Take Shelter
Encyclopedia
Take Shelter is a 2011 American drama film
starring Michael Shannon
and Jessica Chastain
. The film is written and directed by Jeff Nichols
. Plagued by a series of apocalyptic
visions, a young husband and father (Shannon) questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.
, Curtis LaForche (Michael Shannon
) has apocalyptic dreams, but he keeps them from his wife Samantha (Jessica Chastain
) and their daughter Hannah (Tova Stewart). He focuses on building a storm shelter in his backyard, but the strange behavior strains his relationship with his family. As he builds the shelter, Curtis fears the truth of his dreams.
, and Sony Pictures Classics
acquired rights to distribute the film in North America, Latin America
, Australia, and New Zealand. The film also screened in May 2011 at the Cannes Film Festival
, where it won the 50th Critics' Week Grand Prix. It also received the Fipresci award from the International Federation of Film Critics, sharing it with Le Havre
and The Minister
. In September 2011, Take Shelter was shown at the 37th Deauville American Film Festival
, where it beat 13 other contenders to win the festival's grand prize. Later in September, Take Shelter was shown at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival.
The film had a limited release
in New York and Los Angeles on , 2011.
In early October 2011, Take Shelter was shown at the 11th annual International Film Festival at Scottsdale, Arizona
.
The film's Cleveland premiere was on October 27, 2011 at the Cleveland Cinematheque
on the campus of the Cleveland Institute of Art
.
On November 1 2011, Take Shelter was shown at the 20th annual Brisbane International Film Festival
in Brisbane, Australia.
reported that 123 of the tallied 134 reviews were positive, for a score of 92% and a certification of "fresh". 27 out of 29 of the sites that tallied reviews from "top critics" (members of major news outlets or other critics the site considers prominent) have been positive, with a consensus "Michael Shannon gives a powerhouse performance and the purposefully subtle filmmaking creates a perfect blend of drama, terror, and dread." In comparison, Metacritic
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gave the film an average score of 85 based on 33 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
starring Michael Shannon
Michael Shannon (actor)
Michael Corbett Shannon is an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Revolutionary Road...
and Jessica Chastain
Jessica Chastain
Jessica Chastain is an American film and television actress.-Early life:Jessica Chastain was born Jessica Howard in Northern California. She is one of five children. Her mother, Jerri, is a vegan chef, and her stepfather, Michael, is a firefighter. Chastain is also vegan herself. She took her...
. The film is written and directed by Jeff Nichols
Jeff Nichols
Jeff Nichols is a comedian and writer based in NYC. Nichols was born in Manhattan on the upper-east-side in 1969. Growing up, Nichols struggled with learning disabilities, a speech impediment, dyslexia, ADD, and a mild case of Tourette Syndrome...
. Plagued by a series of apocalyptic
Apocalypse
An Apocalypse is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted. The Apocalypse of John is the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament...
visions, a young husband and father (Shannon) questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.
Synopsis
In a small town in OhioOhio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, Curtis LaForche (Michael Shannon
Michael Shannon (actor)
Michael Corbett Shannon is an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Revolutionary Road...
) has apocalyptic dreams, but he keeps them from his wife Samantha (Jessica Chastain
Jessica Chastain
Jessica Chastain is an American film and television actress.-Early life:Jessica Chastain was born Jessica Howard in Northern California. She is one of five children. Her mother, Jerri, is a vegan chef, and her stepfather, Michael, is a firefighter. Chastain is also vegan herself. She took her...
) and their daughter Hannah (Tova Stewart). He focuses on building a storm shelter in his backyard, but the strange behavior strains his relationship with his family. As he builds the shelter, Curtis fears the truth of his dreams.
Cast
- Michael ShannonMichael Shannon (actor)Michael Corbett Shannon is an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Revolutionary Road...
as Curtis LaForche - Jessica ChastainJessica ChastainJessica Chastain is an American film and television actress.-Early life:Jessica Chastain was born Jessica Howard in Northern California. She is one of five children. Her mother, Jerri, is a vegan chef, and her stepfather, Michael, is a firefighter. Chastain is also vegan herself. She took her...
as Samantha LaForche - Katy MixonKaty MixonKaty Elizabeth Mixon is an American actress. She is best known for her role as April Buchanon on HBO's Eastbound & Down and Victoria Flynn on the CBS television series Mike and Molly.-Life and career:...
