"Crazy Is Building Your Ark After The Flood Has Already Come..."
Who remembers Cloverfield then? That's right, the sci-fi found footage epic that did more damage to your brain with its' continuous shakiness than most others in its' respective category, produced by the man of the moment J.J. Abrams and written by Drew Goddard, the man behind the screenplay of Ridley Scott's The Martian from last year. Dropping Drew Goddard but keeping the producing talents of Abrams, 10 Cloverfield Lane, coined the "blood relative" of Cloverfield, pretty much goes in every opposite direction to its' sister, leaving the shaky found footage and the outside metropolis of New York behind in favour of a film which essentially becomes Panic Room meets Psycho, with the threat of the alien apocalypse stirred in for good comfort. With Damien Chazelle, writer and director of last years' best film Whiplash, part of the writing circle and a trio of marvellous acting talents, 10 Cloverfield Lane is a superb, tense and taut sci-fi thriller.
Waking up from a violent car crash in a locked confinement, chained to her bedpost, Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is greeted by the conspiracy-driven creepiness of Howard. played in a completely Kathy Bates-esque fashion by John Goodman, who chews the scenery from beginning to end in creating a character mixed between Annie Wilkes and Norman Bates, the freakiest of mixes if ever there was one. Told by Howard of the outsides contamination by unknown forces, Michelle and fellow captive Emmett (John Gallagher, Jr.) begin to query Howard's true intentions and the accuracy of his warnings. Although the film is driven by the sheer brilliance of Goodman, with Howard being a larger than life force to be reckoned with, the tight and compact surroundings of the bunker in which the film primarily takes place adds to the sense of isolation and containment the film attempts to create. And boy, it sure creates it.
Although the array of effective jump scares and scenes of complete and utter white knuckle tension make 10 Cloverfield Lane a fantastic thriller, it should be said that the BBFC's decision to award the film with just a 12A certificate is strange to say the least. Violence, acid-burned faces and bodies, and themes of abductions and captivity, all alongside infected zombie-like civilians all result in making 10 Cloverfield Lane the most top-end 12A film I think I have ever seen. Trust me, it's not something for ten year old's, let alone some 15 year old's, so take it from me, be wary of the the deceitful classification. That aside, 10 Cloverfield Lane is a brilliant thriller, one that seemingly popped out of nowhere with very little press and exposure before its' swift arrival in cinemas, something of which I can only stand up and applaud. If his success with Star Wars allows J.J. to carry on making films such as this in the future, I look forward to his next project.
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