Despite previously making its bow during 2014’s Toronto International Film Festival, it’s only now, as we approach the latter stages of 2015, that Paul Bettany’s directorial debut Shelter is nearing its theatrical release. Picked up Screen Media after its brief stint on the festival circuit, the hard-hitting drama is now merely a few weeks’ from launch, and the studio has debuted the first teaser to stoke the embers of excitement.
Centering on Jennifer Connelly and Anthony Mackie’s luckless pair of adults forced to live it rough on the streets of New York City. Without two cents to rub together, Connelly (Hannah) and Mackie (Tahir) soon take solace in each other’s company, and a raw, deeply emotional love story begins to develop between the two.
Battling drug addictions and immigration issues, the couple face just about every life hurdle under the sun, though the raw beauty of Shelter appears to lie in the naturalistic chemistry between Connelly and Mackie’s two leads. With close to 50,000 homeless people living on the streets of the Big Apple, Bettany’s feature harbors the potential to be a truly resonant gem.
Though it debuted at last year’s Toronto Film Festival, Paul Bettany’s Shelter is now finally on course for a release come November 13 and November 27 in North America and the United Kingdom, respectively.
Hannah (Connelly) and Tahir (Mackie) come from two different worlds. But when their lives intersect, they’re at the same place: homeless on the streets of New York. How did they get there? As we learn about their past, we begin to understand that to have a future, they need each other. There are more than 50,000 homeless people living on the streets and in the shelters of New York City. To most of us they are nameless and faceless, and occasionally a nuisance. But every single person has a story. And Hannah and Tahir are no different. And theirs is a story of loss, love, hope and redemption.
