“10 Cloverfield Lane”

Movie Review

The 2016 American science fiction psychological horror film 10 Cloverfield Lane was written by Josh Campbell, Matthew Stuecken, and Damien Chazelle and directed by Dan Trachtenberg. It was also produced by J. J. Abrams and Lindsey Weber. Starring in the second installment of the Cloverfield franchise are John Goodman, John Gallagher Jr., and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. The plot centers on a young woman who, following a car accident, awakens in an underground bunker with two guys who insist that something has happened to render the Earth's surface uninhabitable.

The Cellar was the original script from which the movie was adapted, but Bad Robot's production company transformed it into a Cloverfield-inspired movie. In contrast to its predecessor's found-footage approach, it is presented as a third-person narrative.

After a fight with her fiance Ben in March 2016, Michelle hastily packs a suitcase, abandons a diamond ring, and leaves New Orleans. Ben calls, pleading with her to come back as she is driving through rural Louisiana at night. reports of blackouts in numerous important cities in the news. Suddenly struck, her automobile flips off the road.

Michelle discovers she is chained to the wall and has a broken leg as she awakens in a concrete room. Howard enters and releases her from her bonds. He reveals that there had been a tremendous attack, possibly by Russians or Martians, and that he had found her crash and brought her to his subterranean bunker in order to save her life. She subsequently attempts to ambush him but is unsuccessful. He informs Michelle, who is hesitant, that they cannot go for one or two years because the outside is dead and the air is poisoned.

Michelle is given a tour of the well-stocked bunker Howard created, which is home to Emmett, a third occupant whose left arm is in a sling. She sees Howard's two decomposed pigs outside through a viewport, but she also notices Howard's truck and is reminded of how it knocked her off the road. She tells Emmett about this in private, and he brushes it off. He claims he witnessed the attack firsthand and was injured while attempting to gain entry to the bunker, which he had assisted Howard in the building.

At their first meal together, Howard displays limited tolerance for Emmett as well as moments of fury and jealousy. His anger causes Michelle to take his keys, but just as she is about to open the exterior door, a woman covered in sores bursts through, pleading to be allowed inside. Frightened, Michelle turns away. Howard acknowledges that in his haste to reach the bunker, he unintentionally hit Michelle's car. When she cuts Howard on the forehead, she stitches it up while Howard confides in her about his daughter.

The group starts to get used to living underground. After a loud object passes overhead, the air ventilation system breaks down, so Howard sends Michelle through a tiny duct to turn it back on. She discovers an earring she had seen in a picture Howard had shown her of his daughter in the mechanical room, along with a padlocked skylight with the word "HELP" etched inside. She tells Emmett about it, and he immediately recognizes the young woman in the image as a local girl who had vanished two years previously. When they decide to get assistance, Michelle starts constructing a temporary hazmat suit so one of them can leave.

Howard threatens to submerge Michelle and Emmett in perchloric acid after discovering some of the covert gadgets they are utilizing for their scheme. Emmett admits guilt, saying he was creating a tool to use to steal Howard's pistol and win Michelle over. Before shooting Emmett in the head, Howard accepts his apologies and tells Michelle, who is astonished, that they can now start a family of two. Michelle tries to complete the costume as Howard does the cleanup. When she escapes when he finds the suit, she is able to spill the acid from the barrel onto him, disfiguring him and igniting a fire. She slips on the suit and barely makes it outside. She takes off her gas mask as she notices birds flying overhead, but after doing so, she notices an alien biomechanical craft floating in the distance. The craft turns toward her and drops off a quadrupedal creature as the bunker erupts. In order to avoid the beast and the flammable green gas the craft is emitting Michelle takes refuge in Howard's truck. The vehicle is drawn by the craft's tentacles toward its mouth, but Michelle gathers the ingredients for a Molotov Cocktail and blows it apart. Michelle departs via car. A radio broadcast begs assistance from anyone in Houston who has medical or combat training and reports that there has been some progress in the battle against the invaders. It also directs survivors to seek shelter in Baton Rouge. While a larger extraterrestrial craft is exposed by lightning, Michelle departs for Houston.

WATCH THE REVIEW VIDEO FOR MORE ...