An incredibly suspenseful film

Rating: 8/10 (9 June 2016)

A really great tactic for beginner filmmakers to have is to be able to do so much with so little. In "Buried" (2010), the entire film was shot in a coffin, and for the most part, one actor was on screen. Despite this, the film turned out to be amazing. "10 Cloverfield Lane" mostly took place in a bunker, and there were 3 on screen actors for the most part. This film made full use of what it had to work with, and the film we got was a brilliant, tense thriller which had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end.
After a woman named Michelle wakes up in a bunker, she is told by 2 other men named Howard and Emmett that the world has ended due to a chemical attack, and that they need to stay down there until its safe to go outside again. Howard is the owner of the bunker, and he is the one who saved Michelle from the car accident. Emmett was someone who knew of the bunker Howard made, and he let him go inside it. Emmett also broke his arm while trying to get in. As the days go by, the owner of the bunker, Howard, begins to act unstable, and Michelle realizes that she has to escape at all costs.
Suspense is a great thing for a film to have as it can get someone super engaged in what's going on in the film. This film completely nails it on suspense. The outbursts that Howard undergoes are frightening, and I kept on thinking that he was going to pop in almost every scene with him. Also, one scene was so tense that my whole body tensed up when I watched it in the theaters. I was expecting Howard to pop, and I was on edge as it looked like he came so close to losing it. The scene concluded on something so unexpected that there was a huge sequence of positive reactions I had with it after it ended. That was the shining star for what the movie had to offer in terms of its wide selection of suspense.
However, I think that the biggest reason why the movie works so good in terms of suspense is because of how great the acting performances are. John Goodman (Howard) did the best job by far. He was frightening every time he entered on screen, and he had convincing reactions with his outbursts. Since most of the films suspense was centered around Howard's outbursts, it could have lost a lot of its impact if his performance was played by another actor. However, he was able to carry the movie excellently, and he made the film have a far greater impact than what it normally would've had.
The other actors did a great job as well. Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Michelle) played a strong, female character. She clearly undergoes a significant change by the time the ending comes along. This is made most clear by the ending. She delivers her lines with effort, and her emotions sound very realistic. John Gallagher Jr. sort of played a neutral character. He tried to assist Michelle, and it showed that he was just trying to get along with Howard. He seemed a bit easy-going, and it was nice to have a calm personality in the movie. The personalities of all 3 of the lead actors vary plentifully.
The biggest complaint people have with this film is its ending. I, too, was a bit letdown when I saw it in the theater. However, after I talked to a few people about it, one person I talked to changed my mind, and he convinced me that it actually compliments the movie pretty well. Just because the aliens aren't seen at any other point in the film doesn't make it any less of an alien invasion movie. The purpose of the final act is to give birth to a standard female hero. After she defeats the alien at the end, it is shown that she becomes this type of character due to her experience overcoming Howard. It's sort of like Ellen Ripley from the Alien franchise. This is why she chooses to help fight the aliens instead of traveling to Baton Rogue to be evacuated. This film essentially takes a standard alien invasion plot and tells it in a different way to generate a different kind of film which is not seen that often in today's horror films. Sure, the tone drastically changes, but I still think that it's a really good ending.
In conclusion, I cannot think of anything I disliked about this film. It seemed to hit every note perfectly. I think that "Cloverfield" was a pretty good monster film, but this one completely blows it out of the water. Considering how much it entertained me, this has potential to be one of, if not my favorite movie of the year. If you are getting tired of horror films and if you find them to be repetitive, I strongly recommend seeing this one as it is a lot more original than most horror films I've seen. It is the rare case where a sequel is way better than the original.