The Shift (2023)

I was pretty confused as to what was going on, and I wasn’t vibing with the movie very much at the start. But then, out of nowhere, one of the best cinematic scenes in history played on the screen. Kevin denied the devil, and it was absolutely insane. I was sucked in. From there, I had fun trying to decipher the metaphors and plot they had written and ended up loving the film.

4.5/5

Highbrow multiverse Sci-Fi with elements of the book of Job

The milieu is mostly of the dystopian variety with Kristoffer Polaha starring as the protagonist and Neal McDonough playing the mysterious The Benefactor. Sean Astin is also on hand in a peripheral role. While the relationship between the protagonist and his romantic interest (Elizabeth Tabish) is effectively established, the first half is bewildering with constant shifts from one reality to another. Thankfully, you start to catch a grip in the second half, and the film delivers some powerful food for thought, such as: You Are Not Your Worst Moment.

This was the writer/director’s debut feature film after releasing a few shorts from 2016-2019, one of which was also called “The Shift” and the foundation for this. The filmmaking is topnotch for an indie highlighted by quality actors who rise to the challenge.

I would compare it to “The Shack” (2017), which also tackles the touch questions of life, like how can a good God allow evil and suffering? Both films are full of meaty material on which to reflect, but this one’s more sci-fi oriented. It’s also overly convoluted, similar to “Beyond the Darkness,” aka “Heaven’s War.” The writer/director of each flick respects the intelligence of the viewer to put the pieces together, assuming they’re interested.

It runs 1h 54m and was shot in the late winter of 2023 in Birmingham, Alabama.

GRADE: B/B-