Shrink Julianne Moore dismisses multiple personality disorder as a myth, but her father introduces her to a young patient with such an extreme form of the condition that he takes on different, genuine disabilities with each alter ego. It is a psychological suspense thriller of two halves and the film has a real feeling of schizophrenia, not just from Meyer’s lead character but it’s direction from Swedish duo Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein, the first half is tense and gripping, the second half becomes more action and fabled story telling.
Julianne Moore and Jonathon Rhys Meyers are both very commendable in this movie and deliver very believable performances for a film that demands you make a lot of allowances in terms of realism. There is a lot of development in the first half of the movie that might make the film seem quite slow for some viewers. When the mystery is revealed it is surprising but even given the careful build up you might still have to make an effort to suspend your disbelief.
Shelter’s biggest problem is that it seems to be suffering the same problem as its main plot device. Similar to Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the film, Shelter seems to be suffering from some kind of multiple personality disorder. It doesn’t quite know what type of film it wants to be. It starts off as a very credible psychological thriller, and then after a series of dramatic twists and turns, it becomes a very clumsy supernatural horror. The supernatural element works well to explain everything in the film, but its execution just feels awkward. Too many elements are thrown into the mix – taking on faith healing, hillbilly magic, soul-sucking – that the film’s big reveal just comes across as inept.
OVERALL SUMMARY
There’s a workable horror film struggling to get out of Shelter. Very reminiscent of some great J-horror classics such as the ring, only with a western spin, Shelter had a lot of potential. The story is good, and the performances very convincing. But as is often the case with films, at least with regard to Shelter’s plot, too many cooks simply spoil the broth.
