The Shift

 

                                So, one of my usual Friday's becomes a sort of peer pressure or well to all fairness it's mostly a request of my parents to go to a movie with them and The Shift was on my mom's radar mainly because it contains Christian actors in the movie but more importantly it's fronted by Angel Studio's the same Studios who brought you Sound of Freedom and the GOAT of all Christian shows The Chosen. And sure, I'll admit I didn't feel like wanting to go to a movie mainly out of sense of not wanting to watch a movie I didn't even expect was going to be what it was, and so like most people would do I looked up the trailer and started to look intrigued. And so, I decided to go and man I never really expected it to be what it was.

                                After a tense encounter with a mysterious stranger who has otherworldly powers, a man gets banished to a parallel Earth where he fights to get back to the woman he loves.          

                                Having seen people give negative reviews about this surprising hit, moreover, feel like they don't understand what the whole point of the movie is supposed to be I'm officially going to tell you what really the basis behind the Shift is. The Shift is literally a retelling of the Book of Job, and to all of those who don't know the Book of Job here is an overview to all of those who are not Christian or never heard of the story. The Devil made a wager with God calling him out that he protects Job because of his devotion, and so God agrees to take his protection away from Job to prove that he won't curse God so, through the course of the story Job's life becomes a living nightmare and the Devil attempts to persuade Job into cursing God but he still refused. And that's basically what the Shift is only in a science fiction story with Christian elements that go along with it, and I myself discovered what the really this film was truly about although it did take a little while to figure it out but once a scene where our protagonist was telling the story of Job, then it became clear that writer and director Brock Healsley made this surprise hit as a combination of both Sci-Fi and book Job for which even I was having a light bulb moment going off in my head which deep down it's pure genius on Healsley's part but more importantly, finally cracked the code in terms of how to tell that story of Job for many reasons logically when it comes to making a movie it seems a little on the impossible side of how you can tell that story to an audience of this generation but all praise to Brock Healsley because of all filmmakers out there this guy did a fantastic job in not just cracking the code of Job but telling a story that's both beautiful and suspenseful at the same time. A lot of the cast in the movie deserves some huge praise especially Elizabeth Tabish (whose Mary in The Chosen) who does such a great job being the hope and center of the protagonist’s journey and the same with the star of the movie Kristoffer Polaha, but the real star of the whole movie aka the scene stealer belongs to Neal McDonough who’s infamous for playing bad guys like Justified and Yellowstone. Moreover, McDonough does such a great job playing a character that's a clear representation of the Devil and through the course of the movie he makes you feel like how much power he has over Polaha's character which is terrifying to watch on screen. The other thing I found surprising in Neal McDonough is the guy is a real devout Catholic, for which blew me away for obvious reasons I just never expect to see a lot of recognizable actors or actresses devoting themselves to Christianity, but more importantly the main reasons why he chooses to play the antagonist is because of his faith it's not god to kiss other women especially when you're married, which in all fairness that's a great reason why because you should never quit you're day job, but this is just me when I say this, wouldn't it be more convenient to also be a director as well, that way you don't have to act all the time and more importantly make movies that you want to make? Which again is just me talking so whatever he does is his business not me. So far this year Angel Studio's has been a big surprise studio company when it comes to releasing some of these sleeper hits like Sound of Freedom for example as well as the Shift. And if I had to pick, I have to go with the Shift because it's one of those films that I never expected any writer/director to tie Book of Job into a science fiction movie and judging with the limited budget they had with making the film I have to say they did a fantastic job in making what they had work. As for the Shift alone, I have to give thanks to my Mom and Dad for taking me to this great film but also recommend this for everyone to see, and hopefully it's still out in theaters so I take your kids out or your loved ones out to the movies and see this great surprise of a film.