“A psychological drama that breaks new ground.”

REVIEW OF THE SHACK  SEPTEMBER 2017

There are only 3 basic storylines say some seasoned writing experts. That said, The Shack is no ordinary story and unfolds as an eerie drama with some resolutions for the protagonist and the viewer but also leaving a lot of unanswered questions.

As a young boy, Mack gets beaten by his alcoholic father and tries to stop him beating his mother. An allusion is made that he poisons his parents with strychnine with no remorse, but that is left open as we quickly move to the adult Mack (sensitively portrayed by Sam Worthington). He is by this time married to a beautiful wife (Radha Mitchell) and has a boy and two girls who are shown on holiday in a campsite.

Missy – the youngest daughter gets told a story about a waterfall which was created by a princess who jumped from a cliff to save the lives of her people. Not long after that Missy disappears never to be seen again after recently asking her father “Daddy we need to say our prayers to Papa” (her mother’s name for God.) Mack’s father is also shown as trying to make friends with his adult son in a subplot.

The hunt for the living Missy is futile and she is declared deceased after her red dress is found with bloodstains near it. The funeral shows a shot of the coffin for Missy being empty but there is closure. One of the people there throws his tears on the coffin.

Mack goes to The Shack to get help and meets his childhood nurse (Octavia Spencer) who counsels him and has two other people there including “Jesus” (Aviv Alush). This is when Mack gets a chance for some kind of healing for the loss of Missy. In one scene he and Jesus walk on water. The general theme though is that none of these people at The Shack seem quite “compus mentis” and I can only think this is the intention of the Director to also give the story a dreamlike quality.

Essentially the story is a sinister one, almost but not quite pertaining to child sacrifice with allusions to a Christian “cult” who are in some way not quite right in the ways they live their lives. It is also not totally improbable that Mack’s father could have committed the murder.

Praise must go to the screenwriter who made this such an unusual story. The novel of the same name was written by William P Young. The screenplay was by John Fusco. See what you think when you watch it yourself.

By Penny Nair Price