The Shack

I was amazed at how this movie made me reflect on my own life. It addresses the realness of God, the son & the holy ghost. It addresses forgiveness and makes you look at how important it is. I cried all the way thru this movie. Have tissues ready.

You have GOT to see this!!!

The Shack is a movie based on the book by author William P. Young. Young, according to an interview, wanted to write a story that expressed the gospel, specifically how God may see and want to interact with the peak of His creation (mankind), in a novel contemporary way. For my money I think that Young succeeded in doing so and though I havent read the novel it seems to me that the movie, an especially engaging account of a man caught in a nexus of personal pain, succeeds in capturing and delivering the same message about God. It is an account of salvation of a man entering into a real relationship with the trustworthy Creator of universe and discovering as he is brought into the relationship of the personality, desire, and interactivity of God who allows the man the freedom (and the consequences that go with it) of his choice to participate and to know and to interact with God; in short, to choose or reject God. People who would shy away from such an obviously Christian movie should know two things about the film: 1) the movie by way of how it presents God gives the viewer an obvious choice to believe the main character, Mackenzie, or to dismiss his accounts and (2) this is a drama that deals with painful and heartbreaking events that are not clean nor cleanly resolved; it doesnt present life, even one where the main character makes a choice to walk through it with God, as being wrapped up all nice and tidy in the end like some people think of the biblical Job story. Far from this, Macs life though it is going much better by the end of the story, is still one where he has had to live and move through incalculable pain and makes choices to continually forgive in the aftereffects of that pain. So the story parallels many peoples life experiences as they are, not in fairy tale fashion. That last bit is important because the clear-eyed view of the story and what it relates about God (certainly taken from the biblical characteristics of the trinity but expressed through a very human view--also certainly open to scrutiny and rebuke but being overly literal about this story will also being missing its many points) makes it an even more compelling case about God. It treats God seriously, as a personal entity, and offers some not often pronounced insights into His character. Many people (myself included) will be or were surprised by the presentation; some will go away offended but I might enquire why? God, in His agency, is depicted in trinitarian fashion and just as Jesus was Gods fullest represenation of God to humankind as clearly exhibited in the gospel accounts and through His own words so too does The Shack express God and His character to a mere man.

My wife and I enjoyed this interesting portrayal of the holy trinity with a nice twist at the end.

I loved the story about Mack’s loss and how God taught and showed him the power of forgiveness and the difference it will make in all of our lives. It’s a wonderful book!!

At first I thought this was going to be one of those ultra-Christian B Movies...knowing nothing about the book or the cast. But, to my delight, it certainly is not either a B movie, nor dogmatic. Yes, it contains many references to mainstream Christian theology, but it also has just as many elements that suggest a very diverse spiritual approach to understanding God. What a great story, and told with such a high purpose that it transcends the story altogether. The cast is wonderful. Sam Worthington (Pandora), Olivia Spencer (The Help, Hidden Figures), and narrator/best friend,Tim McGraw who delivers a surprisingly good performance. Papa is the storys nickname for God and is charmingly portrayed by both Spencer and later, changing disguises, more seriously by the great Graham Green. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill also co-wrote and performed one of the best movie songs Ive heard in years. The film watcher may miss some of the dialogue which delivers the straight-to-the-point theology that drive the movies messages--I turned on the English subtitles and it helped a lot. Ive yet to read the book, but it will soon grace my kindle app. Because...this story is chock full of incredibly accurate true things about the way life and love actually work to our good. Even through the blackest tragedies; maybe even because of the hardships we all encounter. There are a couple of slightly cheesy moments, that I ever so slightly cringed at during my first viewing (I watched it four times in two days), but in the end I came to love those scenes. I gave it an extra star for its very accessible treatment of the importance of trust and forgiveness in real healing. The kind that heals the world.

Loved it, have tissues with you when you watch it .

What an overwhelmingly beautiful piece or art. It made me weep in several segments. I wish the gods represented in the film were real and then I would like them and be on board with them every time. I was raised in a Baptist Church and went religiously (ha ha) up until I was in my 50s. I have also been in the world and was a rougher than a cob Air Force Officer for 22 and a half years and then a civilian contractor to the air force another 18 and a half. I am a whiskey drinker and cigar smoker. For 20 years, at night, I was a college, then University History Professor and one evening I stopped in lecture and wondered if I believed what I was telling my students or did I believe what I heard on Sunday mornings. I had always thought that it was all reconcilable and it may be meaning that 4.5 Billion years ago god or the gods said let there be light and then later said let their be evolution. If he or she or they or it is really god then they do their own thing. This movie is largely from the Christian perspective and I have always thought that it really was the greatest story ever told. I have wrestled with religion for the last 15 years and am convinced that if you are happy with what you believe then just leave it alone. Study will only generate questions that cannot be answered. The newest crazy thing are the Young Earthers who want people to believe that the world is less than 10,000 years old. Which makes sense because humans have been only been writing a record for about 10,000 years and having and having and been saving a record and evidence of cultures. I am not an atheist but I dont think anyone knows and maybe we are not supposed to know. It would be very cool to have a or many supernatural entities that care about us and look after us to some extent. In a graduate level history class Charles Shows told us a Confucius saying that works for me: He who says he knows, knows not, because if he really knew then he would understand how much that we really dont know. Good show but if you are all about Christianity and want it to be like it is in Sunday School since you were a child you may be pissed off but if you have a college education it is probably well worth your time. May the Force be with you. Chuck

I first saw this movie years after it was released on Netflix and had me crying. Im not much of a crier but the meaning of the movie is what many of us struggle with, finding and knowing God and finding Him again. We all have our losses and this movie helped me not only to heal after losing my mom but also to find God again. This is a must watch and must have.

Makes you consider things that you may have trouble wrapping your mind around.