10 Cloverfield Lane

10 Cloverfield Lane doesn’t really resemble the movie it is supposedly related to.  2008’s Cloverfield had two notable things about it: first, it was filmed in complete secrecy. When the first trailers started appearing, even few industry insiders knew it was coming. The other thing was how the movie was shot. The entire thing is handheld found footage. The premise is that a Godzilla-like monster attacks New York and a group of 20 somethings films the whole thing. Lots of bouncing, lens-flare filled footage of a monster as it passes between buildings six blocks away. It was a clever trick but just that – a trick. This approach was gimmicky, and distracted from than served the story. Cloverfield was a financial success, more than quintupling its 25 million dollar budget.

 

But 10 Cloverfield Lane doesn’t resemble its cinematic ancestor and doesn’t even appear to take place in the same version of reality. What it does resemble is an episode of the great, early 60s tv show, The Twilight Zone. At the height of the Cold War and racial tensions in America, writer and producer Rod Serling found that he couldn’t tell stories that dealt directly with the problems facing our country because censors and network forces kept watering down his work. So rather than fight for more literalism, Serling went the opposite direction and decided to tell his stories using science fiction and fantasy to veil his ideas. Racism, McCarthyism, gender stereotypes, and other touchy subjects were broached on prime time television through the use of things like aliens, flying saucers, and ironic trick endings. Serling correctly deduced that if real issues are addressed in fantastic ways, viewers were less likely to write angry letters and more likely to stand around the water cooler the next day and talk about what they saw.

 

So, 10 Cloverfield Lane is the story of Michelle, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, a young woman in the process of tearfully driving away from a relationship that’s just ended when she almost immediately gets into a horrendous car accident. When she wakes up, she finds herself in a grimy cinderblock room where her wounds have been tended to with outdated medical equipment. Oh, and she’s chained to the wall. Michelle discovers that she is in an underground bunker built by a man named Howard, played by John Goodman. Howard says he saw her accident and brought her to his bunker because while she was unconscious, there was an attack on the surface. He’s not sure if it was nuclear or chemical or if, as he says, “The Martians finally figured out how to get to earth.” So by bringing her to his bunker, he has actually saved her life twice. Of course, Michelle thinks Howard is a nutjob and that he’s abducted her. Complicating issues is the presence of Emmett, played by John Gallagher Jr. He’s a local who helped Howard build the shelter. He says he saw the attacks begin and came to the bunker for shelter. So what’s real? Who is telling the truth? Is Howard a captor or a savior? Could Michelle escape and if so, what is there to escape to?

The film is like The Twilight Zone in that it uses a sci fi premise to explore our present day anxieties. 10 Cloverfield Lane addresses very big end-of-the-world stuff like the possibility of chemical terrorist attacks in the U.S. right along with the very intimate fear of strangers and abduction in an increasingly dangerous world.

Also like a Twilight Zone episode, it has a surprise ending that I won’t give away here.

The story is lean and compact, and the performances are great. Mary Elizabeth Winstead convincingly plays Michelle as smart, resourceful, and terrified. John Goodman is criminally underappreciated and should be recognized for the fascinating performance he gives. The film relies on good writing, strong performances, and smart direction. See it. If you dare.