The Shift
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBrock Heasley
Written byBrock Heasley
Produced by
  • Brock Heasley
  • Ken Carpenter
Starring
CinematographyEdd Lukas
Edited byChris Witt
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed byAngel Studios
Release dates
  • November 3, 2023 (2023-11-03) (168 Film Festival)
  • December 1, 2023 (2023-12-01) (United States)
Running time
115 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
Spanish
Budget$6.4 million[1]
Box office$12.1 million[2]

The Shift is a 2023 American Christian science fiction thriller film written and directed by Brock Heasley and starring Kristoffer Polaha, Neal McDonough, Elizabeth Tabish, Rose Reid, John Billingsley, Paras Patel, Jordan Alexandra and Sean Astin. It is a loose adaptation of the Book of Job.

The film was released in theaters on December 1, 2023. It received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

In 2008, hedge fund manager Kevin Garner is fired following the collapse of Bear Stearns. Kevin goes to a bar, where he meets a woman named Molly, who approaches him on a dare from her friends. The two hit it off and get married. Years later, Kevin and Molly are now estranged following the death of their son, Daniel. Molly has become an embittered alcoholic and Kevin is unhappy in his job, as he works for a much younger boss, Brendan. Brendan hates Kevin because his parents lost their home in the subprime mortgage crisis. After learning he will be fired, Kevin leaves work and is in a car accident. Kevin is apparently pulled from the wreck by a mysterious stranger who identifies himself only as "The Benefactor". The Benefactor tells Kevin that he has actually "shifted" him to another reality following the accident, and that they are in a parallel universe.

The Benefactor and Kevin go to a café, and Kevin sees that all the patrons inside are terrified of the Benefactor. After a tense conversation at the table, Kevin realizes that the Benefactor is actually Satan. The Benefactor offers Kevin anything he wants so long as he works as one of his "shifters", people who have sold their souls and use "shifting" to torment souls by transferring them to other realities. Kevin is skeptical and asks him to prove it, and the Benefactor "shifts" a waitress, Tina, to an alternate reality where she never existed. After realizing this action will drive Tina insane, Kevin refuses the offer and prays to God for help. Enraged, the Benefactor abruptly vanishes, leaving Kevin trapped in the dystopian alternate universe. Horrified at what he just did, Kevin apologizes to Tina's family and leaves.

Five years later, Kevin is still in the totalitarian reality, living under an assumed name because he refused the Benefactor. Kevin attempts to replicate whatever Bible passages he remembers and distributes them through his friend Gabriel, despite scripture being illegal. Kevin also shares the story of Job with his neighbor, Rajit, and his family. Kevin explains that this reality suffered from constant war until the Benefactor arrived and made a new world in his image. Because most of the planet is destroyed from war, the majority of people live in squalid, poverty-stricken cities ruled with an iron fist by the Benefactor's secret police. Kevin's only solace is going to a movie theater owned by Russo, which plays a live feed from alternate realities.

In the theater, Kevin sees several versions of Molly, one of which is a single mother working as a nurse. Kevin plans to acquire the shifting technology from a "shifter", but their identities are secret. Kevin then learns that the Benefactor is returning to the reality for the first time in five years. He acquires an illegal firearm from Gabriel and attempts to force the Benefactor to take him back to his life. However, the plan fails and, after Kevin refuses another deal, the Benefactor disappears once again. The secret police shoot Rajit, wounding him severely, and kill Gabriel. Kevin realizes that Gabriel was secretly a shifter, and takes his device, shifting himself to another reality.

Kevin shifts to multiple universes, coming across Tina, who is unhinged and in a psych ward. After he is rejected by a version of Molly, the Benefactor returns Kevin to the totalitarian universe and he shifts Tina to the theater and tells him that he can choose to return Tina to her family and never see Molly again, or he can sell his soul to him and he can be with Molly forever. Kevin denies the Benefactor's offer and gives Tina her life back, and Kevin is suddenly shifted to another reality. In this reality, Molly is the nurse and single mother he saw previously. He strikes up a conversation similar to how they first met, and the two get married once again. Kevin states that this is not his universe, but it is his home. Kevin is then shown playing with his newborn son and his adopted daughter, proving that he was given double what he lost.

Cast

Production

Principal photography began on January 30, 2023 in Birmingham, Alabama, and shot for six weeks.[4][5] The original plan was to shoot the film in Atlanta, Georgia.[6]

Release

The Shift had an early screening at the 168 Film Festival in Fayetteville, Georgia on November 3, 2023.[7] The film was originally scheduled to be released in theatres in January 2024,[3] but was moved up to December 1, 2023.[8]

Reception

Box office

The film made $4.4 million from 2,450 theatres in its opening weekend, finishing in eighth place, behind Animal.[9]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 39% of 33 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Shift's solid cast and intriguing premise are steadily squandered by its jumbled story's unsuccessful attempt to put a sci-fi spin on the Book of Job."[10] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it an 85% overall positive score, with 69% saying they would definitely recommend the film.[9]

Frank Scheck, writing from The Hollywood Reporter, argued The Shift "traffics in the same annoying multiverse complications that have made the Marvel films so laborious." He went on to say "As the storyline endlessly and confusingly shifts from one reality to another, it's all too easy to tune out until we encounter one that's interesting. Alas, that never happens."[11] The Chicago Reader's Noah Berlatsky was similarly negative, writing "Brock Heasley's The Shift is a remarkably incoherent farrago of sci-fi tropes and Christian proselytizing... [The] film slogs ahead in a manner that is both nonsensically erratic and completely predictable, with a heavy-handed voiceover inadequately trying to pull the narrative together and create some vague dramatic tension."[12] Variety's Peter Debruge wrote "For believers looking to spend their bucks on films that reflect their values, “The Shift” does a serviceable job of offering them another genre to explore... Heasley first made “The Shift” as a 21-minute short, and there’s just enough here to support a feature." However, he concluded "It all would have worked better if audiences bought the relationship between Kevin and Molly, but the two leads lack chemistry or a compelling meet-cute (the one Heasley provides is almost painful)."[13]

Faith-based reviews were more positive. Christianity Today's Rebecca Cusey called The Shift "an entertaining, thoughtful, and cinematically competent retelling of Job", but criticized that "like many faith-based films... [it has] a bit too much telling and too little showing."[14]

References

  1. ↑ Whitten, Sarah (November 30, 2023). "Sound of Freedom studio looks to build on crowdfunding success with new film The Shift". CNBC. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
  2. ↑ "The Shift (2023)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 Ortega Law, Jeannie (June 10, 2023). "Hollywood actor says playing the devil showed him how blessed by God he really is". The Christian Post. Archived from the original on July 7, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  4. ↑ Chandler, Courtney (January 31, 2023). "New movie being shot in Birmingham". WIAT. Archived from the original on July 7, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Beyond the Multiverse: The Story Behind Angel Studios' The Shift". Angel Studios. November 22, 2023. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  6. ↑ Lewallen, Ayron (March 2, 2023). "Film producer says unexpected move to Birmingham exceeded his expectations". WVTM-TV. Archived from the original on July 7, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Updated Film Event Schedule 2023". 168 Film Festival. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  8. ↑ Goldsmith, Jill (September 12, 2023). "Angel Studios Sets 'The Shift' Theatrical Release Date". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
  9. 1 2 D'Alessandro, Anthony (December 3, 2023). "Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé' $22M Opening Irreplaceable For Sleepy Early December Weekend; Fuels $95M+ Frame Best Post 2018 – Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  10. ↑ "The Shift". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  11. ↑ Scheck, Frank (November 29, 2023). "'The Shift' Review: Faith-Based Thriller Proves Hard to Believe In". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 30, 2023. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
  12. ↑ Berlatsky, Noah (November 29, 2023). "Review: The Shift". Chicago Reader. Archived from the original on November 29, 2023. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
  13. ↑ Debruge, Peter (December 1, 2023). "'The Shift' Review: Amateurish Christian Multiverse Movie Draws Loose Inspiration From the Book of Job". Variety. Archived from the original on December 13, 2023. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
  14. ↑ Cusey, Rebecca (December 5, 2023). "'Have You Considered My Servant Kevin?'". Christianity Today. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
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