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Dir: Stuart Hazeldine (12A, 132 mins)
A religious drama based on the 2007 bestselling novel by William P. Young, this bloated faith exploration has Octavia Spencer stepping into Morgan Freeman’s godly shoes, giving self-help insights to Sam Worthington’s grieving father. Worthington is a Christian man whose life is upturned when his daughter is abducted and murdered. The murder scene is a scary looking shack in the woods, to which he finds himself invited after receiving a mysterious letter from ‘Papa’, his daughter’s nickname for God. Returning to the shack, he finds it transformed into a summery paradise and meets the Holy Trinity – Jesus (Avraham Aviv Alush), the Holy Spirit (Japanese actress Sumire) and God herself (smiley Octavia Spencer). What follows is a bland self-help exercise as Worthington confronts demons in his past, mixed with slush and a tiptoe through religious dogma. A film that will appeal to those with faith, but will fail to convert others with its bland hokeyness.
Opens June 9