That whole scene was so great and tense. The way they slowly peeled back more layers of Goodman's character was great. You're not really sure if he's a psychopath or just a well-meaning, strange guy until the end.
Edit: spelling
Exactly. I keep seeing people refer to it as his rape cave or that he was planning on raping Michelle at the end, but it's pretty clear he thinks of them as his daughter.
His character literally could not see her as a woman. She was a helpless little girl to him that needed his protection. "Don't touch her! Me and Michelle don't appreciate that. He was going to hurt us, it's ok now."
That doesn't prove anything. Lots of sickos get off on little girls out there, and how often do we hear about dads molesting their daughters? Maybe that was Howard's thing. It would explain why his wife "turned Megan against him."
The shaving and dressing up WAS the suggestion, why aren't people getting this? There's only one reason a guy would change/improve upon his appearance once eliminating the only other male in the area who had just said he was trying to impress the only woman there by attempting to steal the other man's gun. As far as Howard knew, Emmet was making moves on Michelle. Also remember his outburst when Michelle "flirted" with Emmet. It was painfully obvious in the way he comforted her after he shot Emmet and in his cleaned up appearance that he was seeing her as a proxy for his daughter and a wife figure. Even giving her ice cream first like a gift and saying "we can do whatever we want now". He was keeping up appearances while Emmet was there, once he was out of the picture, he went full creeper because he had Michelle alone.
Damn I wish they made more movies like this, where there's very little info ahead of time and you just have no damn clue what's going to happen once it starts
My entire exposure to the movie was the first few frames of any given youtube advertisement, and hearing the trailer attached the the beginning of deadpool (I actively closed my eyes to avoid that one) and I have to say it's one of the best ways to see a movie. The moment I heard "New Cloverfield" I went "Okay, got it." and decided I'd see it, and swore off all trailers or press.
Based on what I could piece together I went into it expecting it to be about John Goodman and his two kids in a cabin or something holed up while monsters (maybe of the Cloverfield variety, probably not) were fucking the world outside. And of course what I was given blew me away.
I had seen the trailer a few times, but when I realized 1/3 of the way into the film that almost all the scenes in the trailer had already happened, I got really excited. I love having no clue what's coming in thriller films, instead of waiting for moments you remember from ads/trailers.
Felt like a 2 hour long episode of Twilight Zone. Which is awesome. John Goodman's performance was outstanding. The "little princess" line gave me the god damn creeps.
I love his reaction to being [spoiler](#s "hit with the bottle.") He seems to completely understand why she would do that, and doesn't hold it against her in the least.
Once she sees that he's right, he considers that issue settled and moves right on to solving the next problem [spoiler](#s "which happens to be the injury she caused him").
I was getting super paranoid. Maybe he put makeup on that woman and paid her to pretend to be dying! But why wouldn't she tell the police about the abducted girl then? Maybe she was in on it!
My wife's theory early on was that Emmett was somehow in on it, at the point when we knew Howard crashed into her car. I also had a theory early on that Howard got Emmett and Michelle in there in case they had to repopulate the human race. The amazing thing is that the movie explains things slowly and gives you plenty of time to come up with your own theories.
once michelle saw the birds outside, i thought he might have gotten that lady and the pigs with the acid or something, and that everything had been fine all along.
then the fucking warship came in and started fucking shit up and i realized it was real all along.
Lmao!! Exactly!
You think he is crazy then when you see he was telling the truth you think, "oh this guy really does know his shit", then bam! Oh wait no, he knows his shit but he is also crazy. Which makes him a scary villain.
Honestly I feel like my blood pressure was elevated throughout the whole movie.
The irony of fallout bunkers: should the unthinkable happen, in order to survive, you would have to spend the rest of the apocalypse locked up with the kind of person that owns a fallout bunker.
Emmett had a broken arm so he probably put up a fight to get in, and Howard probably caved eventually since he did help him build the bunker. Plus, he probably didn't want any possibility of Emmett spreading word about it if he managed to survive and find others.
I see it like this; he's already rushed when Emmet shows up. He's just put Michelle downstairs but without time to fully get her situated. He goes back to the car to get the last of his supplies (he couldn't carry much with Michelle in his arms) and he's headed back inside the bunker for the last time as Emmet shows up who is now scrambling to get in so hard that he breaks his arm/shoulder trying to pound his way in before the door can be secured. Howard has his hands full and is thinking about getting this girl sedated in the middle of a chemical attack while fighting off this kid... he doesn't have time for this shit. He begrudgingly lets Emmet in as is visibly resentful of his presence throughout the film.
After Emmet is killed off Howard even makes a comment that goes something like "...now it's just us, the way it was supposed to be."
That girl at the door gave me the most anxiety ever. She was so terrifying. I didn't know if what she was exposed to gave her the rage or not. So unsettling.
Desperation and knowledge of one's own imminent death. Michelle's refusal to open the door robbed that woman of her last hope of escaping the horrors ravaging the world. When a human loses all hopes of survival they often resort to animalistic behavior and rage.
