Take Shelter

It reviews better than it plays — admired more than it is enjoyed.

• “Nichols has said that the idea for the film emerged from a free-floating anxiety that he sensed in the world at large, the feeling that everything we treasure in life could be lost in an instant. That sensation permeates this strikingly original movie - especially its enigmatic mind-fuck of a finale, which will haunt you for several lifetimes.”

  Keith Uhlich, Time Out · 100

• “As with "Shotgun Stories," Nichols assembles a tense portrait of blue-collar life, while deepening his thematic interests and working on a bigger scale. Burrowing into the subconscious of a damaged man, he delivers a modern American epic with extraordinary restraint.”

  Eric Kohn, IndieWire · 100

• “The film concludes not with a "surprise ending" but with a series of shots that brilliantly summarize all that has gone before. This is masterful filmmaking.”

  Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times · 100

• “Taut, unsettling, haunting and powerful.”

  Ann Hornaday, Washington Post · 100

• “The story of a man afflicted with fearful visions, Take Shelter is a film that's hitting the right apocalyptic trumpet call at the right time.”

  Liam Lacey, The Globe and Mail (Toronto) · 100