Poster Premiere: Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain Prepare to Take Shelter

It found critical acclaim and distributor interest this year at Sundance, then shoved off for an award-winning run at the Cannes Film Festival. And now, as writer-director Jeff Nichols's psychological drama Take Shelter prepares for its incursion into American theaters, Movieline is happy to unveil the film's first poster for your perusal.

First reaction: That is a lot of birds. Second reaction: Why the long faces, Micheal Shannon and Jessica Chastain? Oh, you know, just another tormented night of doomsday premonitions. Here's the official synopsis and of course the new one-sheet from Sony Pictures Classics, which will open Take Shelter Sept. 30 in limited release. Look for more about the film on Movieline as the date nears...

[Click poster for bigger image]

Curtis LaForche lives in a small Ohio town with his wife Samantha and six-year-old daughter Hannah, who is deaf. Curtis makes a modest living as a crew chief for a sand-mining company. Samantha is a stay-at-home mother and part-time seamstress who supplements their income by selling handmade wares at the flea market each weekend. Money is tight, and navigating Hannah's healthcare and special needs education is a constant struggle. Despite that, Curtis and Samantha are very much in love and their family is a happy one.

Then Curtis begins having terrifying dreams about an encroaching, apocalyptic storm. He chooses to keep the disturbance to himself, channeling his anxiety into the obsessive building of a storm shelter in their backyard. His seemingly inexplicable behavior concerns and confounds Samantha, and provokes intolerance among co-workers, friends and neighbors. But the resulting strain on his marriage and tension within the community doesn't compare to Curtis' private fear of what his dreams may truly signify.

Faced with the proposition that his disturbing visions signal disaster of one kind or another, Curtis confides in Samantha, testing the power of their bond against the highest possible stakes.