The Shack (2017) [Movie Review]


Dir: Stuart Hazeldine
Starring: Sam Worthington, Octavia Spencer
Dur: 2 hrs 12 mins
Genre: Christian Drama
Rating: 8/10

The Shack is based on the 2007 novel of the same name by William Young. It tells the incredible story of a man who loses his youngest daughter to a murderer while on a vacation with his kids. The murder leaves him in a dark place. He grows distant from his family and the relationship among the family members grows fragile. Suddenly he receives a cryptic letter inviting him to the shack where his daughter was murdered. After a little haggling he goes and experiences a life-changing drama. His transformation from darkness to light is the focus of the film.

The first part of the film shows what life was like for the family. It stresses the good nature and closeness of the family. They attend church faithfully and live devout lives until their faith is tested. The film draws on a number of themes like authenticity of faith, trust in God, forgiveness, letting go, love. Sam is a treat to watch. The film is well imagined and the story flows well. I was a bit thrown off by the manner in which the daughter’s disappearance was portrayed. It seemed pretty artificial to me but that isn’t the focus of the film at all. What the film really wants to stress on is the reaction to the calamity. Its quite easy to believe in God and trust in His plan if you and your family are healthy and well but it is in the moments of crisis that faith is tested.

The film brilliantly displays one man’s journey to faith and forgiveness. The film is explicitly Christian in theme and character and so people of other faith might wary of watching it but honestly it would make for a fantastic movie experience. I warmly recommend every Christian to make it a point to watch this thrilling story. I don’t think the film can leave you unaffected. The performances of the actors was superb and you can’t help but ask yourself a few questions. If you do so and attempt to seek answers to those questions than I think the purpose of this film has been achieved.  

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL0yUbSS5Eg

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Great Grand Masti 2 (2016) (Movie Review)

Image
Dir: Indra Kumar Starring: Vivek Oberoi, Riteish Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani, Urvashi Rautela Dur: 2 hrs 10 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: 1/10 Comment: The jokes, gestures and costumes are sexually suggestive. An absolute waste of time. “What an opening line”, you might think. But to say otherwise would be an absolute lie. This film is in fact, a great grand waste of time. It’s horrible whichever way you look at it. The story is weak and thrives on cheap thrills and sorry jokes. The actresses are no doubt eye-catching but the rest is all a blur. The comedy is in fact tragedy and the film attempts to play on the basest desires of man. It’s unbelievable that actors like Riteish and Vivek would do such a film. I am not a big fan of bollywood but I still feel bad when I see bollywood making films like these. All of a sudden, I see that sex is being propagated through Indian cinema. The views of sex are changing and filmmakers and actors are not hesitating to take on unconvent
Read more

The Challenge of Mercy

Image
Pope Francis has declared this as the year of mercy, and up until now plenty of reflections have been preached and published on mercy. Perhaps each of us too have made our own reflection on the theme of mercy. Since the inauguration of the year, my mind has often reverted to this theme. Every night when I make an examination of conscience, I evaluate myself: my thoughts, words and deeds vis-à-vis mercy. I realize that I am not merciful most of the time and that I resort to do what benefits me over the merciful thing. Pope Francis realized that the Church needed to revisit the theme of mercy; to reflect upon it and put it into practice. Mercy is at the heart of the Gospel. Jesus is the personified revelator of the Father’s mercy. Through his words and deeds he suffused the scent of mercy. His teachings on mercy are appreciated and continue to inspire people even today. The Church itself was founded on mercy: Christ became the expiation for our sins (1 Jn 4:10; Heb 2:17). He for
Read more

Andadhun (2018) [Movie Review]

Image
Dir: Sriram Raghavan Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Radhika Apte and Tabu Dur: 2 hrs 18 mins Genre: Black Comedy Crime Thriller Rating: 3/10 I watched this film on good recommendations. It was hailed as one of the best films of 2018. The mystery surrounding the film went well with the mystery that was actually the film itself. I learnt a hard lesson after watching this film and that is not to go by what other’s say about a film. Given Bollywood’s film making standards, I should not have been surprised. Yet, I found myself pleasantly surprised at the end product. Andadhun tells a complex tale of blindness in a world that is not blind even though it appears so. Confused? Well then, watching the film is not going to make it any better. This film is a classical example of postmodern film-making. It is replete with ample plot twists that don’t allow you to settle into its tricky narrative. Just when you think you have it all figured out, a new twist emerges and challe
Read more