The Recycled Film

Alfred Hitchcock famously coined the word “MacGuffin,” which refers to a plot element seeming to be of great importance to one or more of the characters, but that is ultimately either insignificant or symbolic. At the world premiere of Jeff Nichols’ psychological thriller TAKE SHELTER, over 1,200 people watched Michael Shannon’s character, Curtis, become obsessed with an impending storm he forsees in his nightmares, only to find that the storm is not the real threat he should be worried about.

The film’s opening is like poetry: a solitary man surveying a bleak, Ohio landscape, with dark, apocalyptic clouds forming above him. It begins to rain an orange, gasoline-like substance; thunder begins to crack; the dog begins to bark; the music swells. Suddenly, Curtis is in his bed, safe and sound. But, not in his mind.

Despite his mother being a paranoid schizophrenic, his daughter being deaf, and his bank account being almost empty, Curtis is told by his best friend and coworker that he has a good life–”the highest compliment you can give a man,” he says. Yet, as Curtis’ recurring nightmares continue, night after night, his only solace comes through preparing an advanced storm shelter in his backyard–one he believes he will need to use one day very soon.

Michael Shannon gives such an incredible performance in this film that I’m not even going to get into detail about it (SHELTER has already been picked up by Sony Pictures Classics, so you can soon find out for yourself). What I cannot simply gloss over though is the visual composition of the film, which I could compare to Kubrick’s THE SHINING. One of Curtis’ nightmares finds his wife (played by Jessica Chastain) soaking wet, standing totally motionless in her kitchen, with a knife lying nearby. In this moment, despite my own paralyzing terror, I couldn’t help but think of the twin ghost girls Danny finds at the end of the hallway in Kubrick’s masterpiece.

Nevertheless, Nichols has not set out to make a horror movie. Ultimately, this is story about a happy family torn apart by Curtis’ own inability to understand or admit to the sudden, psychological problems he suffers from. Your heart will break for Curtis, but even more so for his wife who has more than enough to worry about already. There is not a single complaint I could make about TAKE SHELTER, except my lament that audiences will avoid it for mistaking it as a horror film.

In summary: intimate, psychological thriller that will leave you shaking with such incredible acting and visual effects; one of this year’s best at the Sundance Film Festival.

Tags: Alfred hitchcock, horror, Jeff nichols, macguffin, michael shannon, ohio, psychological thriller, stanley kubrick, sundance, Sundance 2011, sundance film festival, the shining