The Shack is a 2017 Christian film directed by Stuart Hazeldine with Destin Daniel Cretton as one of the producers and writers. The film is based on a book of the same name and stars Sam Worthington, Octavia Spencer, Graham Greene (Actor), Radha Mitchell, Aviv Alush, Alice Braga, Sumire Matsubara and Tim McGraw. The plot centers around a man named Mackenzie, whose already distant relationship with God becomes further strained when an unspeakable tragedy strikes his family, so the Almighty himself invites him to the titular shack for a face-to-face meeting.
Tropes:
- Abusive Parents: Mackenzie's abusive father is the reason he has difficulty viewing God the Father as a benevolent figure. The fact that his father was a church elder makes the situation worse.
- Adaptational Karma: In the book version, the killer gets sentenced for the murder. But in the movie, he gets away with everything.
- All Just a Dream: At the end of the movie, Mackenzie wakes up in the same shack where Missy had been killed.
- Bittersweet Ending: Mackenzie has found his belief in God, he forgives his father and the killer for what they have done, and the family has their happy ending. However, Missy is dead and the killer is a Karma Houdini who receives no justice for what he did to her.
- Death of a Child: Mackenzie has his little girl kidnapped and killed by a Serial Killer. In the book he known as "The Little Lady Killer".
- Divine Race Lift: "Sarayu" is Asian. "Papa" is usually a black woman, but also takes the form of a Native American man.
- Driven to Suicide: As soon as Mackenzie reaches the cabin, he is almost about to shoot himself in grief until he is grabbed by "Papa" and taken in.
- A Form You Are Comfortable With: "Papa" explicitly takes the form of a woman because S/He knows that Mackenzie can't relate well to a father at the moment.
- Freudian Excuse: The reason behind Mackenzie's disbelief in God is because of his abusive father.
- He Who Must Not Be Seen: The killer. He is called The Little Lady Killer in the book and barely has any screentime.
- Karma Houdini: The serial killer who murdered Missy gets away with the murders with no consequences for his actions. Averted in the book when it's revealed that they were able to find him and arrest him.
- Also, Mackenzie gets away with poisoning his father at the age of 13. He was also never arrested or discovered for it either.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Mackenzie and his wife outlive their daughter when she's kidnapped and murdered.
- Pet the Dog: Mackenzie's father got one of these by apologizing to him on Mackenzie's third day in Heaven.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Mac's abusive father got away with his crimes for so long because he exploited his position as a church elder.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Mackenzie poisoned his father at 13 years old due to his abusive behavior.
- Would Hurt a Child: The killer who killed Mackenzie's daughter.
