10 Cloverfield Lane
Starring: John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Gallager Jr.
Directed by: Dan Trachtenberg
Rated: PG-13
The ending. It can make or break an entire film. Some film endings are ambiguous. Some are sad, happy, musical, etc. Some film endings decide: what the heck! This is America, we do what we want. Let's completely disregard the first two acts of the film and pick a new genre for the last 15 minutes! That's what happens in 10 Cloverfield Lane and it's completely insane. Let me explain further:
10 Cloverfield Lane is about Michelle, (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) a woman who is involved in a bad car accident and wakes up in a bunker. There she finds two men named Howard (John Goodman) and Emmett (John Gallager Jr.) Basically this bunker is a hub for actors named John. It's clear that Howard is in charge. He claims to have saved Michelle's life when he found her on the side of the road. He tells her the air outside is contaminated due to some kind of attack so no one can leave the bunker. She is unsure if he kidnapped or saved her. As Howard's behavior becomes more unpredictable, Michelle tries to figure out the best plan for survival.
The acting in 10 Cloverfield Lane is very impressive. John Goodman is menacing as Howard. We don't know if he's telling the truth, blatantly lying or totally unhinged. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is great as Michelle. She's a capable and smart character who tries to understand what's going on and who she can trust. The two give the most memorable performances in the movie. John Gallager Jr. is good as Emmet, but he isn't given as much material to work with as Goodman and Winstead.
The first two acts of this movie play out like an intense psychological thriller. All 3 characters are stuck in a confined space for most of the runtime. This makes things quite unsettling. We never know if Michelle and Emmett can believe Howard or if he's making everything up. The mystery is very well developed. I kept trying to guess what would come next and then the plot would go in a different direction. I like when a movie keeps me guessing. The first two acts rely on the "kidnapped or saved" dynamic which is a really interesting theme.
Then the 3rd act happens. Wow. It completely ruins the movie. There is such a tonal shift from the first two acts that it takes the audience out of the movie experience. I won't talk about what happens because of spoilers, but you must know it is a horrible ending. They could've taken this ending in so many different directions and this was one of the worst outcomes.
Semi-Spoilers
Interestingly enough, this was originally a script called The Cellar. Paramount Pictures and J.J. Abrams production company, Bad Robot, bought the script and worked on some rewrites. These rewrites included reworking the ending so the movie could be a part of the Cloverfield world. (Cloverfield as in the 2008 found-footage movie.) I think this was a big mistake as the ending feels like a lame cash grab. I really would have liked to see the original script's ending to see if it all flowed better.
Spoilers over
For an hour and a half, 10 Cloverfield Lane is a well-acted, intense psychological thriller. However, I wouldn't recommend it because the film's jarring change in tone and overall resolution is very disappointing. My Rating: 5/10