The "Blood Relative" to 2008's CLOVERFIELD is a Surprisingly Effective Thriller

Rating: 8/10 (10 May 2017)

In a world of unnecessary sequels to movies that no one asked for, J.J. Abrams and director Dan Trachtenberg snuck in under the radar to show us how to do it right. 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE came out of nowhere and blew everyone away, scoring highly with critics and audiences. I have to imagine the fact that this movie was barely publicized until it was ready to drop really gave it a boost. I seriously doubt anyone was walking around prior to its release saying, "You know what movie really needs a sequel? That 'found footage' POV monster movie from 2008." I know I never would've considered it, and I was a fan of that movie. Meanwhile, forces behind the scenes were crafting a new installment that, really, isn't so much a sequel as perhaps instead another tale in some sort of CLOVERFIELD anthology series. Aside from the title (in this case, referring to an actual street in the film) and the usual reference to Slusho you find in any J.J. Abrams project, there is nothing to connect 10 CLOVERFIELD LAND to its predecessor. The fact that Abrams and Paramount didn't come out and announce production on a CLOVERFIELD film meant that there would be no hype machine to start placing potentially unreasonable expectations on the film that might lead to audience disappointment. They were able to create the film they wanted to create without the movie news media breathing down their backs for spoilers and drop it in our laps.
The love for 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE is certainly warranted. Just as the first film told a science fiction story from an unusual perspective, this one dips its toe in that same format by placing the audience in the middle of some doomsday apocalyptic scenario from the cozy confines of an underground bunker. Or is it? That is the crux of the majority of the film that focuses on Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), an aspiring fashion designer who's just run out on her fiancé. As she's driving through Louisiana to put some distance between her and her ex, she's involved in a horrible car accident and awakens in the underground survival bunker of Howard (John Goodman). She's rightfully terrified at first of Howard's intentions but he proceeds to explain that there's been an attack on the United States. Some sort of biological weapon had been utilized that's made the surface unlivable and, gee, wasn't it just great luck on her part that Howard found her, brought her to the bunker, and nursed her back to health from her injuries? The only other survivor in the bunker with them is a man named Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.) who had helped Howard build the bunker, and he only knows what Howard's told him about the mysterious events that've led them here. It's a lot for Michelle take in and it's made a little harder to accept due to Howard's increasingly bizarre, menacing behavior. Was there really an attack? Or are these two prisoners?
About 80% of this movie plays out in the one location and that could mean disaster for some movies, but 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE makes it work with some top notch production design and cinematography to make the most of the limited space, and with fantastic performances from Winstead and Goodman. Winstead does a fantastic job as the film's hero but Goodman steals the show. His performance here is one of the best he's ever done. Howard is a complex character whose intentions we can only guess at for a while before they become crystal clear, and Goodman plays it so perfectly that, even having watched this movie twice now, I still can't stop being drawn in to his character. He comes across as an awkward, lonely man who is incredibly proud of himself for having been prepared for this scenario and, seeing as how he's saved the lives of these two young folk, expects them to live by his very strict rules. But there's always that nagging doubt that something isn't right with him and, just when you think you've got him pegged as a con artist, the movie reveals some nugget of truth behind what he's told them. It keeps you guessing as to whether something disastrous has really occurred on the surface and Howard is just a bit of a creep, or whether the "attack" is all a lie to keep Michelle and Emmett as willing prisoners to a dangerous psychopath in this man's isolated underground concrete prison.
All of that is amazing. Everything in the bunker is just great and I would've been fine if the movie ended when that was all resolved, but there's still another twenty minutes or so after that where everything goes a little nuts. For me, the story was all about Michelle and Howard and the science fiction stuff was just added spice to an excellent story. We didn't need a whole section with just the spice. You ever eat a spoonful of turmeric? It's unpleasant. And that heaping spoonful of sci-fi craziness at the end of 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE sours it a bit. But don't let that concern you (assuming you're reading this before having watched it) because it's not enough to ruin the overall fun of this surprise unnecessary (but very welcome) "sequel".