‘Shelter’ movie review: Jason Statham punches his way through this lean actioner

Jason Statham delivers lean, punchy action in Ric Roman Waugh’s Shelter, elevated by Bill Nighy’s silky menace and rugged lighthouse atmospherics

There is something utterly delightful about a lighthouse, immediately bringing up memories of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five series, as well as sundry ghosts mournfully clanking chains as they creep up and down the spiral staircase.

So, when Shelter opens in the Hebrides, with the windswept sea and a lighthouse standing proud and true on craggy rocks, you know the curtain has been lifted on a fun time at the movies.

A still from the film | Photo Credit: Elevation Pictures

A young girl, Jessie (Bodhi Rae Breathnach), goes with her uncle to the island to deliver supplies to a reclusive man (Jason Statham) every week. Jessie tries to communicate with the Man, leaving little presents with the deliveries, which the Man studiously ignores.

One day, on a supply run, a storm causes Jessie’s boat to capsise. Her uncle drowns, and Jessie’s feet get tangled in a fishing net.

The Man rushes to save Jessie and brings her ashore to his Spartan home. Shocked at the loss of her uncle (Jessie is an orphan, and her uncle was her only family), Jessie and the Man form a tentative bond. When Jessie’s foot gets infected, the Man decides to go to the mainland to get medical supplies, setting off a chain of unfortunate events.