by Peter Callaghan

RTA victim holed up underground

By ex-mariner with motives unsound

10 Cloverfield Lane by first-time feature director Dan Trachtenberg is one of the most enjoyable films of the year so far. Think Misery meets The War of the Worlds. With John Goodman as the far from jolly Jack Tar Howard Stambler in the role of Annie “I’m your number one fan” Wilkes and the captive pairing of Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Michelle and John Gallagher Jr as Emmett DeWitt in the role of Paul “Eat it till you choke, you sick, twisted fuck” Sheldon. As for “The chances of anything coming from Mars”, they may be as Jeff Wayne predicted “a million to one” but their late and unexpected arrival to the party at 10 Cloverfield Lane is as chilling as Rolf Harris turning up at a Girl Guides sleepover.

Following an argument with her boyfriend Ben (bags are packed, a ring removed and a door forcibly slammed), Michelle loses the plot as well as her consciousness when her car veers off a rural road in the dark of night and plunges to the bottom of a steep hill. A black out ensues, after which she wakes up in a bed with her arm fixed to a drip. All is well, she thinks. Or is it? As her eyes scan the unfurnished room, she notices a single bulb, four brick walls and a locked prison-like door. And to make matters worse, her leg is chained to a pipe. Then in walks a man of few words: hefty Howard. “There’s been an attack,” he tells her. “A big one.” But whether it’s chemical, nuclear or extra-terrestrial, or whether it’s all in the mind of Big H who according to his farmhand Emmett has “a black belt in conspiracy theories”, who can say.

Once the chains are released and the door unlocked, Howard, Michelle and Emmett play a forced game of Happy Families as they break bread and sink a couple of cold ones round the dinner table in what turns out to be a “doomsday bunker”. The air outside is contaminated, Big H tells them. Everyone else is either dead or dying. And, cue the Eastenders doofs, “no is coming for you”. But fret not, because the punctilious host has prepared for Armageddon for years and stocked up enough supplies to feed a fat camp for a fortnight. Crazy? You bet, thinks Michelle. But not according to Big H who thinks that “crazy is building your ark after the flood has already come.” Doubts about the biblical flash in the sky surface when Michelle discovers items of clothing belonging to a local girl who went missing a few years back. And suspicion turns to terror when the words “Help me” are found etched on a bloodstained skylight. An escape plan is hatched, orders are dispatched and earthbound mortals are by extra-terrestrial Body Snatchers snatched!

Director Dan Trachtenberg and his trio of writers which includes Whiplash’s Damien Chazelle have created a taut psychological thriller which retains an air of mystery from beginning to end and keeps the audience guessing about who are the good guys, what is the truth and which crazy direction is the plot going to turn next. John Goodman, so often the loveable, likeable blue-collar everyman, is terrific as the menacing Howard and proves yet again that he is just as fine a dramatic actor as he is a comedic one. In fact, I would go as far to say that his performance is one of the best – if not the best – he has given. Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Gallagher Jr offer tremendous support by downplaying the melodrama and upping the authenticity. And the nerve-jangling score by Bear McCreary along with the short, sharp, shock editing by Stefan Grube quicken the pulse as the film races to a climactic finale which judging by the closing shot is… To Be Continued…

[imdb id=tt1179933]

Peter Callaghan
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