Rent Take Shelter on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Jeff Nichols
Directed by: Jeff Nichols
Starring: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Shea Whigham
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm or himself.
Verdict
From the beginning this builds unease and suspense. Curtis builds a bunker to protect his family from a storm that only he perceives is coming. He alienates everyone around him and jeopardizes his life in this pursuit. It feels a lot like a modern take on Noah's ark, and this does such a great job with that. Everyone questions his sanity, and we never quite know where this will go. This storm and these visions seems like his imagination, but then there is the what if. The mood it creates is masterful. This is intense from the start, and that feeling only gets stronger.
Watch It.
Review
This was the first Jeff Nichols movie I saw, and because of it and the mood he created, I've followed all his successive movies like Midnight Special and Loving. I like the modern take on a biblical Noah story.
This sets up a family of three with Curtis (Michael Shannon) having visions of a rainstorm. Rain plays an ominous role in this movie quickly. It halts Curtis's work and stops his daughter's play date. He seems to almost have a fascination or obsession.
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| Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain play Curtis, Samantha |
This sets such a great mood with this looming weather threat about which Curtis dreams. Everything about the situation is ominous, and the music adds to the creepiness. What are these dreams? They start to affect Curtis. He dreams the dog attacks him and builds a kennel. He becomes increasingly paranoid about any disaster. He takes action in response to dreams, planning for a storm that was in his dream.
Curtis can't tell people what's going on, but he's compelled to build this storm shelter. That distances him from everyone, especially his wife. The movie has made it clear they are struggling financially, and he's slacking on the job. Others start to wonder about him as hallucinations creep into his waking life.
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| Michael Shannon plays Curtis |
This reveals a reason why Curtis is concerned about his mental health, but that also doesn't stop his actions. He's taking risks to build his storm shelter, risks that affect more than just himself. The plot details continue to reinforce that his actions could have an adverse impact on his family. He's digging a storm shelter and his grave at the same time. That culminates in Curtis admitting everything to his wife about how far the situation has gone. She's utterly shocked, but I imagine relieved in part to have some explanation.
We don't know what's going on. It seems like Curtis is losing his grip on reality. We don't know if what he sees is real, but we're wondering if it could be. So far every storm he's seen is a dream or hallucination. This movie takes such care in slowly revealing plot elements. It's well into the movie before we see the labor of his works. He's either obsessed with protecting his family or paranoid his dreams will come true. His efforts to prove to others he's not crazy only reinforce the opposite. This is a modern take on Noah's ark. Noah had visions to build a refuge. His neighbors had to think he was crazy, likely Noah wondered the same thing.
I like how this ends, but it is certainly open to interpretation. I like to believe that Curtis was validated.
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