Review of Take Shelter (2011) by Mad M — 17 Aug 2013

Jeff Nichols using cinematography as simple as the American rural lifestyle that at first defines Take Shelter, letting amazing performances and the true ambiguity of the script take centre stage. Those performances are what makes Take Shelter so incredible; Jessica Chastain shines as the housewife struggling to comprehend her husband's erratic behaviour while Michael Shannon delivers one of the best performances to be put before a camera, portraying the terror and depression and anger of main character Curtis perfectly.

Even the ancillary characters such as Curtis' workmates and the couple's mute daughter are brilliant and it is the marriage of all these excellencies, from the perfectly written script to the elegant simplicity of the direction to the stand out performances Take Shelter proves itself an incredibly important entry in modern cinema history.