Take Shelter is a film of rare power and beauty and one that I really wish I had experienced on the big screen. Like the work of Terrence Malick this Jeff Nichols’ sophomore effort is not easy to convey in text as the film is about the feelings that it evokes and it demands to be experienced first hand. Few films have made me quite so tense and sweaty palmed as this. From the opening few minutes there is an almost suffocating air of foreboding that runs throughout the picture only to be punctuated by moments of quite beautiful serenity. I apologise if that sounds a little hokey, as I said earlier it isn’t easy to articulate the emotions you…

Take Shelter is an incredible, powerful film from Jeff Nichols, the man behind my current #3 film of 2013, Mud. I have had this on top of my "What the hell is taking so long, I need to watch these films" list, but for whatever reason I just kept putting it off. I was certain I would enjoy this film, but I wasn't expecting it to be superior to Mud, a film I adore that I wrote up a 5 star review for on this site back when I first saw it. Take Shelter is absolutely the stronger work though. My lord what a film.

Michael Shannon has to be one of the greatest actors working today, and his portrayal…

"There's a storm coming like nothing you've ever seen, and not a one of you is prepared for it."

There was a time not too long ago when I would not have been able to finish a movie like this. I had my first panic attack in 2010, and every day since has been a struggle to feel comfortable in my own skin. You can even see when I failed to watch Punch-Drunk Love just over two years ago, shortly after I joined Letterboxd. Take Shelter has a similar psychological intensity that cracks open Michael Shannon's skull and spills out a pool of his deepest and darkest fears that slowly seeps into the celluloid the way you might expect from…

There are many films that explore psychological conditions like schizophrenia, and the effect they have on families, but not very many that I can think of where the characters are not exactly certain that is what's going on, and that's the wonderful originality of Take Shelter.

Curtis LaForche is a construction worker living in Ohio with his wife Samantha, deaf daughter Hannah, and of course his dog. Everything about his blue-collar life is the picture of normalcy until he begins having visions of devastation that grow increasingly paralyzing, sinister, and apocalyptic. Oily, black rain, birds flying together in strange shapes, and the family dog attacking his daughter lead him to begin believing that something bad is coming, and that he…

There aren't many things more rewarding than expectations met. This film lived up to its expectations and then some.

This film transfixed me for its entire running time. From the first roll of thunder to the last. It is a testament to great film making when a film manages to captivate its audience to such a degree that time doesn't seem to have the same quality it had before you started watching. Take Shelter does that, it is simply impossible to not be pulled into the head of its unfortunate and compelling hero.

Jeff Nichols' film is visually stunning. He has the ability to create truly mesmerizing images it is simply impossible to take your eyes off. Be it a…

You think I'm crazy? Well, listen up, there's a storm coming like nothing you've ever seen, and not a one of you is prepared for it.
-Curtis

I love Michael Shannon on Boardwalk Empire, but when he gives a performance like the one in Take Shelter you have to wonder why is he on television and not concentrating solely on film roles. The entire cast is great here, especially Jessica Chastain, but Shannon steals the show with one of the best performances of his career so far.

The film starts off with a sense of coming dread and builds on that every single minute up to the end. It almost becomes unbearable. Even in scenes where you're tipped off in…

A loving family man begins to have frightening dreams and visions that depicts a powerful storm that drives people crazy. Desperately wanting to protect his family he builds a storm shelter in his backyard. However he soon begins to wonder if it is the storm his family needs protecting from or from himself.

Everything that I have seen from Jeff Nichols is top notch. He does a tremendous job of illustrating the intense internal struggle without over burdening the story with needless dialogue. No moment is wasted and it is paired with a powerful musical score that makes it impossible not to get sucked into the story...a full viewing experience. Shannon, Chastain, and Whigham each play pivotal roles in a…

3.0/5.0 = Good

Wow, that was intense. I first discovered Jeff Nichols when I watched MUD a few years ago. I absolutely adored that film. MIDNIGHT SPECIAL did nothing for me, comparatively. But TAKE SHELTER is a riveting low budget piece. I love the way Nichols is fascinated by mythology and religion, and his companionship with Michael Shannon breeds great performances. His understanding of rural America is also on point. TAKE SHELTER finds so much empathy in mental illness and gives America's culture of doomsday prepping, and gear hoarding an actual voice. Never does Nichols' film feel exploitative of its characters. We never view their illness as a plague, or identify them as weirdos. Instead, we embrace their differences, and…

I only recently realized what an insanely good actor Michael Shannon is. This is the part where you click on my link and say “who the hell is Michael Shannon?” He was nominated for a Supporting Actor Oscar in 2009 for Revolutionary Road, but has been receiving and winning a lot of awards for his new film, Taking Shelter. I first noticed him in Bad Lieutenant and My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done - both absolutely insane back-to-back Werner Herzog films of 2009. Take Shelter is insane, but in a completely different way.

There’s something consistently unsettling about Taking Shelter. It’s about a man who has become unhinged. Shannon portrays Curtis LaForche who continues to have paralysing nightmarish…