Shelter

I’d been looking forward to this film from the moment I heard about it. Not because of Julianne Moore, or the Swedish directorial duo (about whom I didn’t know anything), but because the script is written by Michael Cooney, who also wrote the script of one of my most favourite thrillers ever: Identity, and the synopsis had led me to expect something similar. In the end, Shelter is a little weaker than Identity, but it’s still a very nice film that didn’t bore me for a moment despite it’s long run. In the middle, it turns from a psychological thriller into something completely different. I believe most viewers are not likely to appreciate this shift, but I really liked it. When the cards are shown (when the viewer gets to know what the stakes are – like with the twist in Identity), Shelter becomes brilliant. I’m ending here because I don’t want to spoil it too much, I will just point out that, although there are a lot of things that could have ruined the ending, the last couple of scenes are the reason for my four-star rating. (28.07.2010)

An excellent horror film, certainly by the standards of what's being made these days. If it weren't for two things (the unraveling of the mysterious shadow and the period film) that were really over the top and distracting, I would have given it a full rating. The atmosphere of Shelter is excellent, dense and ugly, Jonathan Rhys Meyers is really good in his role, Julianne Moore is good too, and the film is not flawed in terms of direction and is full of very interesting shots. Three and a half stars. (07.04.2013)