as Nat - Shea WhighamShea WhighamFranklin Shea Whigham, Jr. , best known as Shea Whigham, is an American actor notably starring as Elias "Eli" Thompson on the HBO dramatic series Boardwalk Empire.-Early life:...
as Dewart - Kathy BakerKathy BakerKatherine Whitton "Kathy" Baker is an American stage, film and television actress.-Career:Baker began her career at San Francisco's Magic Theatre, performing in several of Sam Shepard's plays before getting her break in an off-Broadway production of Fool for Love opposite Ed Harris...
as Sarah - Ray McKinnonRay McKinnon (actor)Ray McKinnon is an American actor, screenwriter, film director and producer. He was married to actress and producer Lisa Blount from 1998 until her death on October 25, 2010...
as Kyle - Lisa Gay HamiltonLisa Gay HamiltonLisa Gay Hamilton is an American film, television, and theater actress known for her role as attorney Rebecca Washington on the ABC legal drama The Practice, and for her critically acclaimed performance as young Sethe in Jonathan Demme's film adaptation of Toni Morrison's Beloved...
as Kendra - Tova Stewart as Hannah LaForche
- Stuart GreerStuart GreerStuart Greer is an American character actor. He began acting in college productions while a student at the University of Arkansas/Little Rock before being accepted into the Professional Workshop at Circle in the Square in New York where he studied from 1987 to 1989...
as Army/Navy Dave
Release
Take Shelter premiered in January 2011 at the Sundance Film FestivalSundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
, and Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics
Sony Pictures Classics is an art-house film division of Sony Pictures Entertainment founded in December 1991 that distributes, produces and acquires specialty films from the United States and around the world. Its co-presidents are Michael Barker and Tom Bernard...
acquired rights to distribute the film in North America, Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, Australia, and New Zealand. The film also screened in May 2011 at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
, where it won the 50th Critics' Week Grand Prix. It also received the Fipresci award from the International Federation of Film Critics, sharing it with Le Havre
Le Havre (film)
Le Havre is a 2011 comedy-drama film written and directed by Aki Kaurismäki, starring André Wilms, Kati Outinen, Jean-Pierre Darroussin and Blondin Miguel. It tells the story of a shoeshiner who tries to save an immigrant child in the French port city Le Havre. The film was produced by Kaurismäki's...
and The Minister
The Minister
The Minister is a 2011 French drama film directed by Pierre Schöller. It premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Un Certain Regard FIPRESCI Award.-Cast:* Olivier Gourmet as Bertrand Saint Jean...
. In September 2011, Take Shelter was shown at the 37th Deauville American Film Festival
Deauville American Film Festival
The Deauville American Film Festival is a yearly film festival devoted to American cinema, taking place since 1975 in Deauville, France. It was established by Lionel Chouchan and André Halimi....
, where it beat 13 other contenders to win the festival's grand prize. Later in September, Take Shelter was shown at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival.
The film had a limited release
Limited release
Limited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country ....
in New York and Los Angeles on , 2011.
In early October 2011, Take Shelter was shown at the 11th annual International Film Festival at Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2010 the population of the city was 217,385...
.
The film's Cleveland premiere was on October 27, 2011 at the Cleveland Cinematheque
Cleveland Cinematheque
The Cleveland Cinematheque is an alternative film theatre located in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1984, it is a part of the Cleveland Institute of Art. It releases a film schedule every other month.-External links:*...
on the campus of the Cleveland Institute of Art
Cleveland Institute of Art
The Cleveland Institute of Art is a private college of art and design located in University Circle, Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded in 1882 as the Western Reserve School of Design for Women. From 1891 until 1948 it was named Cleveland School of Art. During the Great Depression the school...
.
On November 1 2011, Take Shelter was shown at the 20th annual Brisbane International Film Festival
Brisbane International Film Festival
Brisbane International Film Festival held in Brisbane provides a focus for film culture in Queensland, Australia. The festival has taken place since 1992 and focuses on films from the Asia-Pacific region. The event offers films including features, documentaries, shorts, experimental, silent films...
in Brisbane, Australia.
Critical reception
Take Shelter has received critical acclaim with mostly positive reviews. Review-tallying website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 123 of the tallied 134 reviews were positive, for a score of 92% and a certification of "fresh". 27 out of 29 of the sites that tallied reviews from "top critics" (members of major news outlets or other critics the site considers prominent) have been positive, with a consensus "Michael Shannon gives a powerhouse performance and the purposefully subtle filmmaking creates a perfect blend of drama, terror, and dread." In comparison, Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gave the film an average score of 85 based on 33 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".