No Escape Ending, Explained. As backstory, Take Shelter received a limited theatrical run and now the film is moving to DVD and Blu-Ray February 14th. So it's clearly an interpretation that's easy to take away. Despite all of his efforts, the storm is a much larger force than he is. Take Shelter is a 2011 American psychological thriller drama horror film, written and directed by Jeff Nichols and starring Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain. Curtis and his daughter Hannah on the beach, catching sight of the storm for the first time. The siren is blowing indicating a storm. The two are strapped with bills, and weighed down by life in general, but are both 100% committed to their daughter who has recently lost her hearing. Sweet Home season 1, episode 10 recap - Sweet Home follows the trend of virtually all Netflix Originals by blatantly teeing up a sequel, but the finale was … But, again, I think that can mostly be chalked up to a failure of film to communicate misperception in a complex way. After surviving such traumatic few hours together, all the disappointment and frustration they had … Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself. The storm is coming, waterspouts and all, yet all three characters are as calm as they could be in that situation. Even though they understand his illness, and they are in it together, the storm is going to fuck things up in a big way. Take Shelter, to me, has always been a stunning representation of what it means to suffer from mental illness. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, Looks like you're using new Reddit on an old browser. "Take Shelter" unfolds in a quiet Ohio countryside with big skies and flat horizons, and involves a happy family whose life seems contented. I don't know if insanity is the right word, Curtis isn't insane. One is that its protagonist, Curtis, is experiencing early symptoms of schizophrenia. This reviewer is going to take a stab at explaining the film's ending. Here is a frightening thriller based not on special effects gimmicks but on a dread that seems quietly spreading in the land: that the good days are ending, and climate changes or other sinister forces will sweep away our safety. His hallucinations must appear real to us, otherwise the film isn't representing well, because it must get us into his head. Learn more about Redditâs use of cookies. The biggest difference I think b/w this last scene and the first, is that Curtis is all alone in the beginning and this storm is a complete mystery, unlike the last. ... Ah I assumed the Lynx at the end was my cub that died returning to take me to other side. Where are these visions coming from? That seems to be clear indication he is right all along. When a second character experiences what another thinks as a hallucination, I don't know how that's not a concrete indication that hallucination is either real, or real to the both of them. I wonder if my problem with its plot can be reconciled by you guys. reff link : Take Shelter (2011) : Plot Ending Explained. do you have the feeling that if the world were ending, your dad's friend would be inviting your dad and his family (you) down to the cave system with him? To be … This dream however, is not so much a nightmare as the rest are (if I remember correctly). thx again for the info and your replies to other people. i try to take people at their word, especially when it comes to this topic. Started with Mud and went backwards seeing Take Shelter and then Shotgun Stories. In that film, all characters interact with and experience the nightmare reality of the main character. (Spoiler Alert!!) How do we know they are real? I had a very different take on the ending than most and believe that it was a very happy and satisfying way to end the movie. To me, the key to interpreting the ending is a previous scene in the film - when they are in the storm shelter in the back yard. Finally she tells him: I love you, but if I open the door, then nothinâs gonna change. Why is Curtis having them? Take shelter to avoid lightning, one says, while another warns viewers to Prepare for severe rains and sink holes because Adam is Depressed. The site may not work properly if you don't, If you do not update your browser, we suggest you visit, Press J to jump to the feed. In any case, I have yet to find a film that has left me as flabbergasted and amazed as this one did, and I would love to hear what /TrueFilm has to say about Jeff Nichols, Take Shelter, and of cause its incredible conclusion. First off, why was the ending with him opening the door so dramatic? … Here's my problem: the story presents us with two distinct possibilities. That is why we see Curtis outside with his more innocent and by that nature, understanding, while his wife is inside the house. I think you can certainly read that from the final scene, but I have a little trouble with that specific view. I'm sure Take Shelter has some fans around here, and I wouldn't mind learning to appreciate it more. Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself. Those around him will see those emotions as a manifestation of his illness- even if he shouldn't. But I won’t do that to you. We've already been shown that his mother has been institutionalized and there were subtle hints that showed he too could be crazy. Synopsis Ed Hemsler spends his life preparing for a disaster that may never come. If you haven’t watched the movie, you shouldn’t read further as there are spoilers. The film stars Michael Shannon as Curtis a man who sees apocalyptic visions in the skies and in his dreams. I think the last scene is a dream as is the first (when Curtis holds out his hand in the rain and sees that it's some weird kind of oily substance). His dark visions are all in his head, and (I assume) the final scene is a metaphor for the family's acceptance of his condition and their willingness to face it head-on with him. Meaning they will, consciously or not, regard all his actions and behavior with scrutiny. I still do not know whether this last scene is a metaphor for the trials that the small family will have to face now that Curtis' impending insanity seems to be unavoidable, or whether it is there to show that he was right about the incoming storm all along. The storm might be furious but together, as a family they will endure it and face all their challenges together. The ending of Shutter Island seems ambiguous to many people, but again, to me it was pretty clear-cut. I know this is a silly question, but I feel like there's some hidden meaning that I'm missing. His condition and his delusions will not go away, but now the entire family is in it together. However, he now feels more secure in himself and his wife's support, and that is why in the dream she is not antagonistic towards him, but supports him. The family noticing the storm with him seems to indicate that they are all about to experience something traumatic together, but, through the events of the film, they are ready for it. Directed by Jeff Nichols. If Chastain is experiencing the same thing as Shannon, given what I have written above, that leads me to only two conclusions: 1) What Shannon was experiencing was real or 2) His