John Goodman twerking isn’t the most terrifying thing in 10 Cloverfield Lane

Given the tricksy reputation of producer JJ Abrams and the cryptic description of the film as a ‘blood relative’ of 2008’s breakout monster movie, “10 Cloverfield Lane”’s greatest asset also actively works against it while you’re watching it, at least for the first time. You spend a considerable amount of time trying to second guess the movie, running the risk of missing out on a pair of terrific performances from John Goodman and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

Injured in a car crash, Michelle (Winstead) wakes to find herself in an underground fallout shelter owned by Howard (Goodman). At first fearful she has been abducted, Howard explains that there has been ‘an attack’ and the outside world is now contaminated. With them in the bunker is Emmett, a local man who had helped Howard build the bunker, but can Howard be trusted?

“10 Cloverfield Lane” is a film of many parts, some of which merge seamlessly together and others which feel – for better or worse – held together with duct tape and good intentions. For a good 75-80% of its 103 minute run time, it’s an unbelievably tense and riveting thriller, with shades of “Room” and “Misery”. Debut feature director Dan Trachtenberg makes the most of the claustrophobic setting and malevolently playful script to keep you guessing what the truth might be. Refreshingly free of manufactured jump scares and gratuitous shock moments, he allows a real visceral tension to inexorably build, ebbing and flowing but always creeping upwards. He’s helped by a pair of intensely gripping performances from Winstead and especially John Goodman. Although usually known for playing affable, likeable characters, there’s no denying that psycho Goodman is good, man. In fact, it’s Goodman’s inherent likeability which gives his character such chilling power as he is by turns solicitous and sinister.

Of course, there is a third act ‘twist’ which will ask you to make one Hell of a narrative leap and while it’s not entirely unearned, it’s unlikely to take everybody with it. Having mulled it over, I liked it. It’s a blackly comic punchline to what has come before it and it helped me understand what Abrams was talking about when it came to being a ‘blood relative’. There are all sorts of connective threads that link this film to the first “Cloverfield”: numerous Easter egg references to the world of the first movie and even peppered throughout the dialogue there’s a clear path to how the makers could firmly join the films together narratively if they chose to. Thankfully, there’s no aggravating shaky-cam found footage in this instalment but if the “Cloverfield” franchise grows to become simply an anthology of innovatively creepy, tense, sci-fi/ horror movies they will hopefully still share the same fundamental DNA: movies about cataclysmic world-changing events seen exclusively – and sometimes frustratingly – from the perspective of the little guy. There are no situation rooms, no strategic overviews and no assembled alliance of armed forces, just the ordinary person trying desperately to stay alive and it’s all the scarier for it.

10 Cloverfield Lane Review
Score 8/10


Hi there! If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up to get new posts sent straight to your inbox?

Sign up to receive a weekly digest of The Craggus' latest posts.

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

logo

Related posts

Fight Or Flight (2025) Review

Fight Or Flight (2025) Review

Chocks away for Hartnett's Bullet Train in the sky. It’s a good thing air travel is statistically the safest way to travel because if Fight or Flight were even remotely realistic, nobody would ever board a plane again. Josh Hartnett, rocking a peroxide blonde look that lands somewhere...

This Is 40 (2012) Review

This Is 40 (2012) Review

Can you have a feel-bad comedy? Is that a thing? I'm making it a thing. This Is 40 is a feel-bad comedy. There's nothing like a feel-good comedy to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. But can you have a feel-bad comedy? Is that a thing? I'm making it a thing. "This Is 40" is a...

Thor: The Dark World (2013) Review

Thor: The Dark World (2013) Review

Thor's muddled middle chapter is better than its reputation suggests It’s incredible that we’re already up to the eighth film in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, and the second sequel to 2012’s all-conquering “Avengers Assemble”. It really is a golden age for superhero movies, and...

Alien vs Predator (2004) Review

Alien vs Predator (2004) Review

Nobody wins, but it's a decent score draw. There’s a certain satisfaction in a film that knows exactly what it’s here to do and does it with unapologetic straightforwardness. Alien vs. Predator, directed by Paul W S Anderson, strides confidently into the arena with one simple mission: to...

Doctor Who: Dot And Bubble

Doctor Who: Dot And Bubble

Dot And Bubble sees Doctor Who confront the black and white nature social media Dot and Bubble slides into your Doctor Who DMs with the confidence of a fedora-tipping basement dweller and just like that overly solicitous (and hopefully not pictographical) overture it’s...

Non-Stop (2014) Review

Non-Stop (2014) Review

Neeson just won't quit with the high-concept action. With awards season winding down, the world’s multiplexes are once again opening up to a broader range of movie as we start the slow, inexorable march towards the summer blockbusterpalooza. It’s time for an action movie, and cometh the...

Congo (1995) Review

Congo (1995) Review

Come with me to darkest Africa and relive the guilty pleasure of Congo If a hippo took an apricot, a guava and a mango, stuck it all together and danced a dainty tango, I still doubt he and the rhino would have come up with a film quite as oddly enjoyable as CONGO, no matter...

Ratchet & Clank (2016) Review

Ratchet & Clank (2016) Review

Ratchet & Clank is forgettable fun. Veterans of more than a dozen video games, Ratchet and Clank are the latest pixelated characters to find the leap from platform pleaser to popcorn powerhouse is more than any double jump or button mashing can easily manage. When the galaxy is...