Confining, claustrophobic ‘Cloverfield Lane’

JOHN Goodman and Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Unrelated to the 2008 monster flick, “Cloverfield,” save for the fact that both are scifi-suspense flicks produced by JJ Abrams, “10 Cloverfield Lane” merges ideas and tropes from different genres successfully, but not seamlessly.

One’s familiarity with the previous film doesn’t matter, as this stand-alone film utilizes an altogether different tone, and is considerably a smaller film compared to the “found footage”-style and effects extravaganza about a rampaging giant creature.

“10 Cloverfield Lane” is about Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who breaks up with a boyfriend (Bradley Cooper) and ends up fleeing after a heated argument. She soon figures in a terrible car accident, but wakes up to find herself shackled and alone in a stranger’s basement.

Her captor, a survivalist named Howard (John Goodman), claims to have saved her from a devastating chemical attack, which is why he forbids her from leaving his house—a fully stocked and equipped bunker capable of sustaining its occupants for a long time.

Completing the small cast is another “rescued” young man, Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.), who must abide by their host’s strict rules as well.

The film’s psychological horror is reminiscent of “Misery,” while its more science-fiction components feel a lot like concepts from “War of the Worlds” and other alien invasion movies. It is this unlikely combination that adds to the film’s mystique, although once it proceeds with its flashy creepers, the film by first-time director Dan Trachtenberg becomes a typical man-versus-monster survival flick.

That said, Winstead, who previously appeared in two “Die Hard” films and “Scott Pilgrim,” is a good choice for the befuddled protagonist. Her interactions with Goodman’s perfectly perplexing character—whose sanity is in question from the get-go—are mostly compelling, and exhibit a palpable claustrophobia that repeatedly creeps in.