Review by C.J. Bunce

Chances are you skipped 10 Cloverfield Lane when it hit theaters this March 11.  It was one of those movies with a cryptic trailer.  In a world where trailers typically give too much away, this one left you thinking John Goodman was some kind of rescuer of two others in a dystopian underground quonset hut.  But once you’ve seen it, you realize you were better off not having an explanation.  Why?  Spoilers.  10 Cloverfield Lane is now available on Blu-ray, pay cable and streaming services.

It’s the ultimate horror story.  A woman, played by fan favorite Mary Elizabeth Winstead in a smart and resourceful role, wrecks her car and awakens tied to a post in an underground bunker with two men.  The older man, played expertly by John Goodman in a performance that would have garnered him an Oscar nod a decade ago (think Kathy Bates in Misery), claims that the outside world is gone, victim to a chemical attack.  Maybe it’s the Russians.  Maybe it’s aliens.  Maybe he’s a psycho.  Or maybe its zombies.  But we know the movie has the word Cloverfield in the title and is produced by J.J. Abrams, so what’s really going on here?  Does it have anything at all to do with J.J. Abrams’s 2008 monster movie Cloverfield or not?  Is there some sci-fi element lurking around the next corner?  Or is it just a street address, much like Abrams includes the name Kelvin in all his movies?

All will be revealed in time.

10 Cloverfield Lane is an expertly paced mystery, plunging you into the question “what genre is this movie?”  It’s that question that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last scene.  Fans of M. Night Shyamalan movies will fit right in here, and at times you get the feeling that Shyamalan is somewhere behind the scenes.  When is the revelation coming?  Who is telling the truth?

Is it part Wayward Pines, part Wrong Turn, part Misery, part The Walking Dead, part Attack the Block, or none of these?  Drama… humor… action… mystery… and maybe sci-fi?  This one is simply too hard to pass up.  If you’re claustrophobic, you might run from this one.  But you’ll be missing a weird, wild, interesting ride.

And saying any more would give away too much.

10 Cloverfield Lane is now on Blu-ray, DVD, and major streaming services.

#filmrev