I love movies that come fully packed with moral lessons, messages, and warnings. They are movies that usually impact one's life positively or negatively depending on the kind of movie. So this movie, I have been anxiously waiting for it to be uploaded to my streaming site for a long time since last year when it was out. Recently, it was uploaded and the joy I felt when I saw it was priceless and unexplainable.
’The Shift (2023)’ is a Christian movie that was produced by Angel studios who were also responsible for the production of ’Sound Of Freedom (2023)’. This movie is a Christian and sci-fi film that was directed and written by Brock Heasley. It starred Neal McDonough, Kristoffer Polaha, Liz Tabish, Sean Austin, Emily Rose, John Billingsley, Nolan North, Jordan Alexandra and Paras Patel.
The storyline revolves around a man, Kevin Garner who after meeting a mysterious stranger called ’The Benefactor’ was teleported to a dystopian reality / world / universe where people are suffering under the deceitful and cruel rule of the ’The Benefactor’. Kevin struggles to get to his wife who he left behind abruptly back in his original reality / world / universe.
The story of this movie is also an allegory about people who are lost in the darkness, struggling to come out of the darkness and trying to find hope but there is none. Also, it is a reminder that to find our way from the darkness we need the Light to show us that way and who is the Light? Jesus Christ.
I won't dive into the whole plot because I want to avoid spoilers. So I will go straight and tell you how I feel about this movie.
My Review And Rating.
This movie is an unexpected gem and strongly recommend you watch if you have of course seen ’The Sound Of Freedom (2023)'.
’The Shift’ is one of those movies that is different to narrate or describe to someone. It is a movie you should go see for yourself to understand it. This movie explores sensitive themes that are centered around human nature, universe’s nature, and what we as humans brave through in life on a daily basis. It portrays the feelings of despair I have sometimes felt before during dark times in my life. It also portrays how evil and darkness is way more inviting and rules over the good things as it destroys it.
In my own opinion, this movie was produced with one sole purpose, to make its viewers think deeply about their life. A lot of viewers gave negative and harsh reviews about this movie because they saw this movie as an ordinary movie and not a movie with hidden messages for the soul.
From the rotten tomatoes of this movie, this movie was looked at and misjudged for its outlook. Some said it was a mess of a film, some said it was a gloomy mess, while some said it was senseless to them. The truth is a bitter pill to swallow down your gut. In fact, it irritates the gut. We live in a world where evil prevails over the good, where darkness spreads rampantly without barrels. So this movie simply exposes this and shows you the way or the method through which you can pull yourself out of the darkness and evil.
According to ’The Benefactor’ in the movie, he said,
”Do you know what evil really is, Kevin? When you break it down, it's not scary. It's not blood rights and red demons and horns. None of that nonsense. It's just selfishness. Self above anybody else. It's the purest motivation there is.”
If think about this quote, ’The Benefactor’ is right.
I love how the plot of this movie was excellently written. The narrative technique was amazing, the storytelling was wonderfully done. In the plot, lots of messages, questions, and morals were beautifully woven into the story. Messages like, the darkness can be inviting, do you know what is on the other side? Is faith in God important? Can we always pray our way out of difficult circumstances and challenges? Are we placing hope where we should place it or where we shouldn't? Is God worth the wait? How far can you endure?
The Cast was exceptional! Especially Neal McDonough and Kristoffer Polaha. They played the role as they should. Kristoffer was fantastic. He was able to portray the right and appropriate emotions for his character while Neal portrayed his character in a ruthless way. The supporting characters were all good. They were elusive and at the same time, they all made an impact.
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The cinematography was dark, grey which portrayed a good dystopian outlook. The camera work was excellent. The visuals were a little not far from gothic. The choice of music and soundtrack was amazing and well befitting for the movie.
This movie is the best work Angel studios have released yet. It is so much better than many of the online negative reviews. It is not your usual typical Christian movie, with all the cheesy acting and low-budget. It is a movie with a cast filled with A-list actors and professional production crew. Ignore all the bad and negative reviews and watch this movie. Give it a chance.
Rating this movie, I will give it 9 out 10 stars. I recommend you see this movie if you haven't, but first I will encourage you to watch ’The Sound of Freedom’ to have the feel of Angels studio work.
Have you seen The Shift (2023) yet?
All images above are from the movie screenshots
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