If audiences don’t perceive 10 Cloverfield Lane as being close enough to the original Cloverfield, cries of “cash grab” could abound from fans wanting a true sequel, no matter how good the movie itself is. Simply put, there would be no Jaws without Duel. He’s a great collaborator for Trachtenberg, who makes the most of the bunker. It’s not a theme; it’s a brand. The all-star voice cast includes Rachel McAdams, Paul Rudd, James Franco, Marion Cotillard, Benicio Del Toro, Jeff Bridges and Paul Giamatti. Although it has been adapted numerous times for stage, television and screen, this is its first time as an animated feature film. There are moments that made the audience collectively gasp, squirming in fear and delight. There’s a third occupant (John Gallagher Jr.), who is ill-defined to the point of being nearly inconsequential.
Advertisement
“What I loved most about her is she’s kind of badass from the beginning”, said Winstead, who starred in the Toronto-shot Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
Some of this is provided by Michelle’s fellow guest, Emmett (John Gallagher Jr, following his Short Term 12 co-star Brie Larson into the ‘trapped in a room’ sub-genre). And the three settle in for a taut, well-choreographed chamber play down in the bunker. Shortly after an evening pitstop for fuel, Michelle gets in a auto accident that sends her careening down an embankment.
So when Michelle’s journey is interrupted, and she wakes in an empty concrete room with her leg chained to a pipe, the pleasure of the scene comes in scanning her surroundings and working out what on earth she can do to escape – then realising she’s doing the same. The room is part of Howard’s underground shelter, where he says he dragged Michelle when disaster struck.
“Reading that, from promotional materials purportedly describing what’s up in “10 Cloverfield Lane”, one’s natural response is: “??!!!!” There is such confidence in how Trachtenberg tells his story that this doesn’t feel like a first film at all.
For Abrams, the director of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and an aficionado of all things geeky, “10 Cloverfield Lane” is his latest modern-day throwback to the suspenseful monster movies and science-fiction TV shows he grew up with. Even with the limited information the audience receives, we are invested and believe in this world that Trachtenberg and the screenwriters have created.
What happens next doesn’t have very much to do with Abrams and Matt Reeves’ stealthy found-footage monster mash from eight years ago. Honestly, the best thing about it may be its buzz-building top-secret tease of a marketing campaign.
About midway through the film set mostly in a bomb shelter built by an unhinged survivalist (John Goodman), the story loses some of its narrative energy and becomes repetitive. And with intentions so unclear, he flawlessly plays into the central mystery. The restless tone – one minute we’re in a psychodrama, the next a thriller, then all of a sudden we’re in full-on horror mode – is supported by the tightly-wound screenplay (which only really stumbles when it tries for banter). Mary Elizabeth Winstead brings an innate intelligence to whatever she plays, and it’s served her well in films in the past. “So much of what Mary had to do was nonverbal, yet we always know what she’s thinking”. Viewers are eager to see how the film connects to the original Cloverfield movie, and now they only have a few days to wait. It reminded me strongly of many wonderful science fiction and horror stories I read growing up, like Ray Bradbury’s “Dark Carnival” or Harlan Ellison’s “Strange Wine”, or Stephen King’s “Night Shift”. It’s a set-up straight out of Saw, and it’s the first time the movie throws us off balance.
Advertisement
Dan Trachtenberg owes “Whiplash” a big thanks.
