Writer/director Brock Heasley presents The Shift - a remake of his 2017 short film of the same name and a modern sort of retelling of the story of Job, with a few surprising twists. The script is ambitious but gets lost in its indecision over what kind of tale it will be.
Kevin Garner (Kristoffer Polaha) is about to break his alcoholic abstinence after losing his stockbroker job in a crash. But a chance meeting with Molly (Elizabeth Tabish) saves him from this, and a romance is kindled. Fast forward a few years, and their relationship is suddenly crumbling because of the loss of a child. While on the way home and attempting to reason with Molly while driving, Kevin's car is violently struck by a speeding vehicle. He wakes up with The Benefactor (Neal McDonough) standing over him, promising Kevin everything he's ever wanted and more if he'll only come to work for him. Kevin refuses, setting himself on a path with only one goal - getting back to Molly and the life he lost. But it won't be easy because The Benefactor is persistent and will make Kevin twist and suffer until he gives in.
The concept is a good one, but the story is watered down by the existence of multiple timelines and a rush to get to the theme. Heasley's intent seems to be to demonstrate the infinite number of good and bad choices humans can make and the consequences of those choices. Still, setting it up this way detracts from that message. This is particularly troublesome when considering the biblical element, specifically the story of Job, because typically in traditional Christianity, there is only a single timeline we get to work with, without alternatives or do-overs. But the story is enjoyable, and with the exception of dragging a little in the middle and some insufficient development of characters, the film is entertaining and thought-provoking. McDonough is creepy, with a burning eternal anger below the surface. Individually, he is not particularly menacing, with the story appropriately relying more on others' fearful reactions to him. He pushes the narrative of being "the one who cares" but in a dark and sinister way that is all too fitting. The exception is when his fury gets the better of him. It is in these moments that he shines and commands the screen in his fierce expression of a desire for chaos. Polaha is sufficient as the Kevin Who Refused but far more interesting in the glimpses of other, less savory Kevins. The rest of the cast is barely there but solid when they are, with the best performance coming from John Billingsley in the smaller character of Russo.
The dark and hopeless world of South End, where Kevin ends up, fits the theme, with lots of dreary grays and grungy, broken everything combined with dystopian and apocalyptic themes. The disheveled clothing and behavior of the many lost souls surrounding Kevin make the despair and fear in the benefactor's multiverse hit home. The music is appropriately unnerving, barely there but just enough to add jitteriness to the audience.
The Shift is a decent movie, even though, at times, it tries too hard to be an edgy dystopian science fiction flick while at the same time a meaningful religious film. The audience may feel left behind, but the main point of the story of Job is still there. If anything, the message of having faith in the face of adversity is a shifting perspective many can respect.