The Shack (2017)
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A grieving father's journey to a mysterious shack leads him into a transformative spiritual encounter with the Holy Trinity.
The story
After his daughter is tragically lost in a forest, a grieving father named Mack receives a mysterious invitation to visit a shack in the wilderness. The note, signed 'Papa,' prompts Mack to travel to the remote location to confront his pain. Upon arriving at the shack, he finds it empty and faces a moment of despair before being led to a nearby house. There, he encounters three strangers who begin to guide him through his grief and provide a new perspective on his life and faith following the loss of his child.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Mack Phillips survived a traumatic childhood of abuse and eventually built a life with his wife Nan and three children. His world shatters when his daughter, Missy, is presumed murdered after a camping trip. Following a mysterious invitation to a shack, Mack travels to the wilderness. There, he meets three individuals who are revealed to be God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. They guide him through his grief, and he even encounters the spirit of his abusive father, who apologizes for his actions. Mack sees a vision of Missy in Heaven and finds peace. However, on his journey back, he is involved in a car accident. He awakens in a hospital where his friend tells him he never actually reached the shack, leaving it ambiguous whether his experience was a spiritual journey or a hallucination caused by the crash.
- First release year
- 2017
- Runtime (minutes)
- 132
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Stuart Hazeldine
- Writers
- John Fusco · screenplay; Andrew Lanham · screenplay; Destin Daniel Cretton · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Sam Worthington · Mackenzie "Mack" Phillips; Octavia Spencer · God (Papa); Avraham Aviv Alush · Jesus Christ; Radha Mitchell · Nan Phillips; Alice Braga · Sophia; Tim McGraw · Willie
- Genres
- fantasy; drama
- Themes
- grief; faith; forgiveness; divine intervention
- Tone and mood
- spiritual; melodramatic
- Premise and plot tags
- faith-based; spiritual journey; mystery
- Source material / true-story basis
- 2007 novel
- Reception
- The film received unfavorable reviews from critics but was more favorably received by audiences and religious critics.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 20% · scale: percentage · review count: 71; Metacritic · score: 32 · scale: 100 · review count: 18; CinemaScore · score: A · scale: A+ to F; PostTrak · score: 85% · scale: percentage
- Production trivia
- Forest Whitaker was initially attached to direct and star the film.; The film was shot in locations including Vancouver, British Columbia, and Multnomah Falls in Oregon.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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