This years ‘film we didn’t know we wanted’ comes out in sneaky fashion early on in 2016.
10 Cloverfield Lane follows the story of Michelle (Mary Elizabeth) who has an argument and suspected separation with her fiancé Ben. Michelle leaves home and drives through the night into rural Louisiana. Whilst driving, she has a car accident and upon waking she finds herself in a bunker being nursed back to health by local creep/survivalist Howard (John Goodman). Howard informs Michelle there has been an attack on America and it is in no way safe to leave the bunker at any time due to possible poisonous nuclear gas. Michelle, along with a fellow survivor Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.) are completely left in the dark as they attempt to decipher what is happening in the outside world - if anything at all.
10 Cloverfield Lane, originally named The Cellar, is a tense and atmospheric affair, and for the most part plays out more like a stage production. The three leads are perfect, and they rival the Blair Witch Project’s three actors in terms of mood and desperation. The characters mirror the film’s tonal shifts perfectly as they begin to uncover secrets which create doubt in your mind that wasn’t there just moments before.
John Goodman in particular gives a performance that will no doubt induce nightmares, while Mary Elizabeth is commanding as the movies central hero. However, the best of the film is in its realistic setting and engaging dialogue. Just when you think everything might be starting to settle down a bit, it jumps into even fiercer psychological knife twisting.
What’s also great is that it doesn’t really matter whether or not you enjoyed - or even watched Cloverfield (2008). This “sequel” couldn’t be any more different to the original Cloverfield if it tried. Thanks to the little hints throughout, you’ll likely spend most of your time attempting to figure out if this actually does take place in the Cloverfield universe, or whether you’re being duped by smart Hollywood marketers.
That aside, rarely does the film let you think about what might be happening above the bunker, as it perfectly captures the horror that can be created from within.
Now, where it loses points is with its ending - it’s as if it becomes an entirely different film. Once you’ve exited the theatre you’ll probably come up with 3 or 4 different endings that would’ve been far more suitable to the movie’s overall psychological ambiguity. It’s put perfectly by the protagonist as she casually mumbles to herself; “Oh, come on…”
That’s all I’ll say about that, I don’t want to scare you off. Revel in not knowing much. Go watch. Now.
I give 10 Cloverfield Lane 4 games of Taboo out of 5.
Review By. Rylan Dawson
