Review of Take Shelter (2011) by Matthew S — 26 Apr 2012

Brilliant, revealing a metaphorical and personal case of a good man and wife struggling with his blurry and paranoid perception of reality. What happens when we no longer have something to fear - when life is good? Since bodies in our sterile part of the world no longer have parasites to attack, they defend against harmless pollens.

We Americans, with all the power and military might, are not comfortable unless we are dropping bombs on someone in the world, even if it's a figment of our imagination (see Iraqi WMDs and Hussein/Al Qaeda link).

When Barack Obama became President-elect, guns and ammunition sales shot through the roof in America. Fear runs rampant alongside our imaginations, and we have a lot of leisure time. Without giving the ending shot away, I'll just say that the most notable point the movie makes about our fear is that it is contagious, passed down in some degree to everyone we share it with.