Take Shelter (2011)

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Blue-collar family man in Flyover country gradually unravels. Hijinx ensue!

If you've seen this I'd like to discuss the ending with you.

[Frayed Knot]

I saw this one a few months back - but at this point I can't remember the ending.

I had heard good things about this flick but, I admit it, whatever they were trying to say was way over my head.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Kind of lose-lose, innit?

That Mike Shannon didn't get an Oscar nod, by the way, is, like, Exhibit YY in the case against Academy relevance.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I felt it was a movie about how close we all come to losing it, along with a message of how inadequately we help those who do. The scene where he meets the new guy at the clinic was just deadly.

Kinda slow but suspenseful, and the performance from the lead guy was great.






Minor spoiler below:
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The end I referred to was the beach scene where it appears the now-familiar "gathering storm" POV is now shared by the daughter and wife. I suppose that's because they understand what's coming from his perspective now, though the movie certainly didn't mind if you spent some time wondering whether he was crazy or clairvoyant. Or even a wife-and-kid killer.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

I got that, too, along with a sort of metaphor for the just-this-side-of-apocalypse collective-anxiety moment we seem to be going through of late... and a parable for marital trust in the face of crisis... and a consideration into how we relate to those in our lives who falter/need help of any kind. (How far do familial/marital obligations extend in the face of infirmity? At a moment of truth-- at the figurative storm-cellar door-- do you believe what you see... or what those who rely on you need you to believe?)

After further consideration, I'm still not sure whether the ending presents a sort of cop-out. If you view the film as more of a parable/allegory, it could work... if not, and you're reading it all literally... it probably should've stayed ambiguous, shouldn't it?