I don’t think I have reviewed a movie I honestly didn’t enjoy before. This shall be a first. It’s unfortunate that it had to happen in an occasion where I was trying to break away from the Western-centric film binge I was on but nonetheless, Shelter proved underwhelming for a number of reasons. Before that, I will give The Projector in Singapore its due credit – the atmosphere at the cinema with all the indie film lovers and the enthusiastic Singaporean Israelis made the movie-watching experience one that I definitely want to repeat. Hopefully, the next movie is a better treat.

Shelter is a spy thriller set mostly in Hamburg. A former Mossad agent, Naomi, is called into duty to protect and watch over a Lebanese informant, Mona, who betrayed her Hezbollah lover. The informant is recovering from plastic surgery in a safe house and the story mainly follows the characters in their time together. Of course, what starts off as a predictable tension between two characters who are living masked identities eases into a warming friendship as they share personal struggles and aligning views on the dynamics between Israel and Palestine. The happenings in the safe house are not in isolation, however. Eran Riklis, director of the film, aims for a psychological thriller with the sinister closing in of the Hezbollah on Mona. The use of rushed scenes, antagonistic characters, and planned distractions provide a disconcerting and destabilizing effect on the viewer. Tensions rise in the film and for the most part, the film does a decent job of delivering a harmony between its quieter dialogue scenes and its louder spy-oriented scenes.

The failure, unfortunately, comes in the delivery of the final 15-20 minutes of the film. In an attempt to avoid spoiling the film, I will limit my description of the ending to the following: “A messy and lazy wrapping up of key plot ends with a nearly blatant disregard for the viewer’s connection to the characters”. What was built in the first 80% of the movie is more or less tossed out the window and the remaining 20% looks like a director’s uninspired effort to just finish off the job. I do feel bad for the characters that play Naomi and Mona – they perform their roles well and are definitely on track to being better performers but their lines sometimes do them no justice.

Shelter thinks it has a lot to say about Israel/Palestine and the potential relations between the people from both countries. I think it, unfortunately, drops the ball on it. There are better films to watch for multiple reasons. I would not recommend this one.

Here’s my rating of the movie below:

Cinematography: 3.5/5

Screenwriting: 2/5

Musical Score: 3/5

Acting/ Performance: 4/5

Overall: 3.125/5