The Shack (2017)

A grieving man receives a mysterious, personal invitation to meet with God at a place called "The Shack."

Director:

Stuart Hazeldine

Writers:

John Fusco (screenplay by), Andrew Lanham (screenplay by)

Stars:

Sam Worthington, Octavia Spencer, Tim McGraw

3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sam Worthington	...	Mack Phillips
Octavia Spencer	...	Papa
Tim McGraw	...	Willie
Radha Mitchell	...	Nan Phillips
Megan Charpentier	...	Kate Phillips
Gage Munroe	...	Josh Phillips
Amélie Eve	...	Missy Phillips (as Amelie Eve)
Avraham Aviv Alush	...	Jesus
Sumire	...	Sarayu
Alice Braga	...	Sophia
Graham Greene	...	Male Papa
Ryan Robbins	...	Emil Ducette
Jordyn Ashley Olson	...	Emily Ducette
Laura MacKillop	...	Amber Ducette
Emily Holmes	...	Vicki Ducette

Storyline

After the abduction and presumed death of Mackenzie Allen Phillips' youngest daughter, Missy, Mack receives a letter and suspects it is from God, asking him to return to The Shack where Missy may have been murdered. After contemplating it, he leaves his home to go to The Shack for the first time since Missy's abduction and an encounter that will change his life forever.

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Plot Keywords:

guilt | loss of daughter | family trip | holy trinity | death of daughter | 

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Taglines:

You're never as alone as you think.

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic material including some violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filming for this movie commenced on June 8, 2015 in Vancouver, Canada.

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Goofs

The entire movie, God is portrayed from a Christian point of view (Jesus, etc...). The prayers at Missy's funeral toward the end that can be heard in the background are the ones recited at Jewish funerals and have no connection to Christianity whatsoever.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Willie: Who wouldn't be skeptical when a man claims to have spent an entire weekend with God? In a shack, no less. And not just any shack. This was the shack. What I'm about to tell you is a little on the... well, it's a lot on the fantastic side. But that doesn't necessarily mean it's not true.

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Connections

Featured in A Shack of Lies (2017)

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Soundtracks

Holy, Holy, Holy
Traditional
Courtesy of John Defaria

User Reviews

Much better than your average faith based film

While on a camping trip with his 3 children, Mack (Worthington) is forced into a situation where he has to save his son. During that act his youngest daughter, Missy, is abducted and murdered. The remainder of the movie deals with how he deals with it and eventually moves on from it.

This could be the setup for any regular drama, but it IS a faith based film. The movie very much deals with God, from a purely Christian perspective, and issues of faith. While I may not personally agree with the resolutions provided by the movie, there are things worth commending about it.

The movie has much better production, writing, and most importantly, acting than any other faith based movie. The issues which are dealt with are real issues, and are treated as real human beings would. Too often faith based movies present a problem, and then just say pray and everything will be good. The Shack does actually delve into the mindset of loss, anger, and grief, and while not all may be satisfied with how it suggests handling it, at least it is handled maturely.

To quickly touch on the Christianity of the movie: There is no getting around it. Mack meets three people who are God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It's very plain. Even so, if you can ignore the who, and listen to the what the movie can be watched by a person of any faith.

I wouldn't recommend it to somebody looking for a thriller, as it's certainly not that. But for somebody who just wants to think about their faith a little, Christian or not, it provides that.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Instagram

Country:

USA Canada Hong Kong

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 March 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Shack

Filming Locations:

Stawamus Chief Park, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$16,172,119, 5 March 2017

Gross USA:

$57,386,418

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$96,942,115

Company Credits

Production Co:

Summit Entertainment, TIK Films, Netter Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1