Take Shelter (2011)

Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.

Director:

Jeff Nichols

Writer:

Jeff Nichols

Stars:

Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Shea Whigham

42 wins & 46 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Shannon	...	Curtis
Jessica Chastain	...	Samantha
Tova Stewart	...	Hannah LaForche
Shea Whigham	...	Dewart
Katy Mixon	...	Nat
Natasha Randall	...	Cammie
Ron Kennard	...	Russell
Scott Knisley	...	Lewis
Robert Longstreet	...	Jim
Heather Caldwell	...	Special Ed Teacher
Sheila Hullihen	...	Woman in Road
John Kloock	...	Man in Road
Marianna Alacchi	...	Bargain Hunter
Jacque Jovic	...	News Anchor
Bob Maines	...	Walter Jacobs

Storyline

Curtis, a father and husband, is starting to experience bad dreams and hallucinations. Assuming mental illness, he seeks medical help and counseling. However, fearing the worst, he starts building an elaborate and expensive storm shelter in their backyard. This storm shelter threatens to tear apart his family, threatens his sanity and his standing in the community, but he builds it to save his family's life.

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Plot Keywords:

schizophrenia | mental illness | ambiguous ending | psychological | storm | 

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Taglines:

Far away from the cruel world. [Scandinavian DVD.]

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michael Shannon (Curtis) and Shea Whigham (Dewart) played prominent characters on the show, Boardwalk Empire (2010).

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Goofs

(at around 1 min) When Curtis is having a seizure on one scene the pillow is next to him with a big blood stain close to the clock. In the next scene when he sits up, the pillow is behind him towards the middle. This happens twice during that sequence.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Curtis: [to daughter] No, no, no. Don't feed the dog, darling.

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Connections

Referenced in Julieta (2016)

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Soundtracks

Shelter
Written & Performed by Ben Nichols
Copyright 2010 Empty Roard Music (ASCAP)

User Reviews

Premonition or Lost of Sanity?

The family man and construction worker Curtis (Michael Shannon) is happily married with Samantha (Jessica Chastain) and they have a beloved deaf daughter, Hannah (Tova Stewart). Curtis works with his friend Dewart (Shea Whigham) in his team and his mother Sarah (Kathy Baker) has been interned in a clinic since she was thirty years old with paranoid schizophrenia.

Out of the blue, Curtis has nightmares and visions of an apocalyptic storm and he becomes obsessed to build a well equipped storm shelter for his family and him in his backyard. Curtis spends the family savings and gets a loan from the bank to prepare the shelter. His obsession affects his work and his relationship with the locals and Curtis loses his job. Does Curtis have a premonition or is he losing his sanity?

"Take Shelter" is an original drama developed in slow pace with magnificent performances. The screenplay is very well written and despite the running time of 120 minutes, the movie keeps the attention of the viewer until the very last ironic scene. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Abrigo" ("The Shelter)

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 November 2011 (Croatia)

Also Known As:

Take Shelter

Filming Locations:

Oberlin, Ohio, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$52,041, 2 October 2011

Gross USA:

$1,730,296

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,741,098

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hydraulx, REI Capital, Grove Hill Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1