Movie review: Take Shelter.

Movie review: Take Shelter.

This is a fantastic psychological thriller centering around the effects of mental illness on a family. We were worried it would be ableist or not give the appropriate sensitivity; it does well.

Spoilers to follow. Really ridiculous ones.

While the male character (Curtis) is male, the movie passes the Bechdel test easily and early. Our protagonist is married to Sam, and they have a daughter, Hannah. Hannah is deaf; she and Sam have signed conversations. Sam also talks to Hannah's teacher, and an insurance employee trying to get Hannah a cochlear implant. All of these characters are women.

Hannah's needs are secondary to the main plot, which centers around Curtis developing signs of mental illness. He begins to hear and see things that no one else does. These are always signs of a coming super storm; oily rain, crows flying strangely, thunder and lightning. He begins to build out the storm shelter.

Curtis has dreams; in one the family dog attacks him as the storm arrives. In another, he and Hannah are attacked. In a third one, his employee attacks him. After trying to hide it from Sam, he eventually talks to his wife.

The change is instant and dramatic; his stress goes down and he starts to get slightly better. Up until this moment, we were shouting for him to tell his wife. Tell. your. wife. Come on man, talk to your wife.

After a public breakdown, the family sees a psychiatrist. Curtis will need long-term care, but they can go on a trip beforehand.

At the beach, the movie hits a surprising and glorious moment. Curtis and Hannah are on the beach, building sandcastles. She stops and locks out, signing the symbol for storm.

The storm Curtis has been seeing in his dreams is coming in. He and Hannah are suddenly inside the house, with Sam standing outside as the oily rain starts to fall on her.

The movie ends right there. Sam outside, oily rain on her as we saw it on Curtis, with a ridiculously large storm incoming.

We immediately saw four interpretations:
1. Curtis was dealing with oracular ability, not with mental illness.
2. All along, it was Sam who was dealing with mental illness. The movie had set Curtis up as the unreliable narrator, but maybe it was Sam. The whole movie gets upended.
3. Hysteria; the family has taken on his mental illness and view of the world.
4. His mental illness has grown; the last scene isn't happening.

That's what makes this movie so brilliant. The ending cuts to the quick; how do we know that we can trust our senses? From moment to moment, what keeps us aligned to the world around us? As we accept the view of the world of those around us, how does that affect us?

Brilliant. Watch it.