Klein Mathney L.

Causapin

English 10 – Movie Review:The Shack

The Movie “The Shack” is filled with drama, emotions and twists, It has a great story overall and good
actors/actress that played their role in the movie very well. It may be a little confusing at the start but
will all become clear later on as you progress into the movie itself.

The movie starts with a child naming Mack Phillips that was born into a religious family. Although they
are religious, he has an abusive father that constantly hurts his mother and himself for their mistakes .
After growing up and starting a family, he then suffers from family tragedy that causes him to fell into a
deep depression questioning the challenges and trials he have faced through his lifetime. He then
recieves a mysterious letter that leads him into an abandoned shack somewhere in the wilderness. He
then encounters three enigmatic strangers led by an old woman named Papa. Through meeting them,
they taught Mack to strengthen his faith and courage in finding the truth that will transform and change
his life forever.

The setting place at the Wallowa Lake was a good place to start the mystery, as it is close to a near
woodlands that is a great place to create the mystery of disappearance. Then the Shack in the middle of
the Winter Forest with a tone of a little darkness creates more emotion to the scene as Mack discovers
her daughter’s only remains, her dress, It expresses more sorrow, confusion and anger to the mood of
the scene and fits perfectly to the clip. Papa’s House that is near beside a lake and has a garden field
during summer time displays a calm and safe environment that is sure to make Mack comfortable during
his stay there. The Garden Maze on the other hand impacts greatly to reflect Mack being lost in his own
beliefs and faith when he got stuck right at the middle of the maze that seems to no end. Lastly the
burial site of his daughter that grows as a tree in the middle of the maze dispalys Mack’s accpetance to
the tragedy and is now free from his sorrow and has let go of his anger towards his daughter’s murder.

The Actors in this movie perfomed their role exquisitely and creatively. Mack’s performance throughout
the movie was peak and was truly able to express the right emotions to different types of scenes
throughout the entire movie. His children played a big role in the story, setting his First born and
daughter as a distraction as Mack tries to rescue them not knowing his daughter was unfortunately
kidnapped right after the incident. The Enigmatic Trio contributed a big part on helping Mack
understand and accept the tragedies he have faced through his entire life. Lastly Papa, the
personification of God has a calm, understanding and patient approach to Mack knowing his current
situation and still willing to help him after rejecting and blaming her many times.
What I liked most in the story was when one of the tree Enigma was helping Mack to strengthen his
faith by sinking his boat. He then helps him calm down while Mack is in a panicked situation where he
doesn’t know what to do, then after calming himself the Enigma teaches him to walk on water and to
have more faith in his beliefs. The other scene that caught my attention was when the Enigma Girl that
collects people’s tears and is in-charge of the Garden stroll Mack through the garden and helps him
realise that he needs to accept and move on from the past tragedies he’s been through, for he is locking
himself up in his own emotions that diplays Mack getting lost in the garden not finding a way out
whatsoever. Personally, The only thing I dislike about this amazing film was how the events of the story
took place too quickly, Maybe it was way too quick for my brain to process how the different events in
the story escalated too quickly then randomly heightens the emotional feelings of the scenes.

The main lesson I learned from this movie was to Have faith in God’s plan for you, even if you may find it
truly devistating and then getting the feeling that God and the whole world is being unfair to you due to
everything you’ve been through. God will remain always by your side challeging you while at the same
time cheering you to keep on moving forward as his challenges’ purpose is for you to learn something
that will truly change you entire life forever. You may feel confused, uncertain, angry, doubting,
devestated, and even traumatized towards God’s plan for you, remember that God entrusts the hardest
challeges to only those whom he trust can handle it.

The only recommendation I could possibly suggest in this Movie is to slow down the pace on the
transitions of every emotional events that’s about to take place since my brain is slow at processing the
scenes in films. I also suggest that they create a “build-up” on the events that’s about to take place so
that the viewers can brace themselves to what’s about to happen, but nothings wrong about surprises
or sudden twists of events. Overall I love the plot and the overall movie itself.