Shelter (2014 film)

Plot

Tahir is an illegal immigrant from Nigeria, living homeless on the streets of Manhattan. Hannah is a heroin addict also living homeless in Manhattan. Tahir is a devout Muslim, polite to everyone he meets and making ends meet by performing music in city parks, while Hannah lies, steals and sells her body to get her next fix. When Tahir saves Hannah from a suicide attempt, she follows him, and the two form a friendship. As they go through a spring, summer, fall and winter, they share more about their past, and friendship turns to love. Circumstances slowly improve for the couple, but old demons are hard to run from. Tahir eventually gets ill and "joins" his wife and child who died in Nigeria, while Hannah and Tahir's love helps her clean up and return to her son in California.

Cast

Production

On August 21, 2013, it was announced Paul Bettany would direct the film.

Release

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2014. On January 14, 2015, Screen Media Films acquired distribution rights to the film. The film was released on November 13, 2015, by Screen Media Films.

Reception

Shelter has received generally mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a rating of 41%, based on 22 reviews, with an average score of 5.6/10. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 39 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".