10 Cloverfeild Lane

⭐ 8.5/10

(Originally written by Joseph)

It's spooky season baby, and this movie is first up. I remember always seeing the trailer for this one and thinking the idea was really cool. Essentially a woman finds herself trapped inside a basement, and creepy John Goodman says he saved her, and she can't leave his bunker because the whole world has been nuked and there are dangerous chemicals outside and they have to wait out the war before anyone can leave. But there's very little proof this is true, and it can't be verified one way or another, and while she really wants to escape, there are strange things happening that sorta make his crazy ramblings sound true...

Anyways, fantastic premise. A real mind-effer where you really are trying to guess alongside her whether it's all true. We are given enough both ways to keep us guessing and it's all very dark and mysterious. Terrific stuff.

But the highlight of this movie is what an incredible creep John Goodman portrays. I think this is one of the great performances I've seen. Is he evil, or just weird? He toes that line perfectly. Terrific stuff.

I think the only real negative for me was the ending. There are a few questionable things throughout, such as there being many odd coincidences, but most of those are forgivable. But I thought the ending kinda blew it. I really don't want to say anything, because much depends on the grand reveal, but yeah, it didn't land for me and kinda changed my opinion. But I still think this is a fantastic movie, and while it's dark and suspenseful, I feel confident that most people would not find it too scary to watch. It's right in that middle ground.