Absolute knockout

As a big-screen version of a chamber play, 10 Cloverfield Lane is a minimalist effort mostly consisting of just three leads locked in an underground basement. Any lingering illusions of rampaging kaiju are shattered as the film opens with Michelle (Winstead) driving away from her fiancé Ben after an argument.

She gets distracted by his persistent frantic phone calls, which leads her to get involved in a sudden and disorienting car accident. Upon awakening, she finds herself the captive of a hulking figure, Howard (Goodman), in his makeshift bunker.

Howard claims there’s been an ‘attack’ which has left the air outside poisonous, but fortunately Michelle and Howard’s neighbour Emmett (Gallagher Jr) are safe thanks to the years he’s spent in preparation for such an occasion.

So the hot-blooded youngsters must learn to accept (or rally against) their captor-stroke-protector as they slowly realise that their tiny shelter is actually a palace of paranoia and mansion of manipulation.

So it’s a very different beast to its predecessor (literally), with destruction, panic and lots of running away replaced by silence, brooding, claustrophobia and atmosphere you could slice with a breadknife. But the shadow of the original hangs over proceedings and adds wonderful background tension to the already-brittle events. What WAS that rumbling noise from outside?

Director Dan Trachtenberg does a fantastic job with the scene and ambience he’s established. He constantly plays with Michelle’s, and thus the audience’s, sense of safety. The bunker alternates between a warm, safe space from the indefinable horror that may or may not lurk outside, and a tight, oppressive prison run by a madman whose deranged fantasies are beginning to spill over the edge.

This constant sense of misdirection is so effective that even when Michelle appears to receive confirmation of an outside disaster, Howard still sits uneasily with us. This is purely down to Goodman, so often a solid if unspectacular supporting actor, delivering the best performance of his career.

Howard is a complex and shady antagonist who bleeds distrust, but on the other hand makes you doubt his inherent villainy when he shows admirable resourcefulness, genuine emotion and real tenderness.

He is well-matched by his younger counterparts, too. Although Gallagher Jr slightly gets the short-shrift in terms of screen time and narrative importance, his apathetic laissez-faire attitude brings a much-needed warmth and humanity to proceedings, while Winstead’s courage and willingness to be assertive is a brilliant antidote to the beautiful-yet-idiotic damsel in distress trope that permeates the genre.

This movie is just a triumph from start to finish. The story is significantly scaled back from the expansive Cloverfield, but it’s no less effective in its ability to both unnerve and excite whilst at the same time reminding us that humans can be much more frightening than sharp teeth and claws can ever be.

This is an outstanding victory for ‘the little guy’ and a source of inspiration for young filmmakers. A week on from the bloated, CGI-riddled, mega-budget mess that was Batman v Superman, a debuting director on a shoestring budget focuses on character and atmosphere without the need of an expansive cast, fancy effects and a giant warehouse of green screens and delivers an absolute knockout. Take a bow!

Showing Novo Cinemas, Cineco, Seef II, Al Jazira, Dana Cineplex

Rating: 5/5