The Shift (2023) (dir. Brock Heasley)
The Shift begins with a gorgeous shot of a glimmering river. The hero of the story has a journey to go through (clearly inspired by a particular religious text). “This is not my world” we hear from him. This man we learn is the person we will be following for the entire film of course. The problem from that point forward is a lack of confident characterization to where there is little to no investment whatsoever. All we can hope for is that the intriguing premise can carry us through and take us somewhere interesting. Hey, I’m all for defying quantum physics to better the world. Perhaps the audience will be distracted and find some meaning from this journey.
Sadly, that’s not the case with the debut feature from Brock Heasley. Who no doubt worked hard and had noble intentions to tell this story, but casting is often key to grabbing an audience’s attention not to mention an assured sense of clarity in what’s even taking place. The whole concept is a mashup of things I find inherently engaging but we’re left with no one to care about including the relationship established. In the end, it basically leaves us wondering what's so important or even interesting about what we’ve experienced.
We are introduced to a former hedge fund employee named Kevin Garner (Kristoffer Polaha) who is unstuck not in time, but in parallel universes. Will he make his way back to the one he loves? The introduction to a villain is intriguing at first because the dynamic created certainly owes debts to not just the Book of Job but a lot of great science fiction that came before it - Inception, The Matrix, Everything Everywhere All At Once to name a few.
The villain that controls the shifting process (established through heavy-handed exposition) identifies himself as the Benefactor and tries to get our hero to make the bad and selfish choice, but Kevin is too noble for that. Couldn’t help but think of what Agent Smith says to Morpheus about staying inside a fabricated reality and the desire to break free. Lots of discussions about free will are inevitable, but here God is a literal figure who may or may not play a role. The film lost me completely when the power of prayer serves as the catalyst for conflict when Kevin simply calls out for help from Him. Honestly, I’m not familiar with Angel Studios potentially due to my own religious beliefs being vastly different from the ones embraced here. Those who do strongly believe in God might have a vastly different experience if they’re ok with hamfisted dialogue about Him, being tested, etc., - for me it was tiresome and forced.
We’re supposed to care about whether or not Kevin makes his way back to the love of his life Molly, but we are not given any insight as to the strength of their relationship outside of an early montage that feels taken from something like Upstream Color, a movie that asks a lot of similar questions about choice and identity without any of the black and white religious moralizing. Despite some moments of action (including Gabriel played by Sean Astin packing heat), the proceedings here are stuck in conversation loops, sacrificing any potential for tension or surprise. There’s just a lot of pontificating and then of course, the inevitable decision that may or may not say a lot about how the filmmakers feel about humanity.
I perhaps sound cynical reviewing a movie that has sincere, strong convictions about a higher power. Early on, I actively tried to look past it but in the end, this really is a movie that wants to cash in on those who want a heavy dose of spiritualism within their escapist entertainment. Nothing wrong with that at all - I adore something like Wings of Desire which is about coming to terms with lost faith and feeling unsure about where these angels belong.
Kevin too is lost here, not finding a lot of good in the world until he realizes he needs to reinforce positive energy and selflessness while navigating through the shifting process. If perhaps the film decided to veer into the idea of a psychotic break caused by a lack of conviction, that might’ve been an interesting direction. But it suddenly wants us to care about reconnection towards a love interest with no inner life or interesting characteristics. The film falls completely flat in the end because it’s ultimately about a white savior that saves himself. Perhaps this would work for a television pilot on the Sci-Fi channel as Kevin jumps around from universe to universe trying to put right what once went wrong but sadly, Sam Beckett from Quantum Leap has already done that.
When the film ends, something unexpected during the closing credits - clearly done with good intentions, but really comes off as preachy. I sat there wishing I wasn’t rolling my eyes but honestly, it was so maudlin and sappy, not one word felt like it was coming from a sincere place. I guess I won’t spoil it but all I’ll say is no need to get out your phones like you’re instructed to. You may be instead left potentially questioning the intent of this rather incoherent theodicean parable.
The Shift is basically an exercise in conveying Christian sentiment and ideology, incorporating the now-tired multiverse premise with tedious results. Sean Astin as Gabriel might be the bright spot here, only because we get to see a beloved actor showing up briefly but even he gets buried in poor production values and CGI replication. We do need some positive energy in science-fiction action filmmaking - not everything has to end with an apocalypse. But it feels more like God is the hero of this story, not Kevin. Sorry but I just couldn’t buy what takes place throughout. Perhaps others will.
It’s hard to feel much of anything especially when the story itself doesn’t feel cohesive and Kevin himself is so flat. The clunky messages here are constantly being beaten over the audience with the grace of a mallet to where it’s clear that subtlety was not on the agenda of all involved here. As a result, I imagine most will likely walk out frustrated and with a headache rather than feeling uplifted and entertained.
