Take Shelter

Take Shelter: If Field of Dreams was a horror movie.

Director Jeff Nichols garnered great attention for his 2012 film Mud, a spectacular yet quiet thriller that was a part of the Matthew McConaissance run. While McConaughey’s performance and the overall film are worth watching, I believe the attention was a little late for the director. His earlier film, Take Shelter, starring Michael Shannon is the superior piece.

Michael Shannon has proven himself in supporting roles in such films as Shape of Water, Nocturnal Animals, Revolutionary Road, and Boardwalk Empire. But it is this leading role that proves that he can carry a film, himself. Backed by Jessica Chastain, Shannon’s delivery is amazing. I know it is almost cliché to point out, but the Oscars missed him in the 2012 Leading Actor Category. It is cliché, but in a year that saw Jean Dujardin win for The Artist against fun but certainly not challenging nominees like Clooney for The Descendants and Pitt in Moneyball, it has to be said that Shannon should have been recognized. Because even if the Oscar’s final decision is flawed and arbitrary, people do pay attention. And if he had been recognized, then more people would have been aware of this film. And we may have enjoyed more prominent leading roles from him by now.

A study of anxiety.

If you watch or read the news for a month, a week, or just the right combination of days then you can easily slide into a state of anxiety, fear, or even hopelessness. It can feel like the world, society, everything is falling apart. Wars, climate change, prejudice, and politics. People who delve too deep—and we all have those Facebook friends—can get sucked in. Most people, myself included, stay away from the news to some degree. We want to be informed but we don’t want to follow every rabbit hole. Not to say that these are not real issues. They are. And they deserve our attention. But how much is good? How much anxiety is healthy? Or justified?

And how would people respond if you truly answered the call of that anxiety?

That is the question Take Shelter analyzes.

Curtis and his family live a happy, quiet life in a small Ohio farm town. Their peace is disturbed when Curtis begins to have apocalyptic visions. Storms, acid rain, faceless hordes attacking. He keeps these visions to himself but answers them by expanding his tornado shelter into a better-equipped facility. He is not sure what is coming, but he wants to be ready. The renovation costs and his odd behavior alert his wife (played by Chastain) who becomes concerned for his mental state and their family’s already tight livelihood. The visions become more surreal, violent, and specific—Curtis’s neighbors appear in his dreams. As he slips into more paranoid and aggressive states, the quiet town takes notice. They first think he is weird and then crazy and then dangerous. I was reminded of Field of Dreams. When Ray plows under his crop and his town says he is nuts. Well, imagine if Shoeless Joe told him the world was ending. Then you have the plot for Take Shelter.

But is the world really ending? Should they be listening and following his example? Or is this an inherited mental health issue that Curtis has been fearing for most of his life?

Maybe it was because this was an early lower-budget film for the director or maybe he would make it the same way today, but I loved the simplicity of the sets, cinematography, and editing. The house and community seem so ordinary. So do the characters, even the extra townspeople. This sells the normal-life-interrupted feeling.

The visions are subtle and so unsettling. There are a few storm clouds and tornadoes. But the quieter paranoia hits harder. For example, Curtis at one point has a vision of his wife, dripping wet, standing in the kitchen, and starring at a knife. You watch in great suspense. Is she going to cut herself? Attack him? Go for the kids? There is no dialogue. Just perfect silent suspense. I watched it, “knowing” something was coming, like when you brace for a jump scare. Then nothing. The dream ends. Jump cut to Curtis sitting at the breakfast table, back in real life, but lingering with his eye on his wife, cutting up food for breakfast. That kind of anxiety, brilliantly executed and expanded, is maintained for most of the film.

Michael Shannon has a reputation for loud characters. Literally loud. He can be terrifying when his villainous characters explode. But his quieter, more nuanced performance in this movie demonstrates a greater range. It is the scenes without dialogue that he fills so well. The looks of suspicion hidden in the smiles. And then! When Curtis is pushed and he finally breaks into one of the greatest tirades I’ve seen in years…it carries more weight. It has been earned. His character is not inherently angry, mean, or scary. The anger is demonstrating a fuller transformation into desperation. This scene alone could warrant my recommendation. But the entire film is a must see.