Outside the Box [Office] and Sony Pictures Classics invite you and a guest to a special preview screening of

Take Shelter

About Take Shelter

Curtis LaForche lives in a small Ohio town with his wife Samantha and six-year-old daughter
Hannah, who is deaf. Curtis makes a modest living as a crew chief for a sand-mining company.  
Samantha is a stay-at-home mother and part-time seamstress who supplements their income by
selling handmade wares at the flea market each weekend. Money is tight, and navigating
Hannah’s healthcare and special needs education is a constant struggle. Despite that, Curtis and
Samantha are very much in love and their family is a happy one.
 
Then Curtis begins having terrifying dreams about an encroaching, apocalyptic storm. He
chooses to keep the disturbance to himself, channeling his anxiety into the obsessive building of
a storm shelter in their backyard. His seemingly inexplicable behavior concerns and confounds
Samantha, and provokes intolerance among co-workers, friends and neighbors. But the resulting
strain on his marriage and tension within the community doesn’t compare to Curtis’ private fear
of what his dreams may truly signify.   
 
Faced with the proposition that his disturbing visions signal disaster of one kind or another,
Curtis confides in Samantha, testing the power of their bond against the highest possible stakes.  

35mm print provided courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. Rated R. Running time: 120 minutes.

To learn more about the film, click here.

To view the trailer on iTunes Movie Trailers, click here.

 

Director's Statement

Anxiety is born out of having something to lose.   
 
When I began writing Take Shelter in the summer of 2008, I was in the middle of my first year
of marriage. Although both my career and personal life were on a positive track, I had a nagging
feeling that the world at large was heading for harder times. This free-floating anxiety was part
economic, part just growing up, but it mainly came from the fact that I finally had things in my
life that I didn’t want to lose. All of these feelings filtered directly into the characters of this
film.
 
Take Shelter follows Curtis LaForche, a working class husband and father, as he deals with the
panic that arises from a series of terrifying dreams. For Curtis, these dreams are either
harbingers of a supernatural storm, or early symptoms of something he’s feared his entire life.
Curtis’ strongest, most immediate reaction is to protect his family, his wife Samantha and their
six-year-old daughter Hannah. The question for Curtis becomes, what is he protecting them
from, the storm or himself?
 
I wrote Take Shelter because I believed there was a feeling out in the world that was palpable. It
was an anxiety that was very real in my life, and I had the notion it was very real in the lives of
other Americans as well as other people around the world. This film was a way for me to talk
about that fear and that anxiety. I hope there is an answer to this feeling by the end of the film. I
believe there is, and it’s the reason that this wonderful group of people came together to help me
make Take Shelter.
 
-- Jeff Nichols

About Outside the Box [Office]

Outside the Box [Office] is a weekly showcase for upcoming releases highlighting world cinema, documentary and independent film titles. Recognizing a need for greater diversity on campus, the series will draw from around the globe to present movies that may challenge, inspire or simply entertain. The weekly screenings will be on Wednesday and Sunday nights (and other select dates, as they arise) in the School of Cinematic Arts Complex, George Lucas Building.

To view the calendar of screenings, click here.

Check-In & Reservations

This screening is free of charge and open to the general public. Please bring a photo ID or print out of your reservation confirmation, which will automatically be sent to your e-mail account upon successfully making an RSVP through this website. Doors will open at 6:30 P.M.

Parking

The USC School of Cinematic Arts is located at 900 W. 34th St., Los Angeles, CA 90007. Parking passes may be purchased for $8.00 at USC Entrance Gate #5, located at the intersection of W. Jefferson Blvd. & McClintock Avenue. We recommend parking in outdoor Lot M or V, or Parking Structure D, at the far end of 34th Street. Please note that Parking Structure D cannot accommodate tall vehicles such as SUVs. Metered street parking is also available along Jefferson Blvd.

Contact Information

Name: Alessandro Ago
Email: aago@cinema.usc.edu
Phone: 213.740.2330