Intense from beginning to end

Rating: 8/10 (22 March 2016)

Like everyone else, I was taken by complete surprise when the movie was announced less than two months ago with a trailer and everything. No-one knew it even existed until then, and it's sudden appearance brought on a whole host of questions. The film's ultimate lure was by not telling you anything, and remaining mysterious. That was enough for me to get more excited about this movie than that big blockbuster featuring one of my favourite characters released at the end of the week. Just a note on spoilers, I avoid spoiling anything as best I can, and make efforts to hide anything major, but you are warned that this movie is best enjoyed knowing nothing.
10 Cloverfield Lane is a movie that encourages you to constantly question what you see and what you're told. It throws twists and turns at you from all angles, sometimes suddenly, out of the blue, to loud and shocking results. To say that 10 Cloverfield Lane is unpredictable is an understatement. Things just unexpectedly happen from the very offset, and you're never sure what or when something is going to happen next. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and off- balance. For as many questions as it poses, it makes sure all the major ones are answered by the movie's end. However the story's only real fault is with it's climax. Even when knowing about the movie's external context, and taking note of the hints and clues subtly laid out in the build up, the ending still comes off as a bit far-fetched. While it does play as a little ironic, it just feels completely out-of-place with the tone and direction of the rest of the film that precedes it.
Being a movie that largely takes place in an underground bunker, it's entertainment value is entirely reliant on the dialogue and the acting work. Thankfully, 10 Cloverfield Lane is a massive success in both regards. Mary Elizabeth Winstead brings her A-game as Michelle. After a car accident, she finds herself chained to the wall of an underground bunker and told that the surface is unsafe due to chemical or nuclear attacks. Winstead plays her suitably suspicious and distrusting. She's even a little manipulative over her cohabiters to ensure she can not only find the truth, but also live to tell the tale. She often holds her suspicions and fears just beneath the surface. John Gallagher Jr. is also pretty good as Emmett, the other, younger guy in the bunker. He's not too sharp, but Gallagher doesn't play him as a complete idiot (you never go full retard). He's a funny guy with a soul and good heart, and his character brings a much needed lightheartedness to the otherwise claustrophobic and grim tone of the rest of the movie.
However, even amongst such great performances from his co-stars, John Goodman shines like a shiny diamond. It's easy to forget how good an actor he really is, but 10 Cloverfield Lane is here to remind us. As Howard, the conspiracy nut who built the bunker. With a history in the Navy and working with satellites for a certain Japanese company, it's easy to understand where his conspiracy stance may stem from, and lays the seeds that he might actually be right. Besides, Goodman plays him like an older version of a thirty year-old who lives in his mum's basement. This gives him a creepy and anti-social persona that puts you on edge towards his true intentions. However he injects enough humanity and soul into the performance that Howard is more than just an antagonist. He's sympathetic enough that he could be genuine and just misunderstood. You feel Howard has a full and deep history just from Goodman's performance alone.
Oh yeah, almost forgot, what's it's relation to Cloverfield? No idea. At this point with JJ Abrams, it's hard to tell if he's narratively connecting movies together, or just putting the same easter eggs and references into them for fun and to watch the internet explode. There's a strong theory supporting the subtle sequel idea, but there's also a few points that just fly in the face of any outright continuity. Ultimately, you'll just have to see it and judge for yourself, but either way 10 Cloverfield Lane stands perfectly fine by itself without relying on any other movie.
I won't rattle on too long (I don't think I could without delving too much into spoiler territory), so I'll leave it there and keep it concise and short. It's a tense thriller that will plunge you into eternal suspense, driven by complex characters and spectacular performances. I give it a very good 8/10 (although subsequent rewatches may well bump it up a bit; it's a movie that begs to be watched more than once).