SPOILER ALERT! The plot
will be discussed.
Take Shelter (2011, with a title that fits our current
situation) deals with the mental status of its main character. In doing so, it
addresses what it’s like to be an outsider who is a frightening presence for
those in the social mainstream. The story notes that paranoia and experiencing
hallucinations can be signs of schizophrenia. But, sometimes someone who has an
odd, nonconformist view may actually be insightful enough to have a vision of
future events, similar to that of a prophet. The movie also appears to be making
a statement about the dangers of human-induced climate change. Director and
writer Jeff Nichols said that he was married and happy, but had a feeling
outside his little world bad things were happening, and he wanted to tell a
story that reflected that perception.
The first shot of the
movie, which takes place in Ohio, focuses on trees blowing, suggesting that the
wind may be bringing in a change in the weather. Curtis (Michael Shannon, in a
terrific performance) stares at the sky from his working-class house driveway,
looking concerned. From behind his head the camera pictures what he sees, which
are ominous, dark, dense clouds moving in. The image almost looks like the
scene in The Ten Commandments where Moses parts the sea, suggesting
something almost divine is occurring here also. He hears thunder rumbling, like
the sound of an approaching monster. There is lightning, and then it begins to
rain. But the drops are discolored, and he later describes them as thick and
looking like motor oil (pollution, or is the storm a reference to the
flood in the biblical Book of Genesis?).
Curtis sits down for a
routine breakfast with his wife, Samantha (Jessica Chastain), daughter Hannah
(Tova Stewart), and their dog, Red. One aspect of this family is not average,
since the daughter is deaf. Curtis uses his hands to say, “I love you,” to
Hannah. His ability to read “signs” may also take on symbolic importance.
Curtis must get to his job where he and co-worker, Dewart (Shea Whigham), run a
drilling rig in a field. Dewart is ready to end the day’s labor because clouds
are rolling in, which means a downpour will put an end to their work. Curtis
says they have to keep at their task until quitting time. But it starts to
rain, and this time Curtis didn’t heed the warning about a coming storm. The
scene is foreshadowing of what is to come.
There is a switch to
three wives talking at Samantha’s house, and one woman, Dewart’s wife, Nat
(Katy Mixon), says she went to a museum and saw the evolution “from apes to
men.” She says that she “saw the future.” We have a reference to seeing what’s
to come here. Nat says that the other woman’s baby will be like their husbands
when he grows up, “shuffling in a bar.” She then glimpses Hannah playing with a
piece of wood with a nail protruding from it, and Samantha runs out to warn
her. There seems to be danger lurking here, emphasized by the thunder in the
background. (There are many wide scenic shots to take in what is happening to
the surrounding environment in the film).
After drinking at the
local bar, an inebriated Dewart says he and Nat have been thinking about having
a threesome. Curtis just starts laughing, because it is an outrageous notion
for these guys who ride down the middle of society’s road when it comes to the
rules of behavior. Curtis says he and Samantha would never do anything like
that. Dewart says Curtis has “a good life,” and there is both respect and maybe
envy in the compliment. That is why when he disrupts his world later it is so
surprising to those who know Curtis. When he goes home, Curtis looks in on
Hannah and Samantha joins him. She says that their daughter still doesn’t play
with the other children because her outsider status makes it difficult to
“connect.” He says that it’s strange that he still takes off his boots so he
won’t wake her, and Samantha confesses that she still whispers, even though
their daughter can’t hear anything. Their words imply that Hannah was able to
hear at one time. But, these comments also show how people must fight their
complacency and adapt to alternative ways of responding to reality as it
changes.
Curtis has a nightmare
of a threatening storm approaching as he tries to clean up the pile of trash
with the dangerous piece of wood in it. A funnel cloud forms and Curtis is
frightened. Their dog growls, breaks the rope that tethers him to the doghouse,
and bites Curtis on the arm. Is the dream another warning? Later, Curtis can’t
eat his breakfast and doesn’t want Hannah playing with the dog. He snaps
angrily at Samantha when she questions his actions. After the nightmarish
vision, the seams of that “good life” begin to unravel. There is a Steven
Spielberg element here about ordinary people trying to deal with extraordinary
circumstances.
