SHELTER (2014) – The Review

What does it mean to be home? A building with four walls and a roof? A place to feel like you belong? What does it mean to be homeless? One definition would be the lack of a permanent dwelling as protection from the elements. I would argue a deeper definition would be the lack of comfort.

Suppose home is not a place or a thing, but is instead a state of mind. What if home could be a relationship, whereas the sense of safety, comfort and belonging can all be had, regardless of the location? What if home isn’t where the heart is, but rather the heart is where we find our home?

SHELTER is an extraordinarily beautiful story of two homeless human beings brought together by chance and held together by a love fueled by a mutual need and understanding of the other. Written and directed by actor Paul Bettany, SHELTER is his debut as a filmmaker and shows Bettany has the triple threat of talent. Most recently known for his portrayal of Vision in AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, Bettany has performed in a number of memorably eccentric roles, but SHELTER is a much welcomed human drama of a sincerely high calibre.

Anthony Mackie (who portrays Sam Wilson, aka Falcon, of the Marvel Cinematic Universe) plays Tahir, a Nigerian man in the United States without legal documentation. From the opening of the film, we are introduced immediately to his character. Tahir is smart and wise, fearless but calm and in control. Tahir conveys a sense of worldly experience. He is a survivor, but also a sinner. What we eventually discover is that Tahir also has an unsavory past, one which he carries like Atlas carries the weight of the world on his shoulders.

After being released from custody by local authorities, Tahir returns to the streets to find what few belongings he had collected and called his own had been pillaged by his fellow vagabonds. By chance encounter, or perhaps by fate, Tahir meets Hannah (played by Jennifer Connelly) after recognizing she possessed his jacket. What begins as a simple interaction between two strangers over a stolen article of clothing rapidly evolves into a deep connection between two lost souls seeking a light to lead them out of their darkness.

Jennifer Connelly (REQUIEM FOR A DREAM) pulls out all the stops as Hannah, a street smart, classically educated middle-aged woman with a heroine addiction and a tragic past who is living on the edge of sanity. As she and Tahir come to know each other more intimately, it becomes clear that their pasts are not only parallel in pain but bound to collide in happenstance only to emerge in rebirth like a phoenix from the ashes of sorrow and regret.

Connelly physically wears he role, having lost weight and pushed her body to extremes as to sell the heroine and hardship in her life. Emotionally, Connelly is equally dynamic, providing range and depth to develop Hannah into a textured, three-dimensional character with whom we can relate and empathize with throughout her ordeal. She is a sight to behold.

As a storyteller, Bettany focuses on the relationship between Tahir and Hannah, but in doing so never loses sight of what they represent. SHELTER is a story of hope and redemption, and of how even the smallest of communities, as small as two people coming together in support and love, can make a world of difference. SHELTER highlights how the slightest glimmers of humanity and kindness can still be found within a wasteland of apathy, selfishness and greed.

SHELTER juxtaposes Hannah’s nihilism with Tahir’s desperate grasp on his muslim faith to illustrate that life dwells within a gray area, that the human experience rarely gravitates toward the black and white extremities of the scale, but resonates within the wider space between. Hannah and Tahir are both misguided, but it takes them coming together to balance each other out and see the error in their ways.

Through suffering, SHELTER satisfies as an unconventional modern love story with fantastic performances guided by a director familiar with the actor’s journey.

SHELTER opens in theaters and VOD on Friday, November 13th, 2015.

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars