of course. Mackenzie becomes depressed and angry. He had had a distant faith before all this happened, but it was destroyed by the events. Then one day he receives an invitation to go to the shack where his murdered daughter was taken by the kidnapper. Not knowing what - or who - to expect there, he goes, and begins a journey of discovery and healing when he finds himself in the company of God - the Holy Trinity. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all there.

It's an interesting portrayal of God. The Father (Papa, as God is known in Mackenzie's family) was played by Octavia Spencer. Apparently this was criticized by some who couldn't stand the idea of God being black. Or a woman. Or a black woman. Whatever. The point was that this was an image of God Mackenzie would be comfortable with. And God was very comfortable - admittedly almost too comfortable at times, although in the end Mackenzie is forced to confront some painful things before his healing can start. Certainly, though, it's a very "touchy, feely" portrayal of God that some might be uncomfortable with. I thought, though, that it provided an image of a very tender God who stands with his children and never abandons them - even though they sometimes feel abandoned. And it raises a lot of the difficult theological questions that all of us grapple with. The presence and the power of evil; God's role in evil; issues of judgement and forgiveness. They're all there. I wouldn't say that it's an entirely orthodox portrayal of God by any means. And, yes, to acknowledge one of the main theological criticisms the story received from a lot of Christian circles - it does have a universalist tinge to it for those who are offended by that theological viewpoint. (I would say that I'm not a universalist - because being a universalist is itself being judgemental - but I'm open to the possibility that God might be - so that didn't really bother me.) I did like the fact that the Father in one scene switches from a black woman to an older male for scenes where Mackenzie needed a real "father figure." I enjoyed the playfulness of Jesus (Avraham Aviv Alush) and the gentleness of Sarayu (the Holy Spirit.) It was really a very warm and comforting image of God.

It's not going to be to everyone's taste - and, being an overtly Christian, faith-based movie - it's going to push a lot of people to the extreme ends of the "loved it/hated it" spectrum. I'm not sure I got as far as loving it - but I did enjoy it very much. (8/10)

I did not consider this to be a Christian movie even though it appears that way. It is more of a spiritual film that explores a theme that is relevant to the whole of humanity and that is forgiveness. This is a content based film rather than one based on procedural expertise or artistry. Its power is in its message rather than the level of technical accomplishment, script or acting and with regard to this, I found it hit the spot very well.

Many people are extremely uncomfortable with movies that are spiritually centred especially those that are not historical or reportage based. This one deals directly with questions that affect us all; those of being able to put negatively perceived, traumatic experiences behind us and really move on. Films of such potent and pointed content can be threatening even to the most intelligent viewers because intelligence has nothing to do with the heart and it is a trend in our present society to belittle the spiritual heart in favour of more 'rational' thinking. So when a movie comes along with a relatively simple message, our suspicious minds can see it as manipulative.

This is one of the reasons this film has received so many negative reviews; namely because so many people cannot handle their own inner issues and so when confronted with films like this, they become angry and direct their anger at the film, using religion as an excuse to dismiss their message: it's largely an anti-spiritual thing and ironically defies logic.

It's a pity that so many people relate spiritual films like this one to their own personal, often negative experiences with Ministers and church when even Jesus said – in this film – "I'm not exactly what you call a Christian, am I?"

This movie had a profound effect on me and I woke up the next day suddenly needing to do a life review of all the people I had to forgive. After I did it, I felt a weight I had been carrying for years had been lifted.

That's the power of a spiritual film.

I am not a regular church goer, nor did I have high expectations for this film at all, and I do not cry in films, but this movie made me ball. Most Christian films fall flat and can be subjective, but this was different. I knew people who were fans of the book and highly anticipated the film, but seeing it is not a movie, it is an experience not to be missed. The values of forgiveness and true faith are challenged and as the viewer it was overwhelming. Better than any of the Oscar nominations this year.