FILM: 10 Cloverfield Lane
I’ve always remembered 10 Cloverfield Lane fondly. It’s sure to be found ranked high on my movie night lists and that’s probably because I so clearly remember how thrilling it felt to watch for the first time. The tension is palpable; fists clenched, throat tight, constantly questioning what you believe to be true.
Who, if anyone, can be trusted?
SUMMARY
When a woman flees the troubles of her life and her engagement she hits the road with no end in sight. But whatever hope of reprieve she has is summarily dashed in a sudden car accident. She awakens in a small, cinderblock room, on a deplorable mattress, chained to the wall at the leg. This alone is enough to make my stomach sink but then the steel door clanks open and in walks… John Goodman? He slowly begins to divulge that war has broken out -- apocalyptic, nuclear/chemical war -- and this is nearabout the only safe place left: an underground bomb shelter. Was it selfless “generosity” that led him to rescue our young, unconscious Michelle from her upturned car and chain her to the wall bring her to the safety of said bomb shelter or is it all a facade for something much darker?
THE GOOD SAMARITAN GONE BAD?
With every new scrap of information, I find myself turning it over and over in my mind only to find the incongruity maddening. As soon as I start to believe in the plausibility of this nuclear attack I remember the forced captivity. Let’s say you play the Good Samaritan and tend an injured soul in the safety of your subterranean shelter; well, that’s a gamble. Who’s to say they won’t misinterpret the circumstances and lash out like a cornered animal? Perhaps some simple restraint is warranted after all. Besides, it’s John Goodman. Don’t you dare tell me I can’t trust him. And yet on the other hand, what proof do we have? It’s apparently far too dangerous for Michelle to just waltz outside and see for herself and there’s no reception down here -- no means to contact the outside world (and quite possibly no one left, anyway). It’s the perfect catch 22 of isolation and all we have is the word of a stranger and a million swirling questions.
We find ourselves alongside Michelle trying to make sense of these life-altering revelations, constantly wading deeper into suspicion and doubt between our remarkably small cast. The moment we collectively begin to ease into a sense of strange security, one stray line of dialogue or ill-fitting explanation spins up the familiar coils of anxiety. Every clue seems to come as either definitive proof of this new reality or the undeniable smoking gun of sinister intent.
The thing about films like this (or even biblical parables like The Good Samaritan) is that once you know the truth, they lose a certain power, don’t they? I’ll never get to experience The Prestige with the same shock and awe I had in the mid 2000s. I’ll never again feel like a rain soaked sleuth uncovering the plot in Scorsese’s Shutter Island. I still absolutely adore those films but the threat is by and large disarmed by knowing the singular, iconic twist. Rewatching 10 Cloverfield Lane, though, I actually believe it still works. The impact does not rest on a single reveal, rather, it drags you through waves of conflicting emotions in an ocean of doubt. This, I think, is partly achieved through grounded, masterfully acted characters and partly through the deliberate writing of the script. Knowing what was to come, the measured dialogue frequently took on a double meaning and brought new layers of enjoyment to a repeat viewing. One word too many, you could spoil the balance of tension for first time viewers -- but get it just right, and you can enjoy a twisting film endlessly.
FRANCHISE DNA
That’s not the only way this rises above its station, however, because it is, in fact, the second installment of a franchise. “What’s wrong with that?” I hear you asking. Realistically there’s nothing “wrong” with a franchise film but I could probably list on one hand the sequels that actually supersede the first and are great on their own merit, not because of the affinity that its predecessor earned. 10 Cloverfield Lane, however, exists wholly as an independent story with nods to the shared larger Cloverfield world for those that remember -- something more akin to an easter egg the way a shared cinematic universe used to be (and clearly, I miss). It’s admittedly a matter of preference but I think you can often get better, original stories when the narrative comes first rather than the need to sew in all the connective tissue. Part of the reason we get that story-first treatment here is because, well, the story actually came first. It originally began as this ultra low-budget script entitled The Cellar and was eventually picked up for development where J.J. Abrams so adopted it because it was seen to come ingrained with such natural kinship to Cloverfield. The same “DNA” as Abrams put it in a 2016 interview where you can read more about this cinematic relationship.
Would it have worked simply as The Cellar or did it need the Cloverfield name recognition to get exposure? Though we’ll never know, it’s fun to imagine what that version of the film may have looked like. But when all these things come together, when all these stars are crossed, you get unique, standalone-franchise, re-watchable twist gems like 10 Cloverfield Lane.
