WOW! Remember what films were supposed to be like? You soon will!

Rating: 10/10 (11 May 2016)

As usual taking advantage of cheap Wednesday tickets, I relaxed in a not-very-full cinema to first enjoy the trailer for the long-awaited follow-up to "Independence Day" - a film I really loved. Hence I'm awaiting stage 2 with considerable anticipation - though also a bit of trepidation. I say this to make it clear that I've nothing whatever against many big-budget, special effects-packed films. But take away a zero or more from that and you get the intelligent and tense gem that is "Cloverfield Lane 10".
Normally I like including spoiling aspects, as it makes for a more fun analysis of a film, but here I'm deliberately a bit more circumspect. There is a lot to be enjoyed here, and more when one knows less...
This film is a little bit like two films tacked together, and it's paradoxical that you surely can "see the join", almost glaringly so. Yet there would be limited satisfaction without both aspects. So that's the first bit of "edge". The second - huge - bit comes with our 3 heroes stuck in a bunker which one is the brains behind and a total control freak clearly a bit unhinged, one is the builder of, but otherwise a bit ineffectual, and one is off the street completely; there entirely by chance. This gives the perfect frame for the "relevant knowledge and insight" that are a huge part of this film.
How bad really is the catastrophe they've gone underground to escape? Is there one at all? We are kept guessing, and the man with the fullest insight, holding most of the cards, is farmer-survivalist and ex US Navy man Howard. That's the part taken by John Goodman, and boy does he ever earn his fee! Personally, I've never seen him do better. The other (younger and less able) guy down there below ground is Emmett (played by John Gallagher Jr). With the best will in the world, this is not an especially demanding part, but it's very necessary in the context of the film, as we are made to realise extremely vividly.
Then our female lead is Michelle, sumptuously rendered by the excellent Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Now, by the second scene we are alerted to the fact that Michelle is a very nice-looking young woman. But she's not maybe quite a beauty queen, let's say. BUT... But... in Winstead's hands she comes over as such a resourceful, determined, gutsy person, almost a force of nature, that the more feisty and capable she becomes, the more sexy she appears! What a woman! It's really an impressive and superb transformation, but it's by no means the film's only one. Goodman's Howard goes up and down in our estimation like a yo-yo and it's great work. And when our triangle of characters get a bit settled in, and begin to mellow and get used to each other a little, it is quite surprising how tangibly and desperately we out here in the cinema are willing them on to make a go of it. And in this ocean of seriousness there are some remarkable lighter moments, when it really does look as if they might be able to ride out the storm for the 1-2 years Howard thinks it's going to take...
How three mismatched losers become winners and try to work together despite huge tension in the air... It's elemental, focused, claustrophobic, interesting, exciting, unpredictable film-making from Dan Trachtenberg and the writers. So much nuance, fear and, yes, fun out of apparently so little! There are numerous scares along the way, but a lot more besides about human nature; and also plenty of subliminal stuff about the true meaning of freedom and security.
As I've mentioned, we do get a reasonable number of answers after our patient wait (and even a beautiful and touching vignette of humankind-and-nature stuff much appreciated). So - thank goodness - the "leave them wanting more" approach that many Directors seem to regard as art (rather than the torture and frustration it often appears to the audience) was eschewed. But - guess what? I STILL wanted more. They could have added another 20 to the 103 we got and it would have been all to the good. Ah well, nothing is quite perfect, but Cloverfield Lane comes pretty close as a piece of the film-maker's art.
For sci fi fans it's a must-see of hugely effective minimalism, but I would hazard a guess there's many a "normal person" out there who would also appreciate this piece of crisp, well-acted, hyper-tense drama.
Very well done!