Curtis’s boss Jim
(Robert Longstreet) tells him that despite the weather, Curtis has to get the
job done at the site. His order sounds like an example of arrogant humans
trying to enforce their will onto nature. Curtis is distracted, rubbing his arm
where he dreamed the dog bit him. His out-of-the-ordinary perceptions are
distancing him from his usual everyday life. Despite the tight schedule to get
their work duties completed, Curtis makes a stop at a home improvement store to
buy supplies to confine the dog. Dewart gives him a look that shows he feels
his friend's behavior is strange. (Actor Shea Whigham stated that the character
of Curtis is like a storm himself, a “vortex,” who sucks everybody around him
into his whirlwind and changes their lives). Curtis again looks at the sky at
the work site and sees swarms of birds flying in odd patterns. When he mentions
it to Dewart, his fellow worker doesn’t know what he is talking about. Curtis
is on the path to becoming an outsider.
Curtis gets home late
from work, and his clothes are dirty and he needs a shower. But he and Samantha
have to go to a school meeting for parents of deaf children. They joke about
how badly he smells, but it is another example of how he is not fitting in even
with those people who are different because of their children’s disability.
Curtis has another
nightmare that has him driving in (what else?) a storm with Hannah. He hits
someone. Then there are footsteps on the roof of the car followed by men in
hospital gowns (mental patients?) breaking the windows and dragging him and his
daughter out. After he wakes up gasping, Samantha finds Curtis soaking wet from
his dream. The dampness reflects what happened in his nightmare, so reality and
illusion mix together.
Curtis sets up a fence
around Red’s doghouse, and puts the clueless animal inside. He checks out the
storm cellar that has not been used for a long time, which shows he is thinking
about the need to “take shelter,” both physically and mentally. Samantha wants
her husband to explain why he confined Red. He has no logical explanation to
give her which raises concern on her part and thus causes Curtis to become
alienated even from his family. While she questions his action, Curtis is
interested in a news story on the TV which reports on the deaths of some people
due to a train wreck that caused a chlorine gas leak. Here is another example
of the film inserting the theme of how negligent humans can be dangerous to the
environment and, by extension, other people. Curtis is starting to become aware
that individual disasters, or signs, may point to bigger catastrophes.
Samantha, responding the way a majority of people would react, says in an
unemotional voice about the deaths, “it’s awful.” The movie implies the horror
of so many separate events becomes too taxing to fully enlist one’s empathy, so
the individual usually develops an emotionally numbing defense mechanism to
cope.
There is another storm
outside the house. The audience at this point assumes it's a nightmare again.
Curtis approaches his daughter who is kneeling on the couch while staring at
the rain pelting the living room windows. As thunder crashes, there is a man
outside staring into the window. He looks like one of the patient specters in
his prior dream. There is a crashing sound, and then the furniture in the house
seems to be rising in slow motion into the air before slamming back down onto
the floor. The scene may remind one of what would happen if a tornado lifted
the house up before releasing it, like in The Wizard of Oz, whose story
was also supposed to be a dream. Curtis again wakes up struggling for air,
which may allude to a demon succubus sitting on his chest, impairing his
breathing. He has wet the bed, and is embarrassed, so when Samantha comes into
the bedroom he yells at her to not get near him and just go to church. She is
now upset by his “attitude” as she angrily leaves. His peculiar behavior is
isolating him. He does admit to his usually stoical self that he needs to see a
doctor since there is definitely something a bit scary going on with him.
Curtis takes a ride to
the library with Hannah while Samantha is at religious services, and checks out
books on mental health. Even though he is looking for a reasonable, although
upsetting reason for what is happening to him, Curtis also is worried about the
omens he has been experiencing. So, he goes into survivor mode (we know about
that) as he stops at the grocery store and stocks up on food and other
supplies. He is late getting back for the Sunday family dinner. The meal begins
without him with a prayer. When he does arrive home, Samantha’s father
chastises Curtis for missing the church service. It’s possible Curtis might be
having a unique religious experience of his own. He casually mentions how he
wants to fix up the old storm cellar.
Curtis begins to clean
up the shelter and stock it with canned food. He works into the night and is
losing sleep. He is of two minds here, as he prepares for a disaster but also
reads about psychological problems. He visits his family physician, Dr. Shannan
(Ken Strunk), and reluctantly tells him that he can’t sleep because of bad
dreams. He says after the one where the dog bit him he had pain in his arm all
day. He also is honest about his urinating in the bed. The doctor asks if
Curtis has seen his mother lately. It is here that we get the hint that his
mother has a mental condition, and therefore, the doctor and Curtis are
concerned about the disease being hereditary. Shannan gives him a sedative but
wants Curtis to see a psychiatrist.
