It’s an apocalypse movie, but not one centered around the
actual apocalypse or its aftermath. Rather, it looks into the events leading up
to the cataclysmic event, and that build-up of suspense makes the story that
much more riveting. Jeff Nichols’s primary cast of Michael Shannon and Jessica
Chastain have an undeniably strong chemistry in this movie. You’ll have a hard
time differentiating them from people in the real world.
That’s not to say the performances aren’t without flaws. Though
Shannon give an amazing performance, he seems too understated at times, like
he’s detached from the movie. I acknowledge that it IS his character, but when
taken slightly past a certain level, it becomes something else entirely.
Secondly, the supporting cast wasn’t nearly as strong as Shannon, though all of
the characters did mix well together.
The fact that the movie has had me giving it so much thought
after the credits (much like Inception did,
but in a way that doesn’t feel as cheap or inconclusive) owes to the masterful
direction. Throughout the movie, you see that Curtis, Shannon’s character, is
plagued with sleeplessness and terrifying dreams accompanied by audio-visual
hallucinations, all of which he attributes to his declining psychological health.
This main plotline builds up nicely, gradually worsening until Curtis decides
to build a storm shelter to protect his family against the tragedy from his
nightmares. His obsession with this project leads him to becomes the talk of
the town – and not in a good way. The way Nichols builds tension is realistic
and stunning. Accompanied by incredible visuals, this film leaves a remarkable
impact on you.
There are some other plots that at first seemed unnecessary
to me. The one in particular I want to talk about is Hannah, Curtis’s deaf
daughter. She wasn’t always deaf so she’s still in the process of learning sign
language, and throughout the movie, Curtis and his wife work to train her in
it. Watching the movie, I was thinking it was simply padding on to the run time
– which, for what the movie is, makes for a grueling two hours – but the more I
think about it, the more it seems that she was more of a symbol to sees the
world through visions – and that causes a communication barrier. She wasn’t
always deaf, and Curtis wasn’t always having nightmares. The two are one and
the same in a way. That relationship comes under stress for a powerful,
emotionally-driven scene near the end, though I won’t spoil it.
The movie does run a bit too long, and somewhere in the
middle, I looked something like this. Granted it gets dull and boring from time
to time and many scenes well expire their welcome, Take Shelter does manage to accomplish something that many movies
simply can’t. It pushes us into a cloud of uncertainty and leaves us alone to
judge for ourselves what is and is not real in the world around us. It teaches
us to trust our instincts and to keep those who we treasure the most closest to
us. Here is a movie that won’t soon be escaping us…primarily because we’ll see
it at the Oscars.
