Every year, hundreds of movies play the Toronto International Film Festival, and every year, many of them aren’t heard from again. For example, there’s "Shelter," the directorial debut by Paul Bettany, with a cast led by Jennifer Connelly and Anthony Mackie, which screened in Toronto in 2014 and that hasn’t been heard from since. Now, over a year later, the first trailer has arrived as the picture gears up to open in cinemas
Penned by Bettany, the drama tells the story of two homeless people who fall for each other on the streets of New York City, all while trying escape their past, and build toward a future. Here’s the synopsis from TIFF last year:
Hannah (Jennifer Connelly) has done terrible things but she hasn’t lost hope. Having succumbed to a shattering drug addiction, she now seeks shelter on the streets of New York. Tahir (Anthony Mackie) has done terrible things, too, although he is more secretive about his past. They find each other in Manhattan, but this is a different kind of New York love story.
More Cassavetes than Woody Allen, Shelter follows Hannah and Tahir as they push through the despair, the dangers, and the doubts rising up around them. What little shelter they can scrounge in this sometimes-ruthless city is fleeting and risky — finding a place to sleep out of the cold means trusting strangers who could easily take advantage. Trying to build and keep a relationship is that much harder when every impulse says it’s easier to be alone, and safer too. But whether she likes it or not, Hannah will need Tahir to help her kick her habit. And he’s in need of his own salvation.
"Shelter" opens in the U.S. on November 13th and in the U.K. on November 25th. Watch below.