Shelter Parent Guide

When you’re making an action movie, there are hazards to watch out for.  No, I don’t mean the physical difficulties and dangers of shooting action sequences (which are many).  I’m talking about the way too many spy thrillers combine predictability with implausibility to leave viewers feeling the experience wasn’t worth the price of their tickets and popcorn. With this in mind, I went to see Shelter with low expectations. I was happily—though not ecstatically—surprised. 

Shelter begins with a bleak setting:  A small, windy island in the Outer Hebrides populated by a defunct lighthouse and one mysterious man, former Royal Marine Michael Mason (Jason Statham).  The job of bringing him supplies falls to teenage girl Jessie (Bodhi Rae Breathnach) and her unnamed uncle (Michael Shaeffer). The first clue that Jessie is special—a freckled spot of sunshine among the windy gray—comes when she stubbornly presents and re-presents the quiet curmudgeon with a wrapped present. When a sudden storm upends Jessie’s life and requires Mason to rescue her from drowning, she falls under his care. Mason turns out to be the target of a whole lot of violent people, and Jessie’s safety becomes Mason’s mission. The rest of the story involves Mason’s violent struggles against both his country’s government and rogue actors within it to find some—you guessed it—shelter. And looming over the story is an intrusive national security system known as THEA that may make you more afraid of security cameras than you’ve ever been.

When I call Shelter smarter than average, I’m not saying it’s devoid of tropes. As usual, characters discuss classified topics on seemingly ordinary phones from nonsecure locations. But Shelter at least addresses that point by showing decryption in action. And yes, Jason Statham’s fight scenes—which he’s very good at—occasionally show multiple foes attacking one at a time. But mostly, Mason is shown to be a skilled soldier, not a miraculous one. This film had some smart dialogue, and it didn’t aim for the dumbest part of my brain, which I appreciated.

Unsurprisingly, Shelter is thoroughly violent. There are explosions, gunfights, fist fights, car wrecks, and much more. I didn’t count how many people the hero of the story kills, but if I had, I’m sure I would have run out of both fingers and toes. The MPA was 100% right to give this picture an R rating.

I liked the ominous mood of Shelter. I was impressed by the acting performance of Bodhi Rae Breathnach, an adolescent near-newcomer to film who was also featured in Hamnet. And I liked the way screenwriter Ward Parry’s script treated her as a three-dimensional character capable of surprising courage and tenacity. 

Shelter is neither a bad movie nor a great movie. But within that vast middle territory between the two, it comes out much nearer the top than the bottom.  If you like spy thrillers, I think you’ll like this one. And remember, that R-rating means what it says.

About author

Donald Bugg

Donald Bugg is an actor, singer, composer, choir director, writer, attorney, and retired military officer living in Utah. He is married to a beautiful Canadian, has six children, and has always loved movies.