Add The Shack to the growing list of faith-centric mainstream movies coming out this holiday season and beyond. The Lionsgate drama based on a New York Times bestselling novel by William P. Young stars Sam Worthington as Mack Phillips, a grieving father who meets the Holy Trinity, as one does. There is also a shack involved.

The Shack also stars Octavia Spencer, Tim McGraw, Sumire Matsubara, Radha Mitchell, and Graham Greene, and is directed by Stuart Hazeldine, who has previously been better known for his screenwriting than his directing. The Shack will be his second feature film, following his directorial debut: the 2009 British psychological thriller Exam.

The trailer, which Lionsgate just dropped, includes an original song from McGraw and Faith Hill, and some beautiful, diverse shots. You’ve got winter, you’ve got summer. You’ve got an Eden-like garden, you’ve got a shack.

I’m adding The Shack to the list of upcoming movies featuring grieving fathers who form relationships with non-tangible beings played by tangible Oscar winners. So far, there are two items on this list: The Shack and upcoming Will Smith vehicle Collateral Beauty. More broadly in the category of mainstream movies interested in exploring questions of faith, we also have Martin Scorsese’s much-anticipated passion project Silence, adapted from the 1966 Shūsaku Endō’s novel about two Jesuit priests who go looking for their mentor in 17th century Japan.

The Shack, which was adapted for the screen by John Fusco (Marco Polo, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Drago: Sword of Destiny), will hit theaters on March 3.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Shack:

Based on the New York Times best-selling novel, The Shack takes us on a father’s uplifting spiritual journey. After suffering a family tragedy, Mack Phillips [Sam Worthington] spirals into a deep depression causing him to question his innermost beliefs. Facing a crisis of faith, he receives a mysterious letter urging him to an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Despite his doubts, Mack journeys to the shack and encounters an enigmatic trio of strangers led by a woman named Papa [Octavia Spencer]. Through this meeting, Mack finds important truths that will transform his understanding of his tragedy and change his life forever.

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