Review of Take Shelter (2011) by Dan K — 23 Oct 2012

Such a haunting movie. The sense of foreboding is so palatable you can almost taste it. Quietly disturbing, I think this movie will stay with me the next few days. I think what spooks me so much about it is that the fear of a massive storm is archetypal to many of us; it can mean so many different things.

And the storm dreams in the movie are so quietly menacing, very impact full at a slow burn. Loved the ending. Michael Shannon was terrific, and 2011 was really the year of Jessica Chastain; her three great performances in Take Shelter, The Tree of Life, and The Help (apparently also in The Deby and the Shakespeare movie, haven't seen those yet).

Looking at her filmography, she has apparently pretty much come from nowhere to all of a sudden looking like one of the best actresses out there. Perhaps this is the best performance of hers that I've seen from 2011, I'm not totally sure.

I really liked her character, and Michael Shannon's, Perhaps not a movie I will want to rewatch much, but one that if I did would make me think about it for days after.