WATCHING this melange of family issues, natural disaster, psychological crisis and muted horror, I kept looking for a rationale for its insistence on refusing to confront its underlying problem.

It’s as if writer/director Jeff Nicholls knows we know what’s missing from its dramatic thesis, but sees no reason to let us off the hook.

Curtis (Michael Shannon), Samantha (Jessica Chastain) and their deaf six-year-old Hannah (Tova Stewart) live in a mid-west community imbued with the social paradigms that Hollywood likes to believe characterise America’s national virtues.

Curtis starts having violent, terrifying, realistic nightmares. Ominous other warnings of an impending apocalypse begin appearing in the area. Curtis is the only person in town aware of them. Telling nobody why, he begins expanding the family’s tornado shelter.

Samantha stoically bears Curtis’s failure to explain his irrational behaviour until it overwhelms her. Nicholls denies her the comfort of telling him: “Get real with this, go see a mental health professional and get sorted out.” Tough call. Sorry, Sam. That’d be too easy a solution.

Jessica Chastain plays Samantha with bravura style that totally justifies her reputation on the top level of American film actors.
“Take Shelter” won the Special Jury award in Cannes this year. I’m gobsmacked.

At Greater Union