Gimme Shelter

Rating: 8/10 (13 March 2016)

￼(RATING: ☆☆☆☆ out of 5)
THIS FILM IS RECOMMENDED.
IN BRIEF: A sequel that has its own life, 10 Cloverfield Lane is a nifty little thriller.
GRADE: B
SYNOPSIS: Trapped inside a bunker with strangers, an injured woman must decide which is the safer place for her.
￼JIM'S REVIEW: Less is more, especially when trying to solve a mystery. The fun is in unraveling the clues and following them to their logical conclusion. (It was Colonel Mustard, in the Conservatory, with a Candlestick.) No spoilers here! The less you know about the plot of 10 Cloverfield Lane, the more enjoyment you will have in this classic detective game.
￼With that in mind, I will only expose the set-up. Three characters are hold up in a bunker with the threat of world annihilation above. But is that really the case? Is the evil within or just out of reach? Which haven is the safer choice?
John Goodman plays Howard, the unhinged (or completely sane) master of the house. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is Michelle, his guest (or prisoner). It is essentially a two-character drama as tensions mount between them. John Gallagher, Jr., in a smaller role, plays Emmitt, the third party in this match-up.
￼Under Dan Trachtenberg's astute direction, all of the actors are solid. Their give-and-take with the characters pays off convincingly. The film mashes up the sci-fi genre with the mystery quite nicely. The damsel-in distress moments build to a frenzied and taut survival lesson, with some unexpected twists and turns along the way. Credit the creative screenplay by a trio of talented writers, Josh Campbell, Matt Stuecken, and Damien Chazelle. Their script wisely stays focused on the personal level between the characters and their apocalyptic dilemmas. The claustrophobic elements are front and center and add to the suspense, as does Stefan Grube's editing. Ramsey Avery's set-piece provides some wonderful insightful touches (and clues) in its home-sweet-home feel.
￼Like all mystery thrillers, the ending will either satisfy you or not, depending on how much you have personally invested in this charade and the believability in the film's narrative. (I was fine with the ending and found it did fulfill my expectations, with a few questions still unanswered, but then I am a stickler for logical sense in my thrillers.) 10 Cloverfield Lane combines all the attributes we require from psychological thrillers, sci-fi films, and horror stories quite efficiently which makes the film creepy fun.
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