The Shift - O Deslocamento

I had very high expectations for this film and for the most part it completely delivered. Inspired by the book of Job, I feel like it was a unique and creative modern/futuristic retelling. I thought the cast was amazing, however, there could have been a little more character development. We didn't have enough time to begin loving the main character and his relationship with his wife. I still loved it though.

I loved the setting and the darkness of the film, loved the casting, loved the quality of the film, and loved the depth of the storyline. It caused me to ponder the plot long after the movie had ended. The best thing was that it caused me to grab my Bible and look up some things from the book of Job. Well done!

I watched this for about a half hour before I got the religious overtones. Before that it felt very much like a Stephen King book made into film.

The film had a very interesting start that lagged a little when he tried to figure out his new world. The movie draws on stone other film for inspiration, The Book of Eli and the Marvel movies with their multiverse to name but two.

The ending was heartfelt and in these modern times,that is to be applauded.

Is the movie a masterpiece? No Is it worth a watch? Definitely.

There is nothing in the production that is particularly amazing. The acting, direction and cinematography are all passable.

A religious movie about a man named Kevin who is transported into another world and uses god to get out.

Honestly this movie was really not that good. I went into this movie blind, as an atheist so this is a little biased. Don't get me wrong the movie started off so interesting and had so much potential. It had a super interesting plot however, it just fell very flat. It became so focused on the religious message that the plot fell apart and just wasn't as exciting. For someone of the religion it may have been more exciting however it just fell apart.

The story itself had a lot of holes too. For instance the ending doesn't completely work, the shifting has some holes in it as well. It isn't completely explained and while they do explain a lot, it still feels confusing.

The soundtrack is also pretty bad. It is the most basic religious movie soundtrack and it really doesn't add that much to the movie.

The acting however is very good. Every character does a good job and really puts in a lot of emotion that makes the story more bareable.

In conclusion, the movie was not very good. It had such a fascinating concept that is overruled by an over religious path as well as story holes and a boring soundtrack.

6.6 stars.

I waited a bit over a year to watch this, because I really wanted to see it, but not until after the hype wore off. So I finally bit the bullet, and these are my unbiased opinions.

First of all, there was too much hype surrounding this film and I have no idea why. The story is splintered into three or four different themes and unfortunately none of them are impactful. Let me explain. The first aspect is multiverse. Ok, well, if you want to combine a multiverse with Christianity, you really need to sell it much better. Instead, they offer us a gimmick in the form of a borderline low-budget atmosphere. Now, don't get me wrong, you can tell this is not low-budget, but the script and pace make it seem that way, which is unfortunate. What we have are a crew of filmmakers who know sci-fi, but they don't have a grasp on high quality scriptwriting and flow (probably the director's fault). It's obvious that amateurs who specialize in decent sci-fi, decided to add a Christian twist, or maybe it's the other way around. The special effects were good, but for some reason the religious parts were lost in the mix. You can't have a man running around in an alternate universe accomplishing nothing for a full hour and expect us to come away satisfied, or fulfilled. His good works were not very convincing and seemed lost in the setting. We weren't getting the message.

The devil aspect is acted well and seems ominous enough, however it's cliche, cheesy at times, and doesn't make sense. Benefactor gets angry at a stubborn man, and supposedly this stubborn man isn't supposed to be so disagreeable, he's supposed to be one of the "good guys". It's a fragment that we never see the solution to.

And what's the point of the blinking back and forth between universes? You will see there is absolutely no point to it. What's gained, what's lost? What agenda does Satan have with it? It is for display only with no endgame. And the part where the main character can view different things in a movie theater (don't want to spoil it, so I'll be vague with this). There is no point to that part of the plot.

The best part is when he makes a couple of good decisions, and that's when you see a bit of good vs evil that makes sense.

The music sold the experience, but it's the only redeeming aspect of the whole film.

And to touch on the good vs evil stuff a bit more, it would be nice if life really was like that. And the sprinkling of little miracles here and there was a good addition, but it also gets lost in the utter nonsense of their attempt to allegorize the book of Job from the Bible. Honestly, I don't think it's anything like the book of Job and I'm pretty certain the writers didn't intend it to be. And also, Job from the Bible did not lose his wife.

If I had never of this film previously, I'd not hesitate to say it's a fragmented failure, B-rated at best. But I had some expectations (because Polaha is a beloved Hallmark male lead regular), so I'll say it's not a B-rated failure, but more of a religious/sci-fi fusion failure.

A weird dystopian sci-fi story with a heavy focus on its religiously inspired plot. The story has substance and with strong acting performances and a somewhat realistic 'police state' setting it makes for compelling viewing, but it also overcomplicates itself by trying to fit in too much. The heavy emphasis on religious allegory, romance, drama and action scenes are all good, but I found it to be a bit boring. Some of the subtle special effects were good whereas others looked cheap, the overly loud music drowned out the atmosphere and the ending, whilst expected, felt a bit of a cop out.

6/10.