Movie Reaction: 10 Cloverfield Lane

Formula: Room / Cloverfield

I remember Summer 2007, sitting in a theater, waiting for Transformers to begin, and this trailer for a movie – at least I thought it was a movie – starts playing. It was about a party going on during some sort of explosion or attack. I guess this Rob guy was moving somewhere. Then, explosions, “from producer JJ Abrams”, the Statue of Liberty's head comes barreling down the street, and – no title. Just a date: 1/18/08. So, of course, I remember January 2008, sitting in a theater, finally seeing Cloverfield, and loving it. Found footage was still underused at that point, and even still it's seldomly used for non-horror movies. I'll be the first to admit that a lot of the reason I enjoyed Cloverfield so much was the advertising campaign. The commitment to the mystery was so impressive. It didn't take much to get me excited for 10 Cloverfield Lane. Just the word “Cloverfield”, another trailer that dropped out of nowhere, and a mysterious premise.

I can't call Cloverfield a franchise, exactly. Based on the two movies, I'd have to say that Cloverfield is more of a classification. These movies are challenges to turn a gimmick into a feature film. The gimmick of Cloverfield, of course, is that it's a monster movie told as a found footage movie. I won't spoil what 10 Cloverfield Lane's gimmick is, but know that there is one and that I don't say “gimmick” as a pejorative.

What I can say about the movie is that it's a lot of fun. It starts with a woman, Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who is leaving her fiance and driving away from the city (New Orleans, I presume). She just wants to get away from it all. I don't know why and I don't particularly care either. Anyway, she gets in an accident, and when she wakes up, she's chained to a pipe in an underground bunker. The man who brought her there, Howard (John Goodman), is telling her there's been an attack and that he saved her. There's another man there, Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.), who insists that Howard saved him by letting him into the bunker. That's as much as I care to give away, but something isn't right about all this. Howard is hiding something and doesn't seem very stable. His claims are incredible yet some of them seem to be accurate.

10 Cloverfield Lane is a claustrophobic mystery movie. It's a very small movie that relies on terrific performances to maintain the tension. Goodman does great work. Howard is a complete loon and constantly imposing, but there's also times when he carries himself like a teddy bear who just wants to help people. It's a complex performance that makes the whole movie work. Winstead is one of those actresses I don't see enough of. She matches Goodman at every step. Michelle is very crafty and capable despite being at a massive information disadvantage. Gallagher adds just enough variance to keep things interesting. The fact that it's mostly a three person cast never felt limiting.

(Elephant in the Room) Don't expect this to be more than it is. The danger of having “Cloverfield” in the title is that some people will expect the wrong thing. This isn't a sequel. Don't go in expecting the same thing as Cloverfield. There's some twists, but really, if the previews don't look like a movie you'd like to see, don't see it. This isn't one of those movies where the trailer only covers the first 10 minutes, then it turns into something completely different.

That said, I enjoyed 10 Cloverfield Lane a lot. It isn't a perfect movie, but there's a sense of play that I love. It's an idea that I'd expect out of a film school project, except it has all the poise and polish of a studio production. Do yourself a favor. Remove all expectations and go see it.

Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend