Take Shelter

Synopsis: Curtis, a father and husband, is starting to experience bad dreams and hallucinations. Assuming mental illness, he seeks medical help and counseling. However, fearing the worst, he starts building an elaborate and expensive storm shelter in their backyard. This storm shelter threatens to tear apart his family, threatens his sanity and his standing in the community, but he builds it to save his family's life.
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Director(s): Jeff Nichols
Production: Sony Pictures Classics
  42 wins & 36 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.4
Metacritic:
85
Rotten Tomatoes:
92%
R
Year:
2011
120 min
$1,600,000
Website
519 Views


No, no, no. Don't feed the dog, darling.

Thanks, babe.

- You slept late.

- Yeah, I need to go.

What you got going today?

I've got to finish up some curtains

for Saturday,

and Nat and Cam are coming over.

- With the kids?

- Yeah.

Cammie said she just needed

to get out of the house.

Tell Nat to take it easy on her.

Cam can hold her own.

We need to send in the deposit

for the beach condo.

I love you.

- Just write the check, babe, okay?

- Okay. Bye.

No more food.

You, eat.

Yeah, let's keep going with that bit.

It'll go another 10 feet.

We won't get the gravel pack down today.

Why not?

Clouds.

We're gonna have to call it.

Happy hour starts at 5:00, Dewart.

Not if it's raining.

- Ready?

- Yeah.

They were just drinking and laughing

And, oh, my God,

it was like I was being in a museum

and I saw the progress from apes to men.

I saw it. I saw the future.

Dewart, that was him,

that was going to be him in 20 years.

Let me tell you, you laugh.

You laugh. But this little one in your arms is

gonna be shuffling in a bar just like them.

- Yep.

- No.

Don't listen to her.

- Hannah!

- What?

- You guys okay?

- Yeah.

No. Don't touch.

You understand?

Okay. Come here.

Go play.

Hey, DJ. Bring the girls inside.

What?

- It's not my fault. I told you.

- Yeah, all right.

All right, I'm calling it. Shut it down.

- Bye, guys. Thank you for coming.

- I'll call you about the Lions Club supper.

- Okay. Love you.

- Bye, Sam.

BYE, Cam!

Can you sign

S-T-O-R-M?

Storm.

I gotta get home.

Nat and me been looking into a threesome.

We've been chatting with this girl online

from Canton.

Yeah. Big old girl.

What's big?

She's about 250, 275.

She can't be no taller than five foot.

Sh*t, man.

I don't see me and Sam

getting into something like that.

No. I don't guess you would.

You got a good life, Curtis.

I'm serious.

I think that's the best compliment

you can give a man,

take a look at his life

and say, "That's good.

"That guy's doing something right."

Well, it ain't always so easy.

Hell, I know that.

Sh*t. I gotta go.

Good night.

Hey, baby.

She do all right today?

She was fine.

She's still not playing

with the others, though.

She can't connect.

Honey, you gotta clean up that trash pile

in the back.

She fished out a

board that had nails on it.

I'll get to it this weekend.

I still take off my boots,

so I won't wake her up.

I still whisper.

Curtis?

- What?

- Did you hear me?

You got to be home, showered,

ready to walk out the door by 6:00 tonight.

What's wrong?

Nothing. I just want her to eat her breakfast

and stop playing with the damn dog.

She's fine down there.

She had toast already.

- All right.

- What?

Hannah. Come here. Hannah.

- Curtis?

- What?

I'm late.

- You didn't eat anything.

- It's okay.

I didn't say you had control

over the weather, Russell.

What I did say was that the top shelf

has got to be cleared by the 15th.

That's non-negotiable.

Curtis?

Curtis? Where we at on that East 82nd site?

Yesterday slowed us down.

We couldn't get the second pilot hole drilled.

It rained for two hours yesterday.

Two hours,

and our entire schedule went in the toilet?

We lose the permit

if you're not out of there, end of day.

- Yes, sir.

- End of day, Curtis.

All right. Valerie tells me

that the father-son pancake cook-off...

Hey, I gotta make a stop

before we head out there.

- Think we got time?

- Yeah, there's time.

Sh*t.

Son of a b*tch.

- We stripped that bit.