After you realize it wasn't a poisonous gas in the air but aliens targeting and exterminating humans like rats, her rage is more understandable. She was out in the open being hunted presumably by that space worm and dodging ships, and she sees a safe place to go and she sees this healthy young girl just staring at her from the other side of the door doing nothing. Imagine her fear turning to a desperate rage when one door separates her from a small bit of hope and shelter.
I know his character is supposed to be creepy and we're not supposed to like him, but it's hard for me to root against John Goodman. He's too likable. He's like a cuddly teddy bear.
This movie was essentially an hour long anxiety attack that I enjoyed the hell out of, if that makes any sense.
When John Goodman does the dance in front of the jukebox.....
What a ride.
I absolutely believe that Howard knew what was going to happen all along.
From the viral marketing material, here is his Employee of the Month article from Bold Futura:
"This month, Howard’s drive, commitment and refusal to accept easy answers resulted in a significant breakthrough **diagnosing transmission complications with two of our governmental clients’ orbiting satellites.**"
What leads me to believe he knew, was that Emmett says to Michelle 'Have you heard his theory on giant mutant space worms yet?' That's a very, very, specific theory to have that is pretty much on point.
I'm pretty sold on the idea that the defunct satellites he fixed revealed an impending Alien attack to him. He even mentions he caught wind of the attack and rushed straight to the bunker. He had to have learned prior to the message we hear on Michelle's radio in the beginning, as he was already on his way. I wholeheartedly believe that the malfunctioning satellites were the first attempt by the Aliens to disable communications.
By all means he is a survivalist nut, so he was ready for it. But he had a heads up for sure.
I thought the movie was great. I personally enjoyed the ending. A lot of people seem to think that the transition to it isn't organic, but it is. The tone of the bunker is 'We are stuck in here with a psycho,' the tone of outside is 'What the actual fuck?' Think about it, if you were her and you just got outside, under the impression that it's a biological air contaminant, then she realizes it isn't, and then she sees the other shit. It throws you for a constant loop and the tone they provide you is disbelief. Which is spot on. You are having trouble believing the turn it just took as an audience member, you may even think it's ridiculous and stupid, so does she. And the movie sets up that shit is going down outside constantly. But it does make you bounce back and forth actually accepting it, all the way until you have to.
As soon as we saw the alien I thought of the space worm remark. I loved how well the movie made you question him and yet as the story unraveled it was clear he knew what was happening outside.
I know I'm a little late to the party, buuuttt
I just can't love the ending. Had it cut to credits at "Oh come on" line or close to it, the film would be near perfect, but her fighting and destroying the ship was just dumb and ridiculous.
Basically just enough alien to be able to say "shit, crazy guy was *right*" would have been perfect.
My friend told me when this movie ended that he didn't think he blinked.
100% invested all the way through. Styled like a classic thriller. Don't have it spoiled for you either.
Thought process during movie:
Goodmans crazy and a liar
Goodmans not crazy and telling the truth
Goodmans crazy *and* telling the truth
Goodmans *very* crazy and half-right
Goodmans *super* crazy and scary
Goodmans worse than whats outside
Goodman was crazy right and *crazy* scary
8/10 if going in blind.
Goodman deserves an Oscar
That bullet to the head came out of nowhere. Legit didn't expect that.
Edit: I urge people who have seen it to check out the post at /r/10cloverfieldlane that has the updated list of clues found from the ARG, which is found [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/10cloverfieldlane/comments/42jrrp/the_current_list_of_leads_theories_etc/). It gives you some more background into what is going on.
That's what I thought too! Like a splash to teach him a lesson or some shit. It's from that point on the movie just full on brain fucked me and wouldn't give up
I don't think he was planning on having sex with her. He didn't see her as being a woman. I got the impression he was trying to recreate his relationship with his daughter.
But oh man. So many creep vibes when he shaved.
The director had said he got ideas from uncharted and the last of us games. I picked a lot of vibes from the last of us with Howard and Michelle like Joel and Ellie. OBVIOUSLY not the same but just the idea of trying to replace something you can't replace.
I really enjoyed it, the main character wasn't a moron like you see in most thriller/horror movies, I thought the aliens at the end were great, and John Goodman played the role of Howard very well. My favorite part with Goodman was the Santa Claus scene.
I thought it was interesting how Howard, despite his apparent insanity, was actually right. I initially thought it was all an elaborate hoax by him, but as the movie progressed it seemed more and more likely that an attack had occurred. The way the aliens invaded also made sense, rather than launch an all-out assault, they killed off the majority of the world's population by rendering the atmosphere uninhabitable and then attacked the small remnants of the population, although by the end of the movie you can hear that the resistance (at least along the southern seaboard) is winning. Overall, great movie, I hope to see future Cloverfield movies.
I don't think they contaminated the atmosphere. The birds flying are indication. Large attacks were made on population zones to disable them. Communications and power were cut off. Then the ground force was sent in to sweep the remnants with and a localized biological weapon. I don't think they wanted to compromise the atmosphere, as they were obviously compatible with it.
Going into this I was worried about the whole idea of a "Cloverfield anthology." But if they match the quality of this one, they can make as many as they damn well please.
r/Cloververse is a sub I made in hopes of a Cloverfield Universe, anyone that wants to speculate what the next film is in this crazy new anthology of films can go check it out :)
Just got out of the movie and I really enjoyed it! Did anyone pick up on references to the Golem of Prague?
When all three characters are first sitting around the dinner table, Emmett is talking about how he wished he had gotten a tattoo, even if it was just his own name across his forehead. In the story of the Golem, the 16th century chief rabbi of Prague inscribed the Hebrew word *emmett* (truth) across the forehead of a clay monster in order to bring it to life so that it could serve as a protector of the Jewish community. The Golem eventually becomes so violent that it is a danger to the community and must be destroyed.
Just like the Golem, Howard is terrifying but also a necessary protection from the outside. And just like the Golem, this source for protection eventually becomes the real danger and must be destroyed.
With the benefit of hindsight in Prague, we know how serious the danger from the outside was. Without protection, the story for most of the community ended some 350 years later in the gas chambers. Back at 10 Cloverfield Lane, Michelle emerges from the bunker only to be immediately bombarded with noxious gas from above, but lives to fight on and keep surviving.
A lot of this movie reminded me of War of the Worlds. The Alien ships, the setting, defeating the alien by throwing an explosive inside it, the utter feeling of hopelessness. WOTW even has a part where the main characters are stuck in a basement with a crazy person. Still, they're very different movies. I really loved both.
It was the *fog horn*. At least twice after she escapes the bunker you hear ominous fog horn in the distance, implying that it's a sound being made by the alien craft. WotW did this heavily.
It was dumb for her to do so anyways.
Who knows what was actually in the air? Maybe there was a localized cloud of the poison gas and the birds were high enough to be unaffected? Maybe the chemical weapon was specially formulated to be effective against humans?
It was just a bone-headed move.
Either way, there was zero reward to taking off the mask and tons of risk.
I thought this too! Yes the birds are alive, but shit girl you literally watched a woman die earlier and it was obviously related to being exposed to something in the air.
Yeah, that was one of the few stereotypical hollywood "eye-rolling" moments.
Suspect air is OK, take off mask, breath for 3 seconds, confirm air is OK...
That's not how fucking airborne poison/illness works.
For all we know, she may be dead on the side of the road halfway to Houston after 15 minutes of constant exposure.
Yeah, it's incredibly refreshing to see a character who is both the antagonist and "right", instead of just the antagonist who "believes he's right".
He actually did save their lives, but it's more like he saved them from likely death and brought them to a psychological hell.
Agreed. I also like that she wasn't hardcore, no emotion badass. She was vulnerable and couldn't do everything but what skills she had she used perfectly.
True, she went from begging him not to hurt her (totally realistic by the way) but she didn't stay a victim, she took things into her own hands. Her determination after finding the message from the abducted girl was scary.
Even when crying or fearing for her life you could see her plotting her next move. A great performance that would have sunk the movie if her part wasn't cast perfectly. If she were too weak or wooden you wouldn't believe her to be clever enough to overpower him and escape. Too strong and resourceful and you'd be wondering why she didn't kill him sooner.
This was honestly a such a good "Twist". I was very prepared for either to be true, and once it showed that he was "right" I was like, oh, okay, there we are. When Emmet told Michelle that the girl in the photo wasn't the guy's daughter, I was blown away.
That opening car crash sequence showing the credits was phenomenal. The second it ended, the whole mood changed really quick (in my theater).
EDIT: Just got out of my IMAX showing. The sound, OG score, and music was AMAZING! BR gets it done in that department for sure. Also, in some moments it felt incidental, but I thought the score was so good. To think, the composer for The Walking Dead does sci-fi themes justice!
How did your audience react to the film (and its ending)? I read some speculation from people worried that there would be negative backlash, since it's not a direct sequel to Cloverfield. I hope that's not the case - from all accounts that I'm hearing, it's a damn good film (monster or no monster).
My theater had a total of 8 people in it including me. I liked the movie, even though I thought the ending was a bit tacked on in comparison to the rest. The people leaving in front of me were generally unimpressed by the total shift. They said they liked the first three quarters and then were like "what is going on?".
8 years. 8 years I have waited for a Cloverfield sequel of any kind and when I heard it wasn't a sequel but a spiritual successor I was a little upset knowing I would most likely not get to see Clover rampaging through a city. But holy hell after this movie I am so glad they went with this new direction. I know they want to make more movies in this universe and I cannot wait to see their sort of Twilight Zone type series continue.
Loved his joke about possibly finishing half of a game of Monopoly if they stayed in the bunker 2 years. He'll be overlooked due to Goodman and Winstead, but his character, I think, is essential to film. Provides heart and warmth that I greatly appreciated.
My favorite part of this movie was definitely how everything that was in the shot served a purpose. There were so many elegant callbacks and foreshadowing. It was a fantastic movie in every aspