Review of 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) by Seraphic W — 29 Dec 2016

I'm not gonna lie, at first, I was like "Yeah, let's watch this for Goodman, the guy's a legend, I can bare some mediocrity just for the sake of his acting." And then I was glued to the screen, feeling way more entertained than I had any right to be by a movie shot almost in its wholeness within the tight, claustrophobic periphery of a conspiracist's fort.

10 Cloverfield Lane legitimately blindsided me with its intensely interesting premise, managing with surprising ease to keep my fickle mind from wandering off.

Twist after twist is being injected in just the right moments, saving the project from spamming us to viewer's numb apathy. Instead, it keeps it intelligent and fresh, at first pushing the boundaries of the classics with a blatant throwback to The Silence of The Lambs and a soft kiss on the lips of Misery.

Soon after, and much to my surprise, it treads off into uncharted lands, descending darkly into an amalgam of genres; from drama to suspense and horror, all the way to sci-fi absurdity - but always brushed with a feather-light, cautious, Hitchcockian touch.

Is it a sequel? A prequel? Does it have anything at all to do with Reeves' 2008 Cloverfield? I don't know and I don't really care. This film is proudly standing on its own two feet, smirking at the audience with the middle finger lifted to all writing and filming tropes - and the acting bigger than the disaster bunker's galvanized confines could possibly withstand.