Overview
A man's descent into obsession blurs the line between reality and nightmare as he fights to protect his family.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Slow
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- foreboding
- claustrophobic
- brooding
- rainy day
- late night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film's purposefully subtle filmmaking and Michael Shannon's powerhouse performance for transforming family drama into sustained psychological and apocalyptic dread.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Curtis's recurring storm nightmares propel his decisions and continually blur prediction with hallucination.
Curtis's fear of an end-of-the-world storm threatens his marriage, employment, finances, and community standing.
The film builds terror through Curtis's subtle behavioral changes, ominous dreams, and the looming possibility of a devastating storm.
Curtis's shelter project unfolds in a remote Ohio community where neighbors, coworkers, and friends observe his increasingly alarming behavior.
Films like Take Shelter, and why
The Machinist
Shares slow burn psychological dread, ambiguous reality, and an increasingly unreliable perception of threat.
Bug
Combines intimate family drama with paranoia, mental instability, and escalating apocalyptic unease.
The Night House
Uses restrained filmmaking, domestic tension, and possible supernatural premonitions to create pervasive dread.
Movie Details
- Director
- Jeff Nichols
- Release Date
- 2011-09-30
- Runtime
- 120 min
- Rating
- 7.1 / 10 (2084)
Cast
- Michael Shannon
- Jessica Chastain
- Shea Whigham
- Tova Stewart
- Katy Mixon
- Robert Longstreet
- Ray McKinnon
- Kathy Baker
- LisaGay Hamilton
- Jeffrey Grover
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Howdy Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Take Shelter about?
- A troubled Ohio husband risks his family, livelihood, and sanity to build a storm shelter against visions of an apocalypse that may be coming.
- What is Take Shelter like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Take Shelter as slow, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Take Shelter violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Take Shelter as mild.
- What did critics think of Take Shelter?
- Critics broadly praised the film's purposefully subtle filmmaking and Michael Shannon's powerhouse performance for transforming family drama into sustained psychological and apocalyptic dread.
- Which films are like Take Shelter?
- Films with a similar feel include The Machinist, Bug, and The Night House.
- How long is Take Shelter?
- Take Shelter runs 120 minutes.
- Where can I watch Take Shelter?
- In United States, Take Shelter streams on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Howdy Amazon Channel.
