We all know the love shack is a little old place where we can get together. But what about the creep shack in the woods? According to novelist William P Young, it’s a little old place where our protagonist Mack Phillips (Sam Worthington) loses his youngest daughter, suffers an emotional breakdown, tends a weirdly beautiful garden and has some pretty intense conversations with a woman called God.

No sign of glitter anywhere, this trailer starts off quite dark. We meet Missy, a cute little girl whose name alone was asking for trouble. (Maybe call your next kid ‘Stay-y’ or something?) A tragic loss for any family, we witness her father spiral as he attempts to mourn for Missy. This leads him to an understandable crisis of faith.

Like so many films before it, The Shack attempts to personify The Holy Trinity in an attempt to make the whole thing a little less conceptual. You’ll be forgiven if you immediately assume Morgan Freeman is about to make an entrance, his soothing tones assuring Phillips that his daughter has gone to a better place. Instead with see Octavia Spencer take the lead, blowing the patriarchy’s mind! Her soothing tones seem to do the job just as well and, a few miracles and metaphorical gardens later, we watch a man come to terms with loss and some of his own personal demons.

The book has already been talked about globally, both praising it for its illustration of faith and coping with loss as well as criticising it for its alternative take on traditional Christian views. With the producer of Life of Pi behind it as well, you know the intense imagery from the book will come to life on screen.

Hurry up and bring your jukeboxoffice money!
The Shack is out in cinemas early next year.