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 | |
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Laura MacKillop | ... | Amber Ducette |
Emily Holmes | ... | Vicki Ducette |
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.
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.