Review: 10 Cloverfield Lane

A woman departs, leaving behind her engagement ring. On the road to a new chapter in her life, she takes a call from her boyfriend, who pleads with her to return. She drives on in the night, stopping at a gas station. A car drives up, there's a sense of danger but nothing comes to pass. Moments later, she's driven off the road by a speeding pick-up truck.

When she awakens, she finds herself chained up in a basement bunker. Her captor declares himself her saviour. There's been an attack, he reveals, and the fallout has rendered the atmosphere toxic. Leave the shelter and she dies. Another survivor, a young man who is the man's neighbour, attests that he himself witnessed the flash of light that was a prelude to the catastrophe. Was there an attack? Is her rescuer telling the truth? Or is she the latest victim of her captor's sinister plan? The young man is Emmett (John Gallagher, Jr.), the woman is Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), the man in the bunker is Howard (John Goodman), and the film is 10 Cloverfield Lane.

The title is deliberate. Producer J.J. Abrams has described the film as a "blood relative" to Matt Reeves' 2008 found-footage monster film, a hit which Abrams also produced. Indeed, 10 Cloverfield Lane is more kindred spirit than literal sequel, capable of standing on its own to welcome newcomers but containing enough connective tissue to its predecessor to please the fans. If nothing else, 10 Cloverfield Lane is a clever way to continue and expand a franchise.

10 Cloverfield Lane does not straitjacket itself to the found-footage methodology of its predecessor, but it does shackle itself with something far more challenging. The premise is so simple that there is nowhere to hide. Save for the first and last five minutes, the movie takes place in the bunker which, given Howard's care in making it as homey as possible, is a fairly fine place to wait out the alleged apocalypse. Yet it also induces claustrophobic tension as Michelle wavers between accepting Howard's version of events and suspecting that all is not as it appears. The filmmakers (director Dan Trachtenberg and screenwriters Josh Campbell, Matthew Stuecken and Damien Chazelle) do an especially good job of executing the reveals. Is the photograph Howard shares with Michelle truly that of his daughter? Or is it of a girl who went missing years ago? What of the word "Help" scratched upon the windowpane?

Winstead makes for a resourceful and relatable heroine, though those who favour their heroines with an inner life may find Michelle lacking. The real star is Goodman, an always valuable actor who crafts an all-too-human monster. Like Anthony Perkins in Psycho, Goodman utilises his appearance and physicality to misdirect. [In many respects, 10 Cloverfield Lane functions as a variation of Marion Crane's fateful encounter with Norman Bates in Psycho.] Howard intimidates by virtue of his commanding girth and menacing hospitality in the same way Norman disarms with his country boy looks and slight build. Yet Goodman also conveys that there lies beneath the monster a likable man of reason who might have just let his paranoia get the better of him.

10 Cloverfield Lane

Directed by: Dan Trachtenberg

Written by: Josh Campbell, Matthew Stuecken, Damien Chazelle

Starring: John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Gallagher Jr., Bradley Cooper (voice)