- Yeah.

Well, bring it up. We gotta reset it.

Curtis!

- You ever see birds fly like that?

- What?

Damn it.

Damn it.

Come on, we gotta go.

Jesus.

Honey, I can really use a shower.

Hi.

So if you continue with

the basic vocabulary,

this will allow you to communicate

with your children better.

Between the ages of four and seven,

the focus is more on the sign.

And then later,

we'll begin adding the alphabet

as more of a support system.

Now, in ASL, the male sign is

signed at the forehead area.

For example, "father,"

is signed up here like this.

Father. Very good.

- You're not sorry.

- I am sorry.

Well, you stink. You smell really bad.

I think I smell good.

Do I smell good?

See? Maybe I should marry her instead.

Stop.

Man.

You okay?

Sh*t!

You okay?

You're okay.

It's okay.

No!

Hannah!

Hannah!

Hannah!

Here, honey. Put on your shoes.

- Good, you're up.

- Yeah.

Honey, you're soaked.

I've felt better.

I guess we can stay home if we need to.

Where you going?

It's Saturday.

I was going to take Hannah to my booth.

Yeah.

You look really sick, honey.

I'm all right.

It's just a cold or something.

Let me get you some Advil.

No. Don't worry about it.

Just go. I'll be fine.

You sure?

Better already.

Okay. I got my phone if you need anything.

Don't forget, Sunday

lunch is here tomorrow.

If you're sick, we should cancel.

I'll be all right.

Okay, we'll talk later.

Come on. Let's go.

- You sure?

- Honey, please.

How much you asking for this pillow?

This pillow is $15.

That's more than I want to spend.

This is all hand stitched.

It takes a really long time.

That's why I charge that.

I'll give you $7 for it.

I can't go that low.

Well, that's my offer.

How about 10?

I'll give you $8, but it's in change.

That's fine.

Lucky for you she likes to count change.

Red.

Come on.

Get in. Good boy.

I'm sorry about this, buddy.

We just gotta work it like this

for a while, okay?

While rescue workers made several

attempts to reach the family,

- Walter Jacobs' wife and brother-in-law died.

- That's what I don't understand.

If he didn't do anything,

why did you put him out back?

What?

Did you hear me?

I said if he didn't do anything,

why did you have to put him outside?

I just wanted him to be

outside for a while.

He's your dog.

He's always been an inside dog.

He's my dog, that's why he's outside.

Look,

right now with Hannah and everything,

I just think it'd be better.

- Hannah loves Red.

- Hold on.

The gas cloud spread across

their six-acre property.

The only way off their land

was across the train tracks,

which were blocked by wreckage.

I tried using some wet rags

and some towels to breathe through,

but that just seemed

to make it worse.

While rescue workers made several

attempts to reach the family,

Walter Jacobs' wife and

brother-in-law died in the home.

Jacobs survived despite enduring 11

hours of exposure to the gas cloud...

You hearing this?

It's awful.

Eleven hours.

No way out.

Hannah.

Hey!

Hey!

Hey! Hey!

- Babe?

- Yeah?

You got the number for Dr. Shannan?

You're still not feeling good?

Yeah, we got the number?

Yeah, baby, but he'll be closed today.

Right. Yeah, I'll call tomorrow.

Honey, if you're not feeling good,

- we got to take you...

- No. Stop!

Okay.

Do you want me to cancel lunch today?

Sh*t.

- What is that?

- I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. I just...

I got a sore throat.

I'm sorry I'm taking it out on you.

I was gonna leave Hannah with you

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes

Jeff Nichols

Jeff Nichols is an American film director and screenwriter from Little Rock, Arkansas. He studied filmmaking at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Nichols has directed Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter, Mud and Midnight Special. more…

All Jeff Nichols scripts | Jeff Nichols Scripts

1 fan

Submitted on August 05, 2018

Discuss this script with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Translate and read this script in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Take Shelter" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/take_shelter_19321>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest writers community and scripts collection on the web!

    Watch the movie trailer

    Take Shelter

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

    Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features.


    Quiz

    Are you a screenwriting master?

    »
    Which film won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2010?
    A Avatar
    B Up
    C The Hurt Locker
    D Inglourious Basterds