Take Shelter - Ein Sturm zieht auf

The best of the American indie scene of the last few years. I love it when as a viewer I don't know what I'm in for, and when the director plays with me like a cat with a mouse. That's exactly what this film does. It's extremely atmospheric, full of paranoia and growing fear, where at the beginning you don't know if the main character or his surroundings are crazy, but thanks to your logical reasoning you gradually lean towards the more "sensible" option, only to come to a conclusion that's like a punch in the face. And Michael Shannon deserves an Oscar. (27.01.2013)

I didn’t know anything about this film beforehand (other than an outline of the premise and the good reviews), and I would recommend you the same, so stop reading, now :). Very unique take of the sub-genre of “the protagonist is (maybe) crazy”. Michael Shannon is married to Jessica Chastain (by the way, great performances by both) and has a deaf-mute daughter, he also has apocalyptic visions about a super storm that doesn’t bring anything good. Jeff Nichols (director and screenwriter) chose an interesting approach, leaving the main character to doubt himself. But crazy people usually don’t think they are crazy, which raises a fairly legitimate fear in the viewer that something is really going happen in the end. But don’t expect a catastrophe movie, Take Shelter is mostly an oppressive conversational drama spiced up with an almost horror scene here and there. In the final fifteen minutes I felt a (un)pleasant chill several times, largely due to the excellent soundtrack. The very last scene can debated at length (how much to take it literally or what it symbolises), which also deserves praise. Very satisfied, but this is not something for everyone. 9/10 (28.01.2012)

Das hat mich gepackt. Ein Spiel mit einem Zuschauer am Grate der Panik, Paranoia, eines Herankriechens und Flagellantentums. Ein Motiv der Unsicherheit, welches durch einem unzuverlässigen Erzähler sowie vielschichtige Hinweise aufgebaut wird, so dass man irgendwo zwischen dem Lesen eines Films als sozialem Familiendrama über eine ausbrechende Schizophrenie sowie einer eisigen apokalyptischen Parabel über eine zerfallende Welt verfangen ist. Die beiden Ebenen sind perfekt miteinander verknüpft, wobei das Ende (ungeachtet dessen, wie sehr es am Rande mitschwingt) angemessen mystisch klingt. Nichols hat hier elegant, ohne Krämpfe und mit einer Leichtigkeit etwas gefilmt, um das sich M. Night Shyamalan seit Jahren nur pathetisch bemüht. Ein Film über Vorahnung, Angst, Verletzlichkeit sowie das Ende der Zivilisation, ein reibungsloses Abbild vieler katastrophaler Visionen und Gefühle von einem nahenden Untergang der Welt, wie wir sie kennen. Eine super Sache, sowohl als Thriller, als auch unter dem Blickwinkel eines psychologischen Dramas. (26.06.2012)

Facing the captivating depths of madness through the thunder in Ohio… Hard to say what to praise more. Whether an unprecedentedly magnificent tangible subliminal tension, Shannon's performance as a true family-based hard worker who realizes that he's almost certainly succumbing to schizophrenia, but "what if he doesn't". The result is the most disturbing, most realistic and, last but not least, by far the best film version of the biblical story of Noah. I have perhaps the only minor complaint related to the conclusion. This is a type of movie that can only end in two ways. And Nichols went the way of being more cinematic and stylish. However, I cannot shake the feeling that the latter would get even more under the skin and would be richer in terms of interpretation. (12.12.2016)

A decent psychological drama that relies on two excellent performances. Jessica Chastain and Michael Shannon are superb, but is that enough? Not for me. The main character suffers from apocalyptic dreams about an impending disaster and decides to build an atomic shelter, even though no one believes him and he is considered crazy. The visions are decent, although they don't show them graphically they only speak about them, and I consider that a minus. Not much happens in the film, but it's not boring, which is positive. However, the expected pay off at the end doesn't come and that is almost unforgivable. I could have endured another twenty minutes calmly if they had come up with something bigger, but that's only in a dream. It's not bad, but a bit unsatisfying for me. Story****, Action>No, Humor>No, Violence>No, Entertainment***, Music***, Visual***, Atmosphere****, Tension*** 6.5/10. (07.02.2021)

Ausgezeichnet, so etwas gab es hier schon lange nicht mehr. Take Shelter ist ein absolut faszinierendes Drama mit einem unerschütterlichen Fundament, bestehend aus dem makellosen Schauspielerduo Shannon-Chastain und einem hervorragend geschriebenen Drehbuch. Dieses bietet Platz für die Darstellung des allmählichen Abstiegs des Helden in den Wahnsinn sowie für die ausgezeichnete Arbeit mit wachsender Spannung. Dafür sorgen sowohl seine Albträume als auch der alarmierende Sturm mit bedrohlichen Wolken und einer aufgeregten Vogelschar. Viele Zuschauer werden vielleicht meckern, dass der Film zu langsam ist, aber ich persönlich finde, dass dies nur zur beklemmenden Atmosphäre beiträgt. Und nach zusätzlichen zwei Stunden folgt ein absolut überraschendes Ende, auf das ich heimlich gehofft habe. Bravo! (22.09.2012)

Heavy paranoia in a film completely different from the mainstream, both in the management of the actors, the grouping of the mise-en-scene and the concept of the script (the unpredictability!). The calm before the storm is impressive though extremely viewer-unfriendly (I would compare it to something along the lines of nails scratching a blackboard). It’s completely out of time and space, and thanks to the small-town redneck feel at every turn, you don't know if the film is set in the present day or 20 years ago. An interesting low-budget film and Michael Shannon is a first-rate psychopath. (26.09.2015)

Sehr beunruhigendes Drama über eine aufkommende psychische Störung (oder vielleicht auch nicht, aber lasst uns nicht voreilig sein) und den folgenden Zusammenbruch des bisher ruhigen Familienlebens. Michael Shannon ist in der Hauptrolle faszinierend und Jessica Chastain unterstützt ihn gekonnt. Hut ab vor der Charakterleistung, die Jessica spielt und die selbst unter der Last einer schweren Lebensprobe ihr Gesicht bewahrt und geduldig und liebevoll zu ihrem Mann steht. Einige Traumsequenzen in diesem Film sind nahezu horrormäßig und Shannon in seinem Wahn zu beobachten ist wirklich quälend. Das alles deutet auf eine wirklich unheilvolle Schlussszene hin, auf die alles hinauslief. Ein zweistündiger instantaner Depressionszustand. (02.07.2018)

Excellent Sundance fodder that tries to convince the viewer all along with pretty clear direction that the movie isn't so bad and that it will make up for all the hero's setbacks with the final redemption. Which does in fact occur, but it convinces us that Take Shelter is ultimately a heavy bastard anyway. Right from the start, if you look at Michael Shannon (the brilliant Michael Shannon, by the way), a string gets plucked in your diaphragm that the film keeps humming very unpleasantly for two hours. For every minute of the film where someone smiles, or a hint of hope shines in the distance (learning with a deaf-mute daughter, for example) you are incredibly grateful, because that sense of that impending doom is always just around the corner. PS: *SPOILER ALERT* – I accept the argument about the set and spiked ending, which might leave you gaping at the end credits like a moron (I had a very similar experience with Trier's Melancholia), yet forces you to shift gears a bit from a story thus far about the progression of a rising mental illness. (23.04.2012)