10 Cloverfield Lane Takes us to the Edge
- Krista Wagner
- Apr 18, 2016
- 2 min read
John Goodman is my favorite actor. I grew up watching him on Roseanne and he always made me feel what he felt. But he was funny in that show, and in this dramatic mystery, he is anything but funny. But I'll get to that in just a few sentences. When title character Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) gets into a horrible car accident, she wakes up to find herself in a small brick room, her leg cuffed to the wall and her arm hooked up to an IV. According to Howard, her keeper, (Goodman), everyone is gone (dead) because the air outside is contaminated and he has saved her.
The plot never thins out in this darkening mystery as another man, Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.), is also staying in this handmade underground house. Later we learn that he has known Howard for years and helped him build this fallout shelter because of "martians" or "Russians", some kind of "unknown attack" as Howard explained to him as well, though it was just a few days ago that he came here to escape from the outside danger. Over and over Howard stresses to Michelle that she cannot go outside or she will be exposed to the tainted air. But is he right? After all, he initially keeps her locked in the room and even when he allows her to roam the rest of the house, he keeps a watchful eye on them both. He has a quick temper, a suspicious nature, and is an apparent conspiracy theorist. Goodman plays this oppressive character well. He looks tired with deep dark concaves in his face that give him the appearance of one who is unsettled, as he indeed shows himself to be in many instances.
To add to the uncertainty of what's true and who can be trusted, Emmett believes what Howard tells him, which causes Michelle (and us) to question the validity of Howard's assertions. Is he nuts? Or is he telling the truth? I will just say that there are several situations that lead us to answer these questions and yet don't entirely answer them until the end. And that is one of the aspects of this film that works so effectively. We are given slivers that remain ambiguous for a while.
Michelle's character arc is stunning. She goes from a fearful hesitant woman to one who can and will initiate some kind of escape. With each step she takes to getting away from 10 Cloverfield Lane, more complications and surprises follow. This is an unusual film that slips us into a world where the truth is unbelievable.
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