Samantha gets the help
of an insurance agent (Maryanne Nagel) to find a doctor who will accept her
husband's health coverage to pay for a cochlear implant for Hannah. Samantha
later says that she has been trying to call for aid for weeks. The woman notes
that Curtis has very good insurance through his job, which will become an issue
later. Even with the coverage, Curtis has an expensive co-payment for his
medicine. The movie comments here on the plight of low-income people trying to
deal with medical costs.
Samantha is happy to
give Curtis the news about the implant. The family seems cheerful and playful
at dinner as they use Hannah’s crayons as makeup. Samantha has found a nice
place for their vacation, and the smiles continue as Curtis takes his medicine and
has a restful sleep, feeling better in the morning. But at work, Curtis asks
Dewart about how much food someone needs to last a week, so he is still fixated
on preparing for the destructive storm of his dreams. There is a loud crash of
thunder that makes Curtis cringe, while Dewart doesn’t hear anything. The sky
is clear, yet he still hears the thunderous sound, and Dewart looks at him
suspiciously. Curtis runs off and vomits, and then he drives away. He pulls his
pickup truck over because of a panic attack that makes him struggle to breathe
again. Since all of what’s happening is shown from Curtis’s point of view, the
audience starts to see what it must be like to question one’s sanity.
Given that questioning,
Curtis visits his mother, Sarah (Kathy Baker), who resides in an apartment in
an assisted living facility. Curtis wants to know what she experienced before
she was diagnosed when he was only ten years old. She had the feeling of panic
that her son is now experiencing, but she didn't have bad dreams. While talking
in a whisper, she does admit that she thought others were spying on her, which
suggests that she still feels that others are listening.
Curtis calls Dr. Shannan
for the name of a local person to see instead of the psychiatrist whose practice
is a long distance away. He is calculating costs for his shelter renovation, so
he probably doesn’t want to spend more funds on an expensive doctor. Also, he
can’t afford to miss work and would have to divulge he was seeking help for
mental problems if he had to travel far. Without telling Samantha, he takes out
a risky loan with his house as collateral to finance his project. His obsession
is becoming deceptive and reckless.
Curtis apologizes to
Dewart at the drill site for running off, but his co-worker covered for him.
They talk of mundane things like preparing food for a Lions Club supper, which
contrasts with the extraordinary plight of Curtis. He tells Dewart he could use
some help building his tornado shelter. He says he’ll work on a Saturday and
borrow a backhoe and hauler from the company. Dewart has reservations as to
whether Curtis should be using equipment that is owned by the company without
permission. Curtis’s questionable behavior is now putting his friend’s job at
risk. But, Dewart agrees to help his pal, although he asks him if he is feeling
okay since he doesn’t want Curtis’s altered behavior to ruin that working-class
“good life” he has.
Curtis sees Kendra
(LisaGay Hamilton), a local mental health counselor. He brought one of the library
books with him and says he only has a couple of the symptoms for schizophrenia,
and feels he doesn’t meet the diagnostic criteria. Based on his reading he
thinks he’s having an acute psychotic episode. He wants to put it all behind
him quickly and feels he can fix his problem with a pill. Kendra tells him she
can’t prescribe medication, but she can help him talk about his problem and
recommend where to go if he needs to see someone else. His mother was diagnosed
with paranoid schizophrenia in her thirties, and Curtis is just a little older
than his mother was when she developed the condition. So, there is a strong
likelihood that he may have inherited the disease despite Curtis’s resistance
to the idea. He says his mother just left him in a car when he was ten. She was
found eating out of a dumpster in another state. She has been in assisted
living since then and his father, who recently passed away, raised him and his
brother. Kendra wants to hear about the dreams, and supposedly that is what
they continue to talk about.