delusions have somehow sucked her in and she is now as crazy as he is. Well, every single character in the film sees them, so they must be real, right? As such, I took the final scene, where his family also see the storm, to mean that now they finally understood what was happening to him. But the truth is I don’t much care. But how should those hallucinations interact with the reality of sane people in the film who do not share the nightmare reality of the protagonist? If someone can explain the twisty ending of the film to me, fine. In his first action thriller, indie horror filmmaker John Erick Dowdle (‘The Poughkeepsie Tapes’) manages to take care of an awesome sense of dread prevalent in his earlier works. It is funny sometimes to see people argue over what the ending means saying that the "other" ending is baseless or wrong or ruins the movie. So, to sum up, the final scene is still one of Curtis' dreams. The storm really is a storm. I hope Nichols continues the success of Take Shelter. My problem with this possibility is that it makes the suspense / mystery present in the rest of the film redundant, kind of like a whodunit in which the detective suspects the butler from the beginning and then at the end we find out he was right. Take Shelter has been in my top three films of all time ever since, and its masterful conclusion has gone on to become my favourite ending to any movie ever. SMG opened up the club rooms in the arena, and the city’s health department would send staff to take care of the patients. I've always found that to be the ending of Take Shelter: the family becomes a unit and they share in the husband's weakness simply through their supportive and loving connection. The film won two Saturn Awards, Best Writing for Nichols and Best … In a small town somewhere in America, these two people will try to find love while trying not to get lost in each other’s stuff. I think the ending is not really as ambiguous as people make it out to be. Anyway, I personally feel the ending to Shelter 2 would be greatly improved if at the end you met up again with all your surviving children and walked through the field together, to remind us that those people whow may no longer be in our lives for whatever reason still matter to us. That's a really good point, reminds me of the Inception ending not being so much about whether the top stops or not, but how Cobb doesn't care. He’s a brilliant actor, he really sells the happenings of his mind to you through this film. Teddy wakes up to the reality that he is actually Andrew Laeddis, though he is warned by Dr. Cawley and Dr. Sheehan that he has regressed into his fantasy world before. By. The storm is the embodiment of that feeling of dread and hopelessness but regardless of its existence, it is the reactions of Curtis and his family that matter and what have always mattered. Curtis does not know whether his dreams are real or a sign of mental illness he just has this overwhelming feeling of dread and helplessness (a feeling that drove Jeff Nichols to develop the film in the first place). Hi lads, i just finished the game. I guess I should start by saying I think film, as a medium, has certain difficulty representing perception. Youâll see that everythingâs fine, but nothing will change. Otherwise, yeah, I entirely agree that it is a brilliant film about dealing with or having mental illness. Pablo Aguero’s bold, atmospheric Spanish drama ‘Coven of Sisters’ (Also often known as ‘Akelarre’) transports the viewer to a darkish chapter within the historical past of the Spanish Inquisition. I think the oncoming storm is a metaphor for the oncoming insanity that Curtis' life will become. The only point to be noted is that, the storm is a regular storm, not a giant one like what Curtis imagines. My problem with this possibility is that nothing else in the film seeks to explain / elaborate on what this means. With Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Shea Whigham, Tova Stewart. As only art can, it evokes what he feels - the feelings that surface through his illness: confusion, alienation from his peers, worry, fear and anxiety. The talking bugs telling Burroughs to do terrible things are not hallucinations, they are real things and he is their victim. I love Jeff Nichols' films. If Blockbuster Video were still alive and kicking, you probably wouldn’t find copies of the movie shelved in the horror section. Essentially what the last scene is saying is that the family is prepared for it. That night, around 6 p.m., Thornton got a … Film runs into real trouble when it has a main character whose perceptions are suspect. (Spoilers, obvs). In my version: after my cubs left me i returned to my den. I would have much preferred a straight drama about a man coming to terms with his mental illness, as opposed to the faux-thriller setup Take Shelter provides. I have a lot of trouble with readings that go beyond that. Michael Shannon (Zod from Man of Steel) has paired with Jeff another time in Take Shelter. So, Curtis is still experiencing delusions and nightmares, but the difference is that in his dreams now the characters in them, namely his wife, are not antagonistic towards him or trying to kill him, they are with him and also see the storm. Now, though the story is coming, it's an emotionally gratifying ending because we see Curtis, his wife and his daughter unified, with no barriers, emotional or otherwise between them. I think whether Curtis is insane or not is rendered moot with the ending storm. However, the last scene is vague enough that the audience can construe it as either another Curtis hallucination or as verification (see the many online discussions of the film). The Scourge of God. What is important here is not his insanity but is that his family is finally behind him. Mar 9, 2015 @ 4:09pm Different Endings? What happens though? The ending was … well, alright. The storm is real. Obviously a man cannot fly, but we have to accept that reality--and accept that it isn't a fever dream, metaphor, and so on--in order for a Superman film to work at the most basic level (never mind if it doesn't work at other levels). Take Shelter is a powerhouse experience told on a small budget. That's not a correct reading. In essence that is what any feeling is, something that exists between the real and the metaphorical, because they are hard to describe and put into words. Reddit LinkedIn ... a little bit,” the filmmaker explained. What's really going on in Take Shelter? Showing all 5 items Jump to: Summaries (4) Synopsis (1) Summaries. They empathised with his illness and understood what he is/was going through - love and understanding and all that niceness. We are being presented with a fantastic thing and much of the success of film as art depends on its ability to convince us of the reality of that fantastic thing. The Storm itself, I see, as a symbol of the overwhelming fear, panic and dread that he feels, he responds the only way he knows how, to try and keep his family safe, to exercise some form of physical control over 'the storm in his mind' - something that provides permanency, something tangible that helps him understand. 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