10 Cloverfield Lane [M]

After a severe car crash, Michelle wakes up on a mattress with a drip attached to her arm in a basement. Her saviour, Howard, informs her that a horrible attack has occurred, doubtless wiping out most of human society, but that she’s safe at least. However, the brace on her leg that’s keeping her chained to the wall tells her otherwise. 

I haven’t seen the found-footage movie Cloverfield that this film is obviously a precursor to, so I’m not going to be talking about it as such. I am going to be looking at this movie in terms of a thriller because, for me, that’s exactly what it was; and such a great one at that! 

Taking place, for the most part, within a confined setting, 10 Cloverfield Lane is a brilliant thriller that is also a great character exploration. Its power to hold its audiences hostage in their seats comes primarily from the hints that get dropped regarding these characters and the possible directions of the narrative. It’s a film where you really can’t pick where the story is going and there are so many twists and turns in the plot that really unsettle you, but that’s the great thing about it. You don’t want to miss a minute! 

The character development goes hand in hand with the indeterminable plot direction and the performances on top of that are fantastic. We have our leading lady and resourceful damsel in distress whose story is a freaky and nightmarish depiction of ‘out of the fire and into the furnace’. Beginning the film running away from something that was uncomfortable and hard to deal with, Michelle literally crashes into a situation that she can’t run away from, but has to fight her way out of. 

Her whole ordeal is made more interesting by her own internal struggles as she tries to come to grips with the conflicts of her situation. On the one hand, she is safe from a horrible fate that awaits her outside, as is made believable to her from a reliable witness character. On the other hand, she faces an ethical question of which is more preferable: does she take a chance at escape and facing the horror of what’s outside or does she stay and face the horror that is her saviour Howard. 

This leads us to the character of the villain. Quite early on, we’re given hints that Howard is an unstable character and probably a bit of a psycho. Indeed, his line “I saved your life, you better start showing me some respect” is eerily reminiscent of Kathy Bates in Misery. But we don’t get to see just how terrifying and damaged a character he is until much later in the piece. 

The suspense of the unknown that surrounds Howard is what makes this movie so enthralling because we’re convinced that at any moment he could do something incredibly violent or horrifying. The clincher is that we’re never really prepared for it. There are quite a few jump-startles and hands-to-face-coverages that occur as a result of Howard’s character and John Goodman’s performance is just superb in creating that suspense, anxiety, and fear for our lives. 

As a thriller this movie is fantastic, playing on the classic suspense-inducing tropes of isolation, the unknown, and the ethical question of trust, but that all gets a bit spoilt by the ending. I’m told that the ending was originally different to the one that hit cinemas and that the theatrical ending was a reshoot to sort of tie the film together with Cloverfield. Even if you haven’t seen said film, you get the feeling of this. 

The last 10-15 minutes of the movie took it away from being a thriller and turned it into something else and it really was just a whole lot of Cloverfield payoff. The film could have finished earlier at a crucial scene and then it would have been absolutely perfect! But no, they had to ruin it with ham-fisted allusions to Cloverfield and what’s coming. 

To be fair though, this is the only problem that I had with the movie. 

Starring John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Gallagher Jr., Suzanne Cryer, and the voice of Bradley Cooper, 10 Cloverfield Lane is a fantastic thriller that just keeps you paralysed in your seat. Filled with suspense, violence, drama, desperation, plot misdirection, and a little bit of comedy, it’s wonderful!