Religious drama doesn’t live up to its own ideals
THE NOVEL The Shack was a surprising literary phenomenon. After author William Paul Young self-published the book in 2007, it sold more than 20 million copies, to a predominantly Christian audience.
The film adaptation captures the meat of Young’s text. As a film, it works best as a thought experiment, because its promise of big answers to big questions is so appealing. But whether taken as an emotional experience or an intellectual exercise, The Shack falters under its own inconsistency.
Sam Worthingon plays Mack, a husband and father of three who has taken his kids camping when disaster strikes. Shortly after rescuing his two eldest children from an accident, Mack discovers that his youngest, Missy (Amélie Eve), has disappeared. The police embark on a wide search. When they find her blood in a ramshackle hut, they assume she has been killed.
Months pass at which point he receives a mysterious note inviting him back to the shack. Because the note arrives during a blizzard – with no apparent tracks in the snow – Mack entertains the notion that the note was written by God. He heads back to the shack.
What Mack finds is startling: The harsh winter has given way to a warm, more welcoming climate. There is a gorgeous lake house, with three guests (played by Octavia Spencer, Avraham Aviv Alush and Sumire Matsubara). They explain they are the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Mack spends the weekend with them, and The Shack functions as a series of episodic, moving lessons about the nature of God. Mack learns how to forgive and accept God’s love.
One of the big questions The Shack tackles is “Why do bad things happen to good people?” But there’s no satisfying answer. Hazeldine and his screenwriters take a stab at explanations, with Mack’s spiritual growth presented as a metric of our own satisfaction.
The Shack never explores what makes Mack deserving of God’s audience.
Still, the film’s conclusion gives short shrift to how difficult grief can be. – Washington Post