While driving home at
night, Curtis pulls over because he sees a lightning storm occurring. Cars whiz
by as Samantha sleeps in the back seat. Curtis asks what we too are wondering
when he says, “Is anybody seeing this?” His feeling of alienation increases
when Samantha comes home with Hannah and finds Curtis, Dewart and a backhoe
along with a large hole on the property. She and Dewart exchange puzzled
expressions. When Curtis tries to calm her, Samantha walks away with the
question we all are thinking, “Are you out of your mind?” Later when he
confesses that he took out a home equity loan to pay for some of the cost, she
is outraged that he didn’t consult her. She wants to understand all of this
bizarre behavior, but he knows if he tells her the reason he thinks he is
protecting them she might have him put away like his mother.
Curtis thinks that more
sedatives will help, but he takes too many. He has a seizure during the night
and bites the inside of his mouth, causing him to bleed. Samantha, scared,
calls an ambulance. After he recovers, Curtis, trying to maintain a hold on his
normal life and his sanity, tells the ambulance team that he’s fine and will
follow-up with his doctor. The drive to not be looked upon as someone who can’t
deal with individual problems is strong in the heartland of America. However,
he feels he must be honest with his wife. He finally tells Samantha about his
recent nightmares. The one that night involved Dewart looking different, with
strange eyes, and the two of them fighting. Dewart swung a pickax which went
through Curtis’s leg. He tries to explain that he has a feeling that something
terrible is coming, and he promised himself that he would not leave his family,
which is a reference to what his mother did.
Curtis seems upset when
his daughter’s ear operation isn’t for six weeks, probably because he thinks
whatever catastrophe is approaching will be sooner than that. He is distracted
at work as he watches Dewart. He asks Jim if he would reassign Dewart, because
after his most recent dream he is having the same feeling about him that he had
with Red. He continues to cover up his problem when he lies to Jim, saying it’s
difficult being a boss to such a close friend. Jim also points out that Curtis
has missed a lot of work, and Curtis again dodges the reason, saying it’s
because of Hannah’s doctor visits.
As Curtis lowers the
storage container he bought to extend the shelter, Nat tells Samantha that
Dewart told her how strange Curtis has been acting. Samantha, also not wanting
to admit any weaknesses in her home life, and trying to protect her husband
from being ostracized by the community, says they are “fine.” She just wants to
appear normal by dealing with everyday events, such as the Lions Club supper
menu.
Curtis proceeds with his
project, buying gas masks, and installing a ventilation system, a toilet, and
water and sewage lines. While he is working, his older brother, Kyle (Ray
McKinnon) comes by because Samantha wanted him to check up on Curtis. Ray mentions
their mother, maybe thinking about how her mental illness is now possibly
surfacing in Curtis. He asks Ray to take the dog because he is so afraid of
what he saw in his dream. He won’t share with Ray what has been happening to
him, distancing himself from his own brother, He does hug him and shakes his
hand, and it almost looks like he might be saying goodbye if what he has seen
comes true.
There is another storm
vision, with a silent, staring Samantha, dripping wet in the kitchen. There is
a fly buzzing (insects are never a good sign in scary movies) and she stares at
a knife. Curtis looks back at her and slowly shakes his head, trying to tell
her not to do anything violent. The next scene shows how Curtis is in a sort of
trance at breakfast and jumps in fear when Samantha touches the arm where the
dog bit him in the dream. His reaction connects his wife to Red and shows how
the nightmares are doing a Freddy Krueger job on him.
Jim shows up at Curtis’s
house and fires him for using company equipment without permission. Dewart told
Jim about the machinery after Curtis wanted his friend off his crew. Jim
suspended Dewart for two weeks with no pay. Dewart probably felt betrayed since
he was supposed to be Curtis’s friend and even helped him with his shelter.
Curtis has sacrificed his income and medical coverage, threatening his
daughter’s ear operation. When he tells Samantha he was fired, she smacks him
and walks away with Hannah. His maniacal desire to protect his family has
ironically put them in a precarious position. Curtis shows up with an
appointment with Kendra who he has been seeing, and finds out she transferred
to another job. There is a man taking her place and the new counselor wants to
start all over again despite saying he looked over Curtis’s file. Curtis just
shakes his head and walks out without saying anything. He must feel abandoned
and truly on his own now since he lost the one objective person who tried to
help him.
