10 Cloverfield Lane

Is 10 Cloverfield Lane really a sequel to Matt Reeves’s 2008 found footage sci-fi?

The Cellar, the story the script is based on, isn’t in the same fictional universe as the 2008 Kaiju outing and producer JJ Abrams, who has claimed this as a ‘spiritual successor’, only gave the film its current title shortly before release. 10 Cloverfield Lane is certainly closer to Cloverfield that say, Troll 2 is to Troll, but it is almost an entirely separate entity in style, story and theme.

Good movie, though.

Michelle (Winstead) packs up her things and flees New Orleans, ignoring phone calls from an apologetic ex as she drives into the country. Distracted by another call, she crashes the car and wakes up in an underground bunker chained to the wall. Weirdo Howard (Goodman) unlocks the steel door and explains, in frustratingly broad terms, that there has been an attack and that bringing her here has saved her life. She’s not the only one: injured Emmet (Gallagher Jr.) somewhat allays her fears that while Howard is kooky, irritable and a “black belt conspiracy theorist,” he’s no kidnapper/rapist. However, as time in the bunker goes on, and Howard becomes increasingly paranoid, Michelle and Emmet begin to think that maybe venturing topside is a good idea…

Forget Cloverfield. This has more in common with The Mist: holed up in relative safety for now, the protagonists are at a loss to explain the otherworldly goings on outside and soon tension and paranoia ensures they turn on each other. The writers – five in all with Whiplash on some CVs – do what they can to first convince and then doubt that Howard is on the level (It’s a gas attack… it’s Russians… it’s Martians). Where they missed a trick though is to work away at Winstead, letting her exhibit signs of paranoia herself and so create more confusion as to who exactly is going bananas. After a steady and patient build up events do get too hot too quickly towards the end as first-time director Dan Trachtenberg seems to get bored with shooting indoors.

With just three actors in the mix, the film pulls attention away from Trachtenberg’s unshowy style to the performances. Goodman has fun as Howard, veering from decent to psychotic at the drop of a hat (his hulking frame makes him a potential threat throughout), while Winstead has a steely yet nervous quality that’s hard to balance. John Gallagher Jr is underused.

It’s itchy, uncomfortable stuff, it doesn’t have a lot of good things to say about people and its sequel status is ropey at best, but 10 Cloverfield Lane is a fun B movie.