Nuggets of wisdom resonate in ‘The Shack’

If Octavia Spencer is God, then Lord, take me to church. A folksy Spencer serving up homemade baked goods is the vision of the divine in “The Shack,” Stuart Hazeldine’s nondenominational, magical realist, faith-based drama, an adaptation of the bestselling novel by William P. Young. But it’s a dark and windy road to get to that beatific image, delving into the personal history of “Mack” Phillips (Sam Worthington), a wayward soul who’s been dealt a few bad cards in life, and needs a restorative stay in order get right with himself.

Adapted by John Fusco, Andrew Lanham and Destin Cretton, the story is nested inside a flashback narrated by Tim McGraw’s character, a pastor named Willie, and takes a leisurely non-linear path to get to where it’s going. Mack had a rough childhood marred by domestic violence, forging his understanding of God as wrathful, punishing and judgmental. That worldview is only further exacerbated by the abduction of his youngest daughter, Missy (Amelie Eve), snatched from under his nose during a family camping trip.

Plunged into depression, Mack receives a mysterious invitation in the mail: a note from “Papa” (his wife’s name for God) asking him to a weekend getaway at the shack where his daughter was likely killed. Seeking revenge, or at least some answers, he heads to the woods. There he’s greeted not by a child killer, but by a trio of groovy spiritual teachers in a tropical wooded paradise: God, aka Papa (Spencer); Jesus (Avraham Aviv Alush); and The Holy Spirit Sarayu (Sumire). Is this heaven or this is Burning Man?

It’s easy to have some flippant fun with the premise, and it’s needed, since the framing story is profoundly dark and depressing, rendered in the style of a soap opera or TV movie, heavy on the voiceover, the flashbacks, the haunting memories. But once he’s at the God Spa, despite all the hokey walking on water, caves of Wisdom, and magical gardens, the things that Papa, Jesus and Sarayu have to say are pretty profound.

LIONSGATE/TNS JAKE GILES NETTER/ Avraham Aviv Alush portrays Jesus and Sam Worthington plays Mack Phillips in “The Shack.”