‘The Shift’ Review: Faith-Based Thriller Proves Hard to Believe In – Hollywood Reporter

You’ll know much more concerning the Satan after watching the brand new religious-themed sci-fi drama from Angel Studios. He’s keen on steak and eggs, so no worries that he’s not getting sufficient protein. He clearly has insecurity points — making an attempt to persuade somebody into following him as an alternative of God, he whines, “He doesn’t care about you, I do!” sounding like a spurned lover. And he’s positively watched too many Marvel motion pictures set within the multiverse.

The final commentary stems from the truth that The Shift, written and directed by Brock Heasley, traffics in the identical annoying multiverse issues which have made the Marvel movies so laborious. Because the storyline endlessly and confusingly shifts from one actuality to a different, it’s all too straightforward to tune out till we encounter one which’s fascinating. Alas, that by no means occurs.

Within the movie’s opening moments, we see a person emerge absolutely clothed from a lake, his voiceover narration informing us, “This isn’t my world” (you’ll really feel the identical manner quickly sufficient). He’s Kevin (Kristoffer Polaha, and if he appears acquainted it means you’re watching manner too many Hallmark motion pictures), who, because the story begins, loses his monetary firm job and is drowning his troubles at a bar. Issues choose up for him rapidly, nevertheless, when he’s approached by the stunning Molly (Elizabeth Tabish, Mary Magdalene in The Chosen), who tells him that her buddies dared her to speak to him. They should have hit it off, as a result of the scene shifts a number of years into the longer term once they’re married and have a toddler. After which simply as abruptly they’re not, because of a tragedy.

Subsequent, Kevin is concerned in a automotive crash and wakes as much as discover himself being patched up by a steely-eyed, sharply dressed man who identifies himself solely because the “Benefactor.” They’ve dinner at a café, the place the patrons and workers all appear terrified. To exhibit his powers, the Benefactor makes the waitress disappear by futzing with one thing on his wrist he calls a “deviator” (Apple will little doubt be introducing the function quickly) and tells Kevin that he’s “shifted” the girl to a different dimension. He provides Kevin one other Molly if he’ll come to work for him as a “Shifter.”

Kevin refuses the supply and seeks God’s assist. “Are you praying?” the Benefactor asks, bemusedly. “Effectively, that’s a primary.” However the prayer apparently works, since he promptly disappears.

Reduce to 5 years later, when Kevin resides in hiding in an alternate, dystopian world resembling downtown Detroit. He illicitly writes out biblical passages for his finest pal Gabriel (Sean Astin) and spends time in a former movie show, the place he takes half in “Viewing Experiences” wherein he scans via a number of universes searching for Molly doppelgängers.  

Should you’re confused, you’ll have plenty of firm since The Shift doesn’t actually put a precedence on plot coherence. All you actually need to know is that the movie is a unfastened adaptation of The E book of Job if Stan Lee had gotten his palms on it, minus the superheroes. (Effectively, there’s God, though He doesn’t also have a cameo.) Combating off the Benefactor, Kevin finds himself touchdown in several universes till he as soon as once more meets Molly, or a model of her who appears simply as perplexed as we’re.

It’s so much to soak up, and actually far an excessive amount of, making you surprise if the filmmaker’s 2017 quick movie, which impressed this function, was simpler to take. (It’s obtainable on YouTube, however I wasn’t curious sufficient to search out out.) Mockingly, The Shift works finest in its much less reverent, extra playful moments, comparable to when, in a single universe or one other, Gabriel denies even understanding Kevin.

“That is basic,” feedback the smirking Benefactor. “C’mon, deny him once more.”

And whereas Polaha delivers a suitably stalwart efficiency because the beleaguered Job-like hero, not surprisingly it’s the Satan who steals the present (he all the time does). McDonough, whose chiseled options and penetrating blue eyes have made him a Hollywood go-to villain, appears so good for the function that you just surprise why it took him so lengthy to play it. When the Benefactor appears deeply offended at being known as a liar and makes some fairly affordable factors throughout the movie’s theological debates, you begin to surprise when you’ve been rooting for the mistaken aspect.

Angel Studios, answerable for the shock mega-hits Sound of Freedom and The Chosen, as soon as once more indulges in its actually egregious gimmick of delivering a “particular message” after the credit. A sheepish-looking Polaha implores us to carry out “little acts of kindness,” comparable to buying tickets for different individuals to see the film in a theater by way of a helpful QR code plastered on the display screen. So the cash goes to not, say, determined refugees or to feed the hungry, however fairly proper into the studio’s coffers. There’s charity for you.

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