85
Metascore
34 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Time OutKeith UhlichTime OutKeith UhlichNichols 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.
- 91Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumWriter-director Jeff Nichols builds his elegantly shot, weather-sensitive horror story in waves of tension that crest as if pulled by tempests.
- A riveting genre blend of thriller, domestic drama and supernatural horror propelled by a brilliant lead performance.
- 90New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNichols has a genius for making landscapes and everyday objects resonate like crazy, for nailing the texture of dread.
- 90Village VoiceMelissa AndersonVillage VoiceMelissa AndersonDespite a few missteps, Take Shelter powerfully lays bare our national anxiety disorder - a pervasive dread that Curtis can define only as "something that's not right."
- 83The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayWriter-director Jeff Nichols re-teams with his "Shotgun Stories" star Michael Shannon for his second feature, Take Shelter, which has a similar setting, but a different mood. Nichols is still concerned with family legacies, and the ways people in smaller communities relate to each other, but Take Shelter is slower and smoother, deliberately developing a mood of creeping dread.
- 80VarietyJustin ChangVarietyJustin ChangThis deliberately paced psychological drama builds an ever-tightening knot of tension around an excellent Michael Shannon, here playing a family man slowly driven mad by apocalyptic visions that could be paranoid, prophetic or both.
- 75Slant MagazineBill WeberSlant MagazineBill WeberIt's not easy to give a character study concerning mental illness the aspect of a psychological thriller without some notes of exploitation or trivialization creeping in, and Take Shelter makes a few missteps.
- 75MovielineStephanie ZacharekMovielineStephanie ZacharekThe economics of star casting aside, what would Take Shelter have been like with James McAvoy or Mark Wahlberg or Jake Gyllenhaal at its center?