Chicago Tribune by Katie Walsh

Though the dialogue is written with all the finesse of a self-help book, and the visuals are a garish technicolor explosion, there are some nuggets of wisdom that do resonate, regardless of personal belief.

We Got This Covered by Will Ashton

The Shack isn’t quite as bad as expectations might lead you to believe, but it’s not divine, either.

The New York Times by Neil Genzlinger

A bit more editing to remove some of the airiness would have made for a better film.

Variety by Owen Gleiberman

The strangest thing about The Shack, and the reason it’s finally a so-so movie, is that all the rage and terror and dark-side vengeance that Mack has to learn to transcend is something we’re told about, but we never actually see him mired in it.

Chicago Sun-Times by Richard Roeper

The Shack is a well-acted and sometimes moving but far too often slow-paced and unconvincing spiritual journey.

IndieWire by Kate Erbland

Spencer and Alush turn in the film’s best performances, and Spencer’s natural warmth and Alush’s deep charm keep The Shack hammering right along.

Time Out by Tomris Laffly

For a faith-based film that aims to promote spiritual healing and prescribe forgiveness, The Shack is almost unforgivably joyless and visually bland.

Los Angeles Times by Justin Chang

As directed by Stuart Hazeldine, even its jolts of surrealism feel curiously stilted; what it needed was a director whose reverence would be tempered by a healthy sense of the ludicrous, an ability to tap into and draw out the material’s stranger undercurrents.

Empire by Hayley Campbell

Good intentions, but far too earnest to appeal to anyone beyond those who believe you can fight a true crisis of the soul with a campfire and some Kumbaya.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by John Semley

For faithful and faithless alike, The Shack may seem stupid, laughable, blasphemous, poorly acted and totally banal. And yet there are probably worse things then being told it’s righteous to forgive and that love is good.