Curtis can’t even look
people in the face because he knows how odd his behavior has been and how he no
longer fits in with those around him. He asks his wife if she is going to leave
him. Samantha realizes he “flinched” when she touched him because she was a
threatening presence in one of his dreams. But, despite his fear, he reaches
his hand out to her to show he doesn’t want to lose her. She decides to stick
by him, saying they’ll try to move Hannah's surgery up since they have two
weeks of health insurance left. She says they won’t take their vacation, she’ll
get a job, and he’ll get a new one. She wants him to see a psychiatrist, no
matter the cost. But the film’s point here is that they have to worry about
money to take care of their health. She says, despite his feeling that he
doesn’t belong, that she wants him to go to the Lions Club supper because she
wants to feel “normal” for a change. There’s that urge to fit in, to feel
comforted by belonging to a community, even though some of the members may
judge those who present nonconformist behavior.
Samantha does not get
her wish. At the supper, Dewart confronts Curtis, asking him why he is there.
Curtis’s revealing statement is, “I’m not here,” which shows he is, to use a
variation on a Coen brothers’ title, the man who isn’t there, a ghost of his prior
self, an outcast. Dewart is angry for how Curtis removed him from his team and
starts to hit Curtis. After they fight, Curtis lets out all the bottled-up fear
and pressure inside him and explodes like a raving prophet. He sounds like an
evangelist preacher as he turns over one of the dinner tables and yells that
there is a storm coming, “like nothing you've ever seen, and not a one of you
is prepared for it.” He warns that it will end them. The fierceness of his
outburst frightens everyone there, including Hannah. Curtis cries when he sees
that he even scared his daughter. The people there now must think his
unbalanced mind is a threat to the town’s equilibrium.
Curtis has another
nightmare which has thunder in the background while those black birds appear
again and swarm in the sky and then descend and zip around him as he holds
Hannah. There are sirens blasting in the background. But the dream blends into
reality here since the warning sounds are real. Samantha wakes up Curtis and
they get Hannah and head for the storm shelter. Once inside he turns on a
lantern and locks the doors. He has gas masks (probably remembering the news
story about the chlorine gas) for him and Samantha, and an oxygen tank with a
mask that fits Hannah. They sleep on cots he acquired. Is this the danger that
Curtis anticipated?
When Curtis wakes up he
is upset that his wife and daughter don't have masks on. Samantha says the air
is fine and he has to open the doors since the storm is over. He is terrified,
and his fear is palpable as he worries that the danger still exists. He seems
paranoid and looks suspiciously at Samantha, not believing her, and imagines
that he still hears the storm. She has to continually reassure him that the
threat has ended. Unconvinced, he even asks Hannah if she feels the thunder,
which she doesn’t. Curtis wants Samantha to open the doors, as he hands her the
key with a trembling hand. But she tells him he has to do it so he “can stay”
with them. That is, he can still belong to something else, something real, and
not exist alone in his own fears. He finally opens the doors and the weather is
now fine. Repairmen are fixing an electric pole and neighbors pick up
overturned patio furniture. But that is it, and Curtis finally admits that
“it’s fine.”
Curtis, accompanied by
Samantha, seeks treatment from the psychiatrist (Jeffrey Grover) that his
family doctor recommended. He says Curtis should get away from the shelter for
a while. It is sort of a way of stopping him from returning to the womb of his
fear of what’s outside. To that end, Samantha suggests that they go on their
annual vacation to Myrtle Beach. The psychiatrist also prescribes inpatient
therapy when Curtis returns.
At the seashore, the
seagulls are flying and the calming waves are washing up on the shore. As
Samantha cooks dinner inside their rented condo, Curtis plays in the sand with
Hannah. It is interesting that they are building a sandcastle with a moat
around it. It’s possible Curtis is still thinking about the need for a safe
place in case danger approaches. Hannah gets up and stares off into the
distance. She signs that there is something out there. Curtis instinctively
picks up Hannah to protect her and stares off into the ocean. As Samantha
slowly, possibly with dread, walks out of the condo, the gathering black clouds
are reflected in the glass of the patio doors and there are multiple tornadoes approaching. Outside, the polluted rain that Curtis pictured now falls onto
Samantha’s hands. Curtis looks at his wife to confirm the terrible truth that
what is happening is real, not a manifestation of mental illness. She nods,
which vindicates her husband’s prophetic visions, but that confirmation means
an even more horrible truth is upon them. It is ironic that in an attempt to
save himself and his family from his supposedly exaggerated fears, Curtis left
the safety of his home just at the time when he needed to take shelter.
The next film is The Third Man.
