Film Illiterate, wherein the proprietor records movies seen, and sporadic progress through assorted lists of the "best". Originally started after regretfully renting something forgettable for the third time. I've forgotten what, but never again! A tedious endeavour since 2005. Hello. 🙂
Take Shelter was my first movie at what turned out to be a rather apocalyptic Canberra International Film Festival.
It bears strong similarities with Jeff Nichols' previous film, Shotgun Stories, and not only because Michael Shannon returns in the lead. It's the same midwest setting, the same stoic characters, and the same sort of unsettled quiet -- like, appropriately, the quiet before the storm.
The conceit here is that Curtis (Shannon) is seeing things that aren't there: a storm is coming. He extends the family's storm shelter, at great cost, and faces increasingly dire personal consequences. He has a family history of schizophrenia and doesn't know which is worse: that the storm is real or that it isn't. Nichols' script delicately balances on this knife-edge of ambiguity.
Performances are superb and it's engaging throughout.