10 Cloverfield Lane is directed by Dan Trachtenberg and stars John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead (MEW) and John Gallagher Jr. After seeing the surprise trailer back in January I was immediately excited for this movie for two reasons; one, I was a huge Cloverfield fan and seeing the trailer pop up on YouTube ignited a flame which had seemingly died. Secondly, was that the trailer was amazing. It was filled with enigma, suspense and looked really intriguing – it looked entirely different to its predecessor.
After some research I found this movie wasn’t always a sequel and was actually meant to stand on its own as “The Cellar”. However JJ Abrams and Bad Robot got involved an decided to make it a “blood relative”. Anyway that’s the history of the film but what about the film itself? Well I wasn’t disappointed.
After getting in car accident, Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is held in a shelter with two men, who claim the world outside is no longer safe. Let me start by saying that Winstead is brilliant in this movie, she isn’t the bumbling stumbling woman that is seen in these types of scenarios. No, she’s clever and makes for a believable character which makes it that much more enjoyable and riveting when she’s on screen.
John Gallagher Jr is also great, he’s the fun and more relaxed character which can add to the tension or deduct from it which isn’t bad at all considering how intense this movie can get. The show stealer here is John Goodman, this man is honestly terrifying, seeing him interact with these characters in particular scenarios had me on the edge of my seat. I rarely gasp or utter words during a movie but I found myself doing that consistently with this gem. You never really understand what’s going through his head, his actual mentality is confusing. One minute he’s calm and rational and the next he is out of his mind. This makes for a greatly tension filled experience.
There are definitely hints of Abrams all around the film but I believe Dan Trachtenberg made this movie his own. The lingering shots and scenes going from slow and steady to quick and exciting is brilliant. If I had to describe the film in one word it would be ‘claustrophobic’. When I was in the cinema I really did feel trapped, this made for such an unsettling and uncomfortable experience. I also want to point out that it would’ve of been easy to sexualise a female character trapped in a room with two men and make that a focus but it never is which is great to see considering some of the movies today.
I will say that when walking out of the cinema I don’t know what to think of the last fifteen minutes or so. I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it, it was just a weird feeling. After a day or two I realised that I only felt that way because I had the idea this was related to Cloverfield but for me, it really isn’t. Apart from a few references there was no need for it be a “blood relative” at all but I won’t fault it for that. If your expecting a direct sequel to Cloverfield with monsters this isn’t it. But it is an amazing film surpassing its “cousin” massively in terms of visuals, performances and direction.
This has honestly become one of my favourite films due to how much enjoyment I got out of it and how well made it was. I will say I hope to see Mary Elizabeth Winstead in a lot more movies as I believe she is a fantastic actor with a ton of range, and hats off to John Goodman for giving one of the most chilling performances I’ve ever witnessed.
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