Wonderful Mystery with a Terrific Goodman Performance

Rating: Null/10 (22 March 2016)

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) wakes up from after a car crash and finds herself chained up inside some sort of room. Soon she's introduced to Howard (John Goodman) who claims he saved her life. He then explains to here that they're in an underground bunker with a second man (John Gallagher, Jr.) and that they won't be able to leave for several years due to some sort of attack.
10 CLOVERFIELD LANE pretty much came out of nowhere with very little fan fare, which is pretty amazing in today's world where it seems everything is known and discussed years before the actual film is viewed. This semi-sequel to CLOVERFIELD isn't anything like that picture and it's best that you view this film without knowing too much about its plot or everything that happens. With that said, I'm going to avoid going into too many plot details so that I don't give anything away.
Again, if you're expecting something like the original then get that out of your head because this film here is 97% mystery and it's a very impressive one at that. The entire set up takes place in this doomsday bunker but you never really know what's going on. Is Howard really a savior to these two people? If there really was an attack on the outside who was it from? Is Howard really just a creep and nothing happened on the outside? There are a lot of terrific questions asked throughout the picture and the viewer is pretty much as confused as the Michelle character because you really don't know what to believe and there are several twists and turns along the way.
Director Dan Trachtenberg does an extremely impressive job with keeping the viewer guessing throughout the picture. The screenplay is quite intelligent and it's a story that I really respect because in this day and age you simply don't get too many movies that make you think. Usually movies require one big action scene after another but this one here is basically a character study with a terrific mystery wrapped around it. It also helps that both Winstead and Gallagher, Jr. are so good in their parts. Winstead is extremely strong as this character who is constantly thinking about the situation she's in. Then there's Goodman who turns in a masterful performance. He really has a lot to do from acting like the good guy to being rather creepy to making you wonder what's really lurking in his mind. The actor perfectly captures all of these feelings and it's really wonderful how he keeps you constantly watching him and wondering what his motives are.
10 CLOVERFIELD LANE ends in a very impressive fashion but of course I'm not going to tell you what happens. The film works wonderfully well as a mystery and I loved the fact that it wasn't afraid to make you use your imagination as to what's going on.