The Shift - Film Review

It's been a few weeks since I'd been to the theater lately, so last weekend I decided to go in blind on a film I knew virtually nothing about. I was aware that this had been out for some time, and had a vague idea of its premise, but that was essentially it. Only one other clue gave me an idea as to what to expect and that was Neal McDonough's face and name being on the poster. This was the red flag that should've warned me to stay far away this film, but I was foolish.

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Where You Can Find It: This film is in theaters as of December 2023, but it is also available on YouTube, Amazon, and other video-on-demand streaming services.

General Information 
The Shift is a religious science fiction film, which was first released on 1 December 2023. It was written and directed by Brock Heasley. Edd Lukas was the cinematographer for this film and Chris Witt provided editing, while Dan Haseltine and Matthew Nelson handled scoring. It was produced by Nook Lane Entertainment and Pinnacle Peak Pictures, and distributed under Angel Studios. The film claims to be a loose adaptation of the biblical Book of Job. As of 18 December 2023, it has accrued around $10.5 million at the box office against a budget of $6.5 million. It's worth noting The Shift employs a similar marketing approach to that of Angel Studios' other 2023 film, The Sound of Freedom, in which it asks viewers to donate additional tickets for future patrons. Critically, the film currently lacks a Metascore on Metacritic, but it has a 46% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Story
Kevin Garner (played by Kristoffer Polaha) is an average hedge fund manager struggling to keep his job and marriage together when he suddenly finds himself transported to a dystopian alternate reality run by a malevolent being known as the Benefactor (Neal McDonough). The Benefactor reveals that he has the ability to "shift" people to and from other alternate realities, and that he uses this power in the pursuit of building a multi-dimensional empire. Kevin quickly spurns the offer of a life of luxury as one of the Benefactor's agents and finds himself trapped in a world where prayer is against the law and his only hope to ever find his wife again lies in obtaining the shifting technology the Benefactor uses.

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Kevin's on a dangerous mission to get back to his timeline, but only if he feels like it

The Shift's plot struggles in a lot of areas, but its most grievous error is that it's boring. After its inciting incident, the plot meanders for a substantial amount of time with no clear sense of direction. It's clear that Kevin wants to get back to his original dimension and reunite with his wife, but he doesn't act like it. The Benefactor wants Kevin to work for him for some unknown reason, but he also makes no further attempts to convince him until much later in the story. Viewers are quickly introduced to this intriguing "shift" technology, but its barely explored and feels as though the writers gave very little consideration to how it works.

The world-building is also atrocious as it's full of self-contradictions and plot holes. For example, the dystopian reality Kevin lives in is a police state where all citizens are under surveillance and he's a wanted man, but no one ever makes an attempt to catch him despite the fact he's incredibly easy to track. The use of narrative exposition instead of organic delivery also felt extremely unnecessary and lazy. The film's conclusion serves as one last slap to the face as it ends with a literal deus ex machina.

Whether one is a religious person or not, there are good films out there that handle religious themes without being preachy. A Man for All Seasons, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Silence all offer interesting takes on faith without hammering the viewer over the head. The Shift frequently touts its Christian bona fides, but these instances always feel forced and cringeworthy. A great example is found near the beginning where Kevin dramatically begins to pray in mid-conversation with the Benefactor and everyone sort of just stands around him awkwardly while he does this. To be clear, there's nothing wrong with portraying religions or prayer in film, but like all things, it should feel organic.

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Unfortunately, memes can't do this scene justice

Special Effects/Atmosphere

I applaud Brock Heasley for attempting to craft a science fiction film on an incredibly limited budget, but his ambition frequently outpaced his capabilities. Many of the special effects show their price tag, but they're not so bad that they bring the film down. There's some clever use of the split-screen effect that works pretty well in a few scenes. The sequences involving a theater that portrays the different realities of a character was pretty neat too and gave off some serious Reminiscence vibes.

The Acting 

I like to describe Neal McDonough as "the patron saint of modern bad movies," but this doesn't necessarily mean he's a bad actor. It's more that he has the misfortune of being in several terrible films like 88 Minutes, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, and Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li.  I've never hated his performances in these atrocities, but his presence usually serves as a harbinger of poor reviews and bad ticket sales. McDonough is easily the best thing about this film, as he does a great job of expressing the Benefactor's vile nature and rage when Kevin stands against him. Unfortunately, he's missing from much of the film and even the scenes he's in can't be saved when many of his costars just don't work and the character is so poorly written.

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All hail the patron saint of modern bad movies!

Kristoffer Polaha shows early promise with his excellent chemistry with Molly Garner's Elizabeth Tabish, but this chemistry is quickly lost once Molly is side-lined. Polaha never manages to stand out despite playing the protagonist. Several scenes have him acting alone in a squalid apartment and this solitude only serves to better highlights his flaws. His line delivery felt dulled out as though his own character doesn't believe the words coming out of his mouth. In the initial meeting with the benefactor, Kevin blurts out that he's "a liar" and it reminded me a child shouting insults at a schoolyard.

The Best of the Best: Getting chased around a psych ward by an army of gun-toting Sean Astins.

The Worst of the Worst: The boring, do-nothing plot.

Calhooey Score: 3/10 - Bad

Would I Recommend?

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Sean Astin needs to throw this one back into the fiery chasm from whence it came

The Shift fails on nearly all fronts to tell an entertaining story or even hold the viewer's attention. Its lackluster plot goes nowhere, and I never cared about its characters. This is neither worth your time or money. Faith-based films can work, but this one burns a lot of the goodwill Angel Studios got from me with Sound of Freedom. Simply having a good message doesn't excuse a poor performance.

Spoiler Comments

• I actually had to check my ticket and theater number during the romance scene between Molly and Kevin because I thought I was at the wrong showing.
• Not sure why they decided to gloss over Daniel's death/disappearance in the beginning. That's a massive thing to leave out.
• Did I misunderstand, or do we just never find out what happened to Daniel? The Benefactor didn't take him since he said he couldn't bring him back and I guess none of the other Kevins live in a reality where Kevin exists since we never see him outside of the flashbacks.
• I nearly laughed out loud when Kevin started praying randomly. I know it was supposed to be brave and all, but it just looked goofy.
  
• Why did the Benefactor need Kevin? What did an everyday schlub have that he needed? I get that this is supposed to be an allegory for The Book of Job, but that story makes more sense as the Devil actually has a reason (albeit evil) for tormenting Job.
• It's all but said that the Benefactor is actually Satan. Looking back on this, I think the film would've been far better served if they just called him that. It would at least make more sense in some areas.
• Poor Tina picked the wrong day to come to work.
• I totally thought of White Snake when she climbed on top of that table to strangle Kevin.
• You can tell Kevin really wanted to get back to Molly since he decided to sit around and do nothing for five years first.
• Ever since Gollum stole his lembas bread, Sean Astin has been strapped and ready to rock.
• Imagine having Gabriel's job. That dude was spying for the Benefactor the whole time and spent five years doing manual labor and taking scripture verses from Kevin for seemingly no reason.
• The children singing "This Little Light of Mine" made me cringe so hard my back ached.
• It was nice of God to obliterate the Benefactor. Not sure why He waited so long.
• I guess Kevin's Molly will never be with her reality's Kevin. The last scene we get of her is sobbing with her friends at the mall. Oh well...
  
• Also: I guess New Molly's Kevin is running around somewhere in that universe too? What happened to him? Why doesn't he get to be with his reality's Molly?
• Must be the drug dealer one with the cool revolver.

References

(1) The Shift. (2023). The Shift cover image. IMDB. Retrieved from: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19406606/.

(2) The Shift. (n.d.). Kevin Garner standing in rain image. Geeks Under Grace. Retrieved from: https://www.geeksundergrace.com/movies/review-the-shift-2023/.

(3) The Shift Film. (n.d.). Are you praying meme image. Instagram. Retrieved from: https://www.instagram.com/theshiftfilm/.

(4) Smith, R. (2023, December 15). Neal McDonough image. Newsweek. Retrieved from: https://www.newsweek.com/sound-freedom-angel-studios-shift-hollywood-boycott-christianity-1852923.

(5) Butler, K. (2023, December 1). Sean Astin by wheelbarrow. UPI. Retrieved from: https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Movies/2023/12/01/sean-astin-shift-interview/3531701268185/.