“10 Cloverfield Road” is not to be confused as a sequel to the 2008 monster horror film “Cloverfield” though there is a resemblance in between the title of these two. This film comes under the banner of J.J.Abrams’ “Bad Robot Productions” in collaboration with Paramount Pictures which have also produced the original “Cloverfield” film.
The film begins with Mary Elizabeth instead ’s “Michelle” preparing her luggage to leave the house over an argument with boyfriend. She drives her car quite recklessly only to find out that the car skids and everything else fade out from the eye. Waking up , she realised to be alone in a kind of underground bunker with her legs chained to a pipe. Panic strikes her immediately which results in a vague but desperate attempt getting herself free.
This context is enough for John Goodman’s character “Howard” to appear who introduces himself to Michelle as her life-saver friend. He told Michelle further that the atmosphere outside is intoxicated and no one else them is alive outside due to some nuclear or chemical attack. Michelle is also get introduced to the other character Emmett in the bunker while checking out the place out of curiosity.
Goodman is brilliant to watch whereas Elizabeth kinda underperforms given the scope of her character . John Gallagher Jr. has done his job seamlessly. From the early moments on, the subtle sexual tension between Michelle and Howard can be observed which proves it’s existence in the perfectly executed dinner-table scene. Howard switches his character from a control freak to a no-nonsense man throughout the movie and it gives the viewers a tough choice to believe or doubt his statements.
First-time director Dan Trachtenberg has tried to maintain a Hitchcockian pace in the movie and the outcome is pretty good. Sometimes It feels almost claustrophobic drowning in the suspense.There is a sudden genre change in the climax of the movie that would leave the viewers empty-mouthed.
However, the genre change may confuse the audience because the strong message Trachtenberg tried to convey through the genre shift is not simple enough to catch. But as a matter of fact, if you have watched the movie carefully from the beginning , you would probably sense the theme of the movie camouflaging much earlier. Though it’s not a classic,“10 Cloverfield Road” can easily be considered as a weekend watch.
Cast: John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead , John Gallagher Jr.
Director : Dan Trachtenberg
Image Source: 10 Cloverfield Lane/Twitter
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