People Are Strange Creatures

10 Cloverfield Lane

Way back in 2007, writer/director/producer J.J Abrams (Star Wars: Episode VII-The Force Awakens), writer/director Matt Reeves (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), and writer Drew Goddard (The Martian) secretly made a movie (which is highly impressive in this social media driven world). Cloverfield is a found-footage monster film that surprised critics and audiences alike in January of 2008. The film breathed new life into the world of monster films. In the spirit of that highly secretive production, Abrams has produced yet another very hush-hush film this time with a first time director.

The Story: So for this film to be as effective as the filmmakers want it to be, you need to know as little as possible about this film. What I can explain without really giving any of the film away is that Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead Live Free or Die Hard) decides to run away from her longtime boyfriend in fear of the seriousness of the situation. During her fast escape, Michelle is a victim of a car accident and wakes up in a small concrete room. Her host is a man named Howard (John Goodman Monsters, Inc.), who explains to Michelle that she can’t leave because there has been some sort of chemical attack and she is safe with him in his bunker. Suspicions arise and mistrust begin to fill Michelle’s head as she learns bits and pieces of who Howard is and what his real motives for keeping her captive.

The Good: I was highly impressed with new director Dan Trachtenberg. Trachtenberg does such an amazing job keep his audience on the edge of their seat. Though most of this movie is conversation and little action, the intensity level in this film is always running very high. 95% of this film is a very subtle reminder of classic Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho) thrillers. This ferocity is also due to the magnificent performance of Goodman. Goodman’s character is so sure that he is doing the right thing, but Goodman is able to keep a great amount of mystery to his character that you forget that he may actually be telling the truth.

The Bad: If I really had to say anything negative about this film is that with as gripping as this film was, this film is forgettable. Even with the twist of the ending, 10 Cloverfield Lane is one of those movies that is great and exciting to watch but is one that you tell your friends was good but you yourself never really watch again. This is all I will say about this subject because it is a good film. I will give one spoiler to the film though and one thing that I didn’t like, this film has NOTHING to do with the 2008 monster film. This film is described as a spiritual sequel to Cloverfield and I truly think that only means that this was a massively secret production that Abrams was able to get away with.

The Verdict: As impressive as Trachtenberg and Goodman were in this film, unless they plan on sequels to this movie 10 Cloverfield Lane is good but easily dismissed. I can honestly say that I was glued to the screen during this movie as the film does an awesome job of keeping the audience’s attention. I suggest this for anyone that wants their blood pressure raised a little and any fan of John Goodman’s. Fans of the 2008 hit that this film was “spiritually” derived from, throw all of those expectations of this being a monster film out the window. This movie is different.

Worth Your Time.