Director Dan Trachtenberg describes 10 Cloverfield Land as a “spiritual successor” to 2008’s Cloverfield—a found footage, disaster flick about a group of young adults escaping a giant monster attack on New York City—which is a fairly accurate description towards the film. 10 Cloverfield Lane is very different from Cloverfield, in both plot, perspective, and genre. The only real similarity between them is the alien-monster attack, and even that has several alterations. This is neither a disparagement towards the original nor the “sequel”, but an indisputable fact that both films are very different, yet offer very enjoyable concepts. Cloverfield is a pure popcorn flick: exciting, thrilling, and mindlessly entertaining. 10 Cloverfield Lane is more a combination between 10% War of the Worlds and 90% Misery: offering a fleshed out story, fleshed out characters (all three of them), actual character development, great performances, and an engaging, well-constructed sci-fi thriller. The two are like day and night, though if I had to pick between them, 10 Cloverfield Lane would win as the superior film.
10 Cloverfield Lane features a minimalist cast of three essential characters. The first is Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a quick-thinking woman with a habit of running from difficult situations. After suddenly deciding to leave her fiancé (who, oddly enough, is voice cameoed by Bradley Cooper) after an argument, Michelle is run off the road, crashing in a ravine. She mysteriously wakes up chained in an underground bunker owned by Howard Stambler (John Goodman), a former Navy man who has spent years building the bunker in preparation for an end-of-the-world scenario. Howard informs Michelle there’s been a terrible, widespread alien attack—the surface air now being infected with poisonous radiation—but that she’s safe now in his underground fallout shelter. Naturally, Michelle thinks her unsettling captor is lying, though to the audience (who more than likely saw the original) his information seems more plausible. The film soon confirms Howard’s honesty, with Michelle viewing firsthand that something terrible has indeed occurred—and is still occurring—up on the surface. Michelle (now unchained), Howard and Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.)—Howard’s field hand who joined him (much to Howard’s dismay) before the attack—soon get accustomed to their new living environment, yet paranoia and uncertainty start again as Michelle and Emmett begin questioning Howard’s motives and sanity.
10 Cloverfield Lane’s first noticeable difference from Cloverfield is it isn’t filmed from a first-person perspective. While the film still has its thrilling, shaky-cam moments, it can be remarkably calm and composed at times—allowing its small cast to grow and develop as three-dimensional characters (an aspect the original most certainly did not have). Michelle is a female horror/thriller protagonist who was once rare before the turn of the century, yet has been gradually appearing more frequently in films: she’s smart, doesn’t scream at every little fright, and has common sense. When first waking up in the bunker, Michelle naturally panics at the disturbing new environment she’s chained to: frantically tugging at her cuffs in a vain attempt to reach for her phone on the other side of the room. Within the next few moments, Michelle silently goes through various stages of emotion regarding her current situation: first she freaks out, then hits despair, followed by reluctantly accepting her situation, composing herself, regaining determination, and, finally, taking thought out action.
It’s clear from this sequence alone the writers’s know how to craft a character, and kudos to Winstead for clearly emphasizing every thought going through Michelle’s mind. Michelle uses a connected IV pole to reach her phone; when the phone doesn’t get reception, Michelle sharpens one of her given crutches into a spear, starts a small fire in the ventilation, and waits for her captor to rush in. The plan nearly succeeds if not for her leg injury making it difficult to escape. The film makes it a point to emphasize Michelle’s resourcefulness and quick thinking, which comes into play frequently during its explosive finale.
John Goodman delivers a great performance, though it comes as little surprise considering he always delivers great performances. The difference between his role in 10 Cloverfield Lane and the majority of his other roles, is here, Goodman has a leading part. It’s a sad truth, but Goodman’s frequent casting as secondary characters makes his skilled and diverse range of acting underappreciated by the general public. Here’s an actor whose casting has ranged from a kindhearted, furry monster, to a gruff, no-nonsense film producer, to a psycho, neo-Nazi serial killer—all three roles being effective and memorable. This decade alone, Goodman’s been in four films that made my top twenty of the year (The Artist, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Argo, and Flight), three which made my top ten. Some may argue Goodman’s roles weren’t significant enough to affect these films’s quality; I’d counter-argue how each one of these roles left a memorable impact, and did nothing but improve on the films’s overall quality.
No one, however, can argue John Goodman’s significance here: with Howard being his most prominent character since Sully from Monsters Inc./University, as well as his most disturbing persona since Charlie from Barton Fink. Howard is a startlingly realistic character, acting similar to several people I know in real life. The film builds up an air of ambiguity surrounding Howard that, up till the end, makes his motives and alignment questionable. When composed and happy, Howard seems almost normal, yet there’s something that always feels somewhat off. The man has a one-track mind on how people should behave, with little tolerance towards conflicting ideals. Howard doesn’t like cursing, believes in expressing gratitude towards good deeds (mainly his), and when he believes something, his belief is always correct. When angered, Howard displays a disturbing amount of rage—rage that can erupt from either minor or major actions, leading to some tense, uncertain situations.
SPOILERS BEGIN: When Michelle and Emmett begin planning to leave the bunker—secretly building a makeshift Hazmat suit—it’s vague whether Howard suspects anything. When playing a game of Pyramid, Howard begins his turn saying “I’m always watching you”, with his off-personality making it unclear whether it’s part of the game or a warning. As Emmett falters to answer, Howard gets increasingly more aggressive in his “clues”, “I’m everywhere! I see you when you sleep!” Michelle, once again showing her keen instinct, realizes what he’s referring to, “Santa Claus!”, ending the tense scene on a humorous, dark comedy moment. The only thing worse than Howard showing anger, is when Howard doesn’t show anger, particularly towards something he usually would: displaying a single-minded calmness which, in essence, could be considered the purest embodiment of wrath. SPOILERS END
10 Cloverfield Lane mixes witty dark comedy in-between the tension, such as a montage of the trio performing various activities (finishing puzzles, playing board games, watching movies) while Tommy James and the Shondells’ I Think We’re Alone Now plays in the background, or when Emmett jokes how they finally have enough free time (1-2 years he predicts) to get at least halfway through a game of Monopoly. These scenes bring a false sense of comradery between the three, making the sudden thriller elements all the more disturbing.
It’s interesting how I can write so much about 10 Cloverfield Lane, yet scarcely touch upon the science-fiction, monster-alien element. The reason is because unlike Cloverfield—where the monster element takes precedence to plot and character—10 Cloverfield Lane doesn’t reveal them till it’s thrilling finale, which, by the way, takes place after a previous thrilling finale (that’s two thrilling finales for the price of one!) It’s 10 Cloverfield Lane’s surprise monster-alien element that, if anything, makes being a spiritual sequel advantageous—allowing the reveal to be far less ridiculous. Yet 10 Cloverfield Lane can easily stand on its own as an engaging sci-fi thriller: containing a unique, well made plot, fleshed out characters, character development, and two remarkable performances from Winstead and Goodman.