The Shift

Rating: 7/10

Director: Brock Heasley

Writer: Brock Heasley

Style: Sci-Fi

Time: 1 hour and 55 minutes

Trailer: https://www.imdb.com/video/vi1880606489/?ref_=tt_vi_i_1

Review by Mike Szymanski

“This is not my world,” the main character of “The Shift” says over and over again. He seems like he belongs in that world, as he falls out of the sky and then walks out of a lake with full clothes on, but he insists in voiceover that: “This is not my world.”

This may not be your world either, but “The Shift” is an intriguing retelling of the Book of Job told in a unique way with satisfying redemption and a well-performing, almost-unknown cast. Look for more good coming from Brock Heasley as a director and writer, as he brings his real-life pain and passion into his very first feature film project.

A handsome, sympathetic and hapless Everyman named Kevin is played remarkably well by Kristoffer Polaha. He runs into a mysterious character nicknamed The Benefactor, and who is played by the only person you’ve probably heard of before this review — Neal McDonough, an almost Albino-like star with slivery eyes. You’ve seen him in “Yellowstone,” “Altered Carbon,””Van Helsing” as well as “Minority Reports,” “Justified” and “Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City” and much more.

This project started off as a short film that cost Heasley $500 to make, and then the rest of it was crowd-funded by Angel Studios to turn it into a feature-length film. This debut feature film is quite an accomplishment.

Heasley dealt with real-life tragedy in his teen years when his father was murdered. When he was 12 years old, his father was shot during a robbery at his pawn shop, and survived. But, then seven years later, his dad was shot again and this time he died.

On top of that, Heasley’s wife had child with complicated disabilities and Heasley was out of work for many years.

“I’ve experienced what everyone experiences — hardships not of my own making,” says the director and writer. “As you get older, you realize no one really has it better than anyone else. I’m not all that unique; we’re all enduring or have endured something tremendous. No one escapes it.”

Heasley wrote a cathartic book “The Other Side of Fear: A True Story of Murder, Forgiveness and the Peace Only Faith Can Bring.”https://www.amazon.com/Other-Side-Fear-Murder-Forgiveness/dp/1462138519

He writes: “Only good things came from the shooting: My sixth-grade popularity profile went way up, and bonus, my family go on national television.”

The movie became an eight-year journey that cost $3 million to make.

It doesn’t matter if you understand the religious parallels to parts of the Book of Job, because this message doesn’t hit you over the head too hard like some films do.

The Benefactor is a fearsome character, and people inside of a cafe where he meets with Kevin are terrified of him. He may Shift you like toss you into the cornfield, similar to the kid in the “Twilight Zone” episode starring Ron Howard. In this case, he cause you to Shift.

The sci-fi aspect of this is something the Benefactor tries to explain. He notes that there are infinite parallels dimensions in the choices we make, and that different versions of us exist in those dimensions.

Some people seem to have dismal futures. Kevin is trying to get to his fun-loving unpredictable wife Molly (who is portrayed by Elizabeth Tabish, who also played Mary Magdalen in the series “The Chosen”).

Kevin is stuck in a world that is not his for five years, looking for a way to get out. There are VICA viewing areas which is like a new form of theater entertainment where people can view their alternate lives in the different dimensions.

It’s there that Kevin finds Molly, but how to get to her is another story.

This is a world where scripture is illegal, but Kevin remembers as much as he can and he writes down what he remembers and passes them around. The words that are largely forgotten, are only whispered here in this world, but they do get passed around.

Sean Astin plays another great sidekick role, and as he has proven in the “Lord of the Rings” movies, he is the best at those roles. Here he is Gabriel, who is not sure what he believes, but he takes the scriptures from Kevin and helps distribute them.

This world that Kevin doesn’t belong in is filled with kooky characters. There’s Russo, who keeps looking for a cat, and leaving food for it, but hasn’t seen it in years. There’s a boy who disappears in a supermarket without a trace. There’s that constant cough plaguing Kevin.

The director describes his short film as something that was done for $500 which was pizza money for the people involved. He said was kind of a “My Dinner with Andre” type of movie, that turned out much better than he thought it would be, and Angel Studios wanted to turn it into a feature.

This may not be your world, as Kevin keeps insisting, but it very well may be your kind of movie.

This movie was released in theaters on Dec. 1, 2023, and will later be released on all streaming platforms.

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