SHELTER It's hard to review this film too much without giving away the whole thing. It is a psychological suspense thriller of two halves and the film has a real feeling of schizophrenia, not just from Meyer's lead character but it's direction from Swedish duo Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein, the first half is tense and gripping, the second half becomes more action and fabled story telling. This schizophrenic nature is reflected in how I received the film, I thought Jonathan Rhys Meyer's performance including his shift in personality was brilliant but detested the crass narrative at the end when watching faux sepia film footage in the library.
The first half of the movie concerns itself with character and plot development, there's a well studied and crafted build up. Meyers is excellent in helping this aspect along, and what is appealing with Julianne Moore is that by being completely normal and not at all the first person who comes to mind for this role, makes her somewhat perfect for it. Moore's character Caroline makes some questionable decisions, the kind that make you say " no why would you go in there.." but they're not running in your underwear through the woods holding a toothpick when Jason's around type decisions and actually it doesn't hurt the film but create real moments of suspense. The first half is a both entertaining and an enthralling suspense film, bordering on horror as it does have its horror moments.
The second half of the film then moves into a supernatural thriller. You are never behind the plot, always a step or two ahead but again this doesn't hurt the film. As our main characters head into Appalachian mountain country they seem to get trapped at the end of a lane and possibly directors Mårlind and Stein didn't know how to get out from deep in the Pennsylvanian woods. They make an effort to put in a twist or two and so wriggle their way out of a corner, unfortunately up to that point I was engrossed in the film but it rather loses it's way a little. I will say that it does end well and is worth watching, it's just because of the midway turn it takes from suspense thriller to supernatural drama it's hard not to compare the second half of the film to 'Skeleton Key' which ultimately is a much better film all round.
7/10
The first half of the movie concerns itself with character and plot development, there's a well studied and crafted build up. Meyers is excellent in helping this aspect along, and what is appealing with Julianne Moore is that by being completely normal and not at all the first person who comes to mind for this role, makes her somewhat perfect for it. Moore's character Caroline makes some questionable decisions, the kind that make you say " no why would you go in there.." but they're not running in your underwear through the woods holding a toothpick when Jason's around type decisions and actually it doesn't hurt the film but create real moments of suspense. The first half is a both entertaining and an enthralling suspense film, bordering on horror as it does have its horror moments.
The second half of the film then moves into a supernatural thriller. You are never behind the plot, always a step or two ahead but again this doesn't hurt the film. As our main characters head into Appalachian mountain country they seem to get trapped at the end of a lane and possibly directors Mårlind and Stein didn't know how to get out from deep in the Pennsylvanian woods. They make an effort to put in a twist or two and so wriggle their way out of a corner, unfortunately up to that point I was engrossed in the film but it rather loses it's way a little. I will say that it does end well and is worth watching, it's just because of the midway turn it takes from suspense thriller to supernatural drama it's hard not to compare the second half of the film to 'Skeleton Key' which ultimately is a much better film all round.
7/10