The Shack (2017 film)

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.

Plot
Mackenzie "Mack" Phillips suffered physical and emotional abuse as a child at the hands of his drunken father. He witnessed similar abuse of his mother as well. There is the implication that as a 13-year-old boy he planned to poison his father with strychnine, although it is never made clear whether he proceeded with this or how it was resolved. A lack of any subsequent guilt ascribed to it suggests that it was not carried out. 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. The purpose of their invitation is to first help him to 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.

Cast

 * Sam Worthington as Mackenzie "Mack" Phillips
 * Carson Reaume as Young Mack
 * Octavia Spencer as Papa
 * Graham Greene as Male Papa
 * Radha Mitchell as Nan Phillips
 * Aviv Alush as Jesus
 * Sumire Matsubara as Sarayu
 * Tim McGraw as Willie
 * 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

Production
Forest Whitaker was once attached to direct and star in the film.

Filming
Principal photography on the film began on June 8, 2015, in Vancouver, Canada.

The camping scenes were filmed at Sunnyside campground in Cultus Lake, British Columbia, while the waterfall was filmed at Multnomah Falls, the Oregon site referenced in the source novel.

Soundtrack
The accompanying soundtrack for the film features contributions from popular artists primarily in the genres of country music and contemporary Christian music. It was released February 24, 2017 through Atlantic Records.

A new duet between Tim McGraw and Faith Hill was written and recorded for the film titled "Keep Your Eyes On Me" which is featured in the trailer. It was released digitally on January 27, 2017 as the soundtrack's first promotional single. This release was followed by Dan + Shay's promotional track, "When I Pray for You", on February 3, 2017. Christian rock band Skillet released an acoustic version of "Stars" from their album, Unleashed, in a music video for the film.

Box office
The Shack grossed $57.4 million in the United States and Canada and $39.6 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of $96.9 million.

In North America, The Shack opened on March 3, 2017, alongside Before I Fall and Logan, and was projected to gross around $10 million from 2,888 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $850,000 from Thursday night previews and $5.5 million on its first day. It went on to open to $16.1 million, finishing above expectations and third at the box office behind Logan and Get Out. It dropped 38% in its second weekend, grossing $10 million and finishing 4th.

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 19% based on 67 reviews, with an average rating of 3.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Shack undeniably worthy message is ill-served by a script that confuses spiritual uplift with melodramatic clichés and heavy-handed sermonizing." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 32 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave an 85% overall positive score and a 70% "definite recommend".

Peter Sobczynski of RogerEbert.com gave the film 1.5 stars out of 5, saying it is "both too innocuous and too off-putting for its own good". Adam Graham of The Detroit News said it "feels like an overly long church sermon". The A.V. Club said, "Most of its running time is taken with mollifying conversations between Mack and the movie's New Age-meets-Bible Belt oversimplifications of the Holy Trinity. It fits right into a long tradition of quasi-mystical pseudo-parables."

Kathy Schiffer with the National Catholic Register writes: "I watched The Shack not once, but twice. It was inspiring, beautifully portrayed, and thought-provoking. The love and humor and the sheer joy of the Trinity, bantering over the dinner table in the Shack, was heartwarming, and it made fresh my awareness of God's love for me." Julie Roy's response: "2 Peter 3:9, which says God doesn't wish any 'to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.' That is God's heart towards us. And The Shack masterfully reveals that heart. I think that's why so many have been profoundly impacted by the movie. And I fear that in our zeal for theological correctness, we may be trampling on something beautiful." Other critics, such as Beliefnet's Wesley Baines, felt the film was successful because it resonated with the desires of its modern audience.

Owen Glieberman from Variety sums it up: The Shack' has a real chance to connect commercially, because even though its drama is mushy, at heart it's a bit of a theme-park ride: the movie in which you get to know what it’s like to hang out with God and make friends with Jesus. In life, religion isn’t nearly so reassuring. It’s daunting, and our culture is starved for films that portray religious feeling in a way that's both reverent and truthful. 'The Shack' isn’t one of them; it reduces faith to a kind of spiritual comfort food. But thanks, in part, to movies like this one, maybe that's what faith is on its way to becoming."

Reaction of theologians and religious leaders
The film attracted the same sort of controversy for unorthodox theology that the book did. Theologian Albert Mohler said the film's depiction of God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit is "profoundly unbiblical". John Mulderig of Catholic News Service said the film was "an intriguing endeavor" but had many problematic elements. Catholic Bishop Robert Barron said about the book "There's a lot of sweet stuff – but you do have to spit out a few seeds." New Testament scholar James B. DeYoung said the film promotes universalism, which he characterized as heresy.