MovieChat Forums > Take Shelter (2011) Discussion > "Storm" sign proves the ending isn't a h...

"Storm" sign proves the ending isn't a hallucination/dream.


I don't think the ending can be a dream that Curtis is having. The reality of it is laid out pretty clearly, with details that don't need to be there unless you're meant to figure it out. To wit:

1. Early in the film, we see Sam teaching little Hannah the sign for "storm."
2. It's also made clear early on that Curtis is far behind Sam and Hannah in his acquisition of sign language. His wife even chides him for it. He has rudimentary sign language, but a concept like "storm" (not "rain," but "storm") is relatively advanced in any language. He wouldn't struggle with basic signs and yet know that one.
3. In the final scene, Hannah (looking out to sea over her father's shoulder) signs "storm." Curtis reacts with confusion; he's not sure what she's trying to convey. Then he looks behind him and sees what she is seeing. If he didn't know the sign for "storm," how could he dream that his daughter was signing "storm" to him and then see the storm?

I suppose in theory Sam or Hannah could have taught Curtis the sign for "storm" in an unseen event during the course of the movie. But I don't see why the scriptwriter would have left this trail of breadcrumbs, so to speak, if not for us to trace them back and realize that the final scene is really happening - some sort of apocalypse the family will have to face together. (To those who are saying it's ironic because the event is a tsunami and so they would have been safe in Ohio - there's much more than just the tsunami. There are multiple cyclones, a weird cloud, and that thick yellow "motor oil" rain. Nothing ordinary and Earthly would cause that. Whatever's going down, it's much bigger than just a tidal wave that would affect only the coast.)

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I watched this for the first time today and I noticed that as well, however, while I think the storm can definitely be taken as literal, Nichols left enough in there to make it very ambiguous. I was completely blown away with how well this film was directed, nevermind Shannon and his wonderful performance. He allows us as the viewer to fully immerse into his "illness", whether you see the events as real or imagined. He leaves JUST enough doubt... And to me, that's the only way this could succeed.

With that said, there's also alot of reasons to see the film as the family coming to terms with disaster. Nichols didn't overplay any angle. Mental illness and how it affects loved ones is fully on display. Especially the most basic issue with it all... The lack of understanding. I watched one of my best friends go through this at the age of 18. Seeing his transition from a Funny, Carefree, Seemingly Normal Teenage Kid all the way to a Confused, Stressed Out and COMPLETELY Paranoid Human Being was something I never wish to repeat. The fact that there's absolutely nothing you can do to stop it is probably what was the scariest part of it all. You can prepare all you want but it doesn't matter. So while there an actual storm on display, Nichols was obviously saying a few different things with the emotions of all the characters.

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If it's real then Take Shelter is only half a movie. In that case Take Shelter 2 will be about how they deal with this storm of the milennium. That's why I believe that the entire last scene is one of his hallucinations.

But I won't be paying to see it because even though I love psychological dramas -- I loathe survival movies.




"Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man..."

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Very insightful observation. I hadn't considered this particular aspect. Thanks.

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