(dir.
Dan Trachtenberg)
 |
| Paramount Pictures |
*Spoiler-Free
Review*
“It’s
not safe out there.”
There are few aspects of storytelling more compelling
than a genuinely surprising narrative twist. And if that twist can be built
upon a strong foundation of characterization and logical plot points, then
chances are high that this story is going to have a lasting impact, one that
lingers long after the last page is turned or the credits roll. The Twilight Zone was founded upon this
notion, so much so that decades later those brief episodes still rustle around
in our minds. It’s proven nearly impossible to replicate the genuine thrill of
that level of creative storytelling. In our current cinema landscape, driven by
scoops, announcements, set photos, and spoiled endings, surprises are hard to
come by, which is why the announcement of 10
Cloverfield Lane felt like such a gift. The idea that we could be taken
completely unaware by a movie announcement, eight years after Matt Reeves’ Cloverfield challenged everything we
thought we knew about pre-release build-up, was presumably a lost art form. And
yet, thanks to producer J.J. Abrams’ commitment to Mystery Box filmmaking, here
we are with another film that proves cinematic surprises are not just something
we crave, but something we need. And make no mistake, 10 Cloverfield Lane is a necessity for the future of filmmaking.
After waking up from a car accident, Michelle (Mary
Elizabeth Winstead) finds herself in an underground bunker with two men, Howard
(John Goodman) and Emmet (John Gallagher, Jr.), who tell her that the world
outside the bunker has become contaminated from a chemical attack…and everyone
she knows is dead. But life inside the bunker may be far more dangerous than
what lies outside, unless of course it’s not. 10 Cloverfield Lane is carefully built upon the audiences’
expectations and subsequent subversion of those expectations. While elements of
the plot may be familiar, this familiarity is only used to challenge both
characters and audience members’ presumed knowledge of genre tropes. Just when
everything seems to come together, a new piece of information is tossed in,
creating an ever-growing threat of possibility.
While 2008’s found-footage film Cloverfield managed to create a sprawling and cataclysmic sense of
horror as New York fell under attack from a giant monster, its spiritual
successor takes a different approach. 10
Cloverfield Lane is contained within the walls of the bunker, and while the
space is much smaller than that of its predecessor, this film still feels big.
This is partly because of first-time filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg’s keen eye for
spatial relations. When Michelle first wakes up in the bunker, she’s on a bed
and chained to a wall. Her phone lies several feet away from her, out of arms’
reach. Trachtenberg frames the scene in such a way that the room seems
cavernous, impossibly threatening in its emptiness and lack of resources.
Michelle is confined to this wall, and made small by the room and her mounting
anxiety. We return to this room throughout the film, and as Michelle’s
situation changes and she grows more comfortable with her surroundings, we see
the room for how it really is, small and harmless. The rest of the bunker is
given the same treatment, with a twist of course. Most of the space feels large
and open when the characters are at peace, and yet seems to shrink in upon
themselves as Goodman’s Howard takes up the room, not only with his impressive
size, but also his personality, which induces nothing but the essence of
paranoia. This film’s script may work under the rules of a bottle-drama, but its
direction feels just as a big and impressive as any sweeping journey through a
haunted mansion, or harrowing run through a ruined city.
Coupled with the direction is the mounting sense of
tension that’s carefully nurtured by the three performances. If Cloverfield was sheer panic in the face
of a massive attack, then 10 Cloverfield
Lane is the fear that another attack will happen. 10 Cloverfield Lane offers numerous jump scares, not born out of
cheap fake-outs, but because the film spends its time convincing us that danger
is not only real but that it’s everywhere. Even in light of all of its twists,
this film makes an early promise not to trick its audience, and the experience
is made all the more anxious because of that. Born of a Cold War fear of
“others” from “outside,” and a modern fear of the people who live next door or
with us, Trachtenberg’s film further establishes Cloverfield as a franchise that explores modern anxieties through
the lens of the monster movie. But the monsters aren’t simply what roam
outside, or even the ones we share a space with. Monsters are also our
inner-most fears that lead us to act against our best interests. Michelle and
Emmett define the millennial generation in their fear of their own future, fear
of commitment, and regrets about a life not lived to its fullest potential.
They’re both runners, who in the midst of this experience are forced to stand still.
Howard, on the other hand, has no regrets and is deeply committed to being
prepared in every way. He fears the future because he knows the past, yet we
and the characters fear him because we do not know or believe that past. This
film not only about pitting beings against each other, but also pitting
ideologies against one another and seeing what shakes loose.
Given this film’s namesake, it’s going to be
impossible not to compare this film to 2008’s. Is 10 Cloverfield Lane as good as Cloverfield?
No, it isn’t, but it never needed to be. This film is different from the first,
and yet acts as the next logical step in the most unexpected way. Those
expecting to see a direct continuation of the events of Cloverfield may find themselves disappointed, but those willing
will find connections far more satisfying. J.J. Abrams has suggested that for
now we can consider both this film and 2008’s film as an anthology series,
until future installments. An anthology is good way of looking at these films,
as one does not necessitate the viewing of the other, but the more I
contemplate these two seemingly separate films, the more connections begin to
arise. 10 Cloverfield Lane is a
puzzle with missing pieces (something the film heavily alludes to indirectly)
but if we’re patient and smart enough to follow along, the Cloverfield films could end up being the most innovative cinematic
universe we’ve seen.
We need films like 10
Cloverfield Lane, not simply because it’s original, but because it finds
original ways to discuss us in the
here and now, much in the way that Rod Serling did for the us of the 50s and 60s. By giving us characters who are delicately
human and smartly capable, 10 Cloverfield
Lane not only exposes our fear but also our hope, and manages to cherish
both attributes. This is a film that allows us to be surprised at the very
components that make up ourselves, and uses its twists not as a shock-factor
but to remind us of the communal experience of being human and surviving that.
In its careful balancing act of tone, genre, and characterization, 10 Cloverfield Lane is a reminder of why
we go to the movies.
Grade: A
