Take Shelter

Play trailer

Take Shelter

R

2011

2h 4m

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

92%

Tomatometer

167 Reviews

81%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

Curtis LaForche lives in a small Ohio town with his loving wife and hearing-impaired daughter. Though money is tight, he and his family are very happy. But then, Curtis begins having terrifying dreams about an apocalypse that threatens them all. Rather than confiding in Samantha, he begins building a storm shelter in the backyard, and his strange behavior causes tension in their marriage and the surrounding community.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

Michael Shannon gives a powerhouse performance and the purposefully subtle filmmaking creates a perfect blend of drama, terror, and dread.

Read Critics Reviews

Geoff Andrew

Sight & Sound

08/29/2017

What makes Nichols' film so satisfying, at least until the melodrama of the final act, is the deftness of the characterisations and the constant sense that things are probably considerably more complex than they're perceived.

Go to Full Review

David Thomson

The New Republic

06/20/2013

In my estimate, this unique and frequently arresting film suffers from the monotony of the lead players' affect, and from the film's urge to have its gloomy cake and eat it.

Go to Full Review

Justin Chang

Variety

01/04/2012

A hallucinatory thriller anchored by a deeply resonant sense of unease.

Go to Full Review

Ray Pride

Newcity

07/04/2024

10/10

Taut masterpiece of prescient dread... Day clouds are pretty and plain, puffs of white, expanse of common blue. Nichols finds telling details everywhere in the countryside, in mood akin to Eggleston but far from Shore.

Go to Full Review

Michael Leader

Den of Geek

05/08/2024

4/5

Whether it achieves such standing or not, Take Shelter succeeds in something quite impressive.

Go to Full Review

Patrick Cavanaugh

The Wolfman Cometh

09/24/2023

4/5

A captivating experience, thanks in large part to Michael Shannon's powerful performance, with the payoff only elevating the journey into something even more satisfying.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Lorenz L

@Lorenz1060 Apr 2

That rarest of rarities: a horror film for intelligent adults.

See more

Katie S

@KatieS19 Mar 22

Beautiful film and great acting. Could have been edited down to 90 mins, but I was still intrigued even when slow and the ending was fantastic. I’m not one to normally say this, but I feel like they could have gone even more artsy with some of the shots, especially since the whole movie was shot on film! Worth a watch!

See more

Gloid L.

@gloidbreal Mar 12

Wow! What a movie! It is an intense and trippy watching experience! Michael Shannon is an underrated actor. Definitely worth the watch!

See more

Melissa L

@Agent99 Mar 11

It was intense. It was sad and distressing at times. It was a good movie. The ending was up in the air, I felt, since there was no clear way to delineate between dreams and reality.

See more

Ricardo G.

@rickgo Jan 4

Interesting but a bit slow

See more

Christopher K.

@gtrod47 Dec 24

Suspenseful, interesting

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Jeff Nichols

Director

Michael Shannon

Curtis LaForche

Jessica Chastain

Samantha LaForche

Shea Whigham

Dewart

Katy Mixon

Nat

Ray McKinnon

Kyle

Straw Dogs

42%

34%

Straw Dogs

Watchlist

The Cry of the Owl

11%

20%

The Cry of the Owl

Watchlist

Martha Marcy May Marlene

90%

71%

Martha Marcy May Marlene

Watchlist

Side Effects

82%

70%

Side Effects

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Side Effects

Stone

49%

21%

Stone

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

Curtis LaForche lives in a small Ohio town with his loving wife and hearing-impaired daughter. Though money is tight, he and his family are very happy. But then, Curtis begins having terrifying dreams about an apocalypse that threatens them all. Rather than confiding in Samantha, he begins building a storm shelter in the backyard, and his strange behavior causes tension in their marriage and the surrounding community.

Director: Jeff Nichols
Producer: Tyler Davidson, Sophia Lin
Screenwriter: Jeff Nichols
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co: Strange Matter Films
Rating: R (Some Language)
Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 30, 2011, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 25, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.7M
Runtime: 2h 4m