Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Take Shelter’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

One of the elements that I’ve always loved about the horror genre, is its ability to explore parts of our world that other stories and genres refuse to touch with a ten-foot pole, and that ability to examine our world has led to scary movies that have dissected everything from the dangers of consumerism to providing fine commentary on the state of our society and anytime I find deeper meaning like that in a horror film, I eat it up. Simply because it’s wonderful to see any film or genre challenge us and our society in unique and creative ways. 
 
However, while horror does the lead the charge when it comes to social commentary, it rarely narrows its focus on more specific matters simply because the end of the world, or a particular type of monster eventually take focus over everything else. But once in a while, you run into a horror flick that finds a way to refine its focus and dig into taboo matters that quite frankly, need to be discussed, and recently on Shudder, I discovered one such horror film that tackled a topic that few films are willing to explore in the most creative of fashion in Take Shelter.
 
Now in this film, we are introduced to a man named Curtis who has one wonderful life. He’s happily married to his wife Samantha, they have a daughter who they love and care for and Curtis has a pretty solid gig that puts a roof over his family’s head. But, something strange is happening to Curtis. He’s having horrific and vivid dreams about the end of the world, and those dreams are starting to sneak over into his daily life as disturbing visions as well and the reality and sinking feeling that these visions and dreams send his way prompt him to build a shelter to keep his family safe from this potential apocalypse, and it will take some serious work on Curtis’ part to convince his family that his decision to make this happen is grounded in some semblance of common sense and reality and is not in fact, a warning sign that his mental state is in decline…

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​So, really, the best way to dig into an examination of this motion picture, is to get right down to business and discuss the fact that this movie is bold for taking the time to examine mental illness. Because a fair chunk of this story, focuses on those all-important questions I posed in the summary; is he really having visions of the end of the world, or is he losing his damn mind? And that examination makes for a powerful character study because the audience quite frankly, doesn’t have a clue either and really you feel for Curtis in this film simply because he is lost and scared and uncertain of how to proceed and while he does seek out psychiatric help in the story, the stigma surrounding mental illness prompts him to keep that treatment at bay and that’s…downright realistic and chilling to watch on screen since we are fully aware of the fact that many others do the same so they’re not viewed at ‘nuts’.
 
If anything, this examination leads to some incredibly powerful dramatic moments, the strongest ones of course coming about in the third act of the film as Curtis is forced to face his fears when it comes to mental illness. But while it seems as though this is nothing more than a powerful drama, I made mention that this is a horror film and well, it definitely delivers on the scares by way of Curtis’ visions and dreams because those are downright frightening. They’re visceral and raw and outright savage and they rattle you as much as they rattle Curtis and really the big payoff when it comes to the horror elements in this film arrives in the finale, something I won’t spoil simply because you need to see it to believe it since it is poignant, powerful and downright chilling.
 
But without a strong cast, a deeply layered film such as this simply does not work and thankfully, the fine work of Jessica Chastain (Samantha) and Michael Shannon (Curtis) are what help this story succeed and really, the subtle and nuanced performance that Michael brings to the table deserves some serious recognition since he gives Curtis an unexpected depth when it comes to his fears and his plight. If anything, this is a film that I highly recommend simply because it’s a downright refreshing horror film, one that offers up an incredibly human element in a genre often filled with fantastical monsters and its commentary on mental illness is one that will give you pause and stay with you, long after the film has come to an end.   

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