The Shift if a faith-based sci-fi multiverse movie and that’s not a combination of words that usually go together. But this flick is indeed equal parts big idea sci-fi and Christian messaging… though, even then, it’s more about being a good person than hopping up and down about the faith bit. I just wish it was a more refined, tighter paced film.

It’s about a guy who gets shifted (multiverse hopped) by a silver-tongue devil calling himself The Benefactor (played terrifically by the “hey its that guy” actor Neal McDonough). Apparently the devil and his cohorts use sci-fi bracelets to jump ‘verses in order to sew chaos and misery.

This film is a well-produced slog. I wish it weren’t because I kind of respect their dedication to promoting the idea of just being a good person. Its mid-credits message to the audience, however, is a better ambassador for the idea… and even it’s really there just to push a “pay it forward” scheme to get more ticket sales (oops, I mean to be a good Samaritan who pays for the next person’s ticket.. whether they want it or not, I guess).

But the movie itself is just too long and ponderous to be fun, interesting, or all that uplifting. By the time it gets to its heroic moments, it had already long since lost me with its lugubrious pacing. I’d have rather been anywhere else that trapped in the movie theater watching this doldrum of a flick.

It tried real hard to not be the stereotypical faith-based film and it clearly had decent enough talent behind the scenes (if not in the edit). It’s also the least eye-rolley or objectionable faith-based film I’ve seen. Eject a few lines of dialog and it’d just be a typical low budget sci-fi thriller about a guy willing to fight the forces of darkness. Not so different from dozens of similar films…

And yet the movie is just so ponderous and monotonous. It needed a serious trim to get the runtime shorter and the moment to moment scenes edited better. It’s an interesting try but an overly long, tedious sit.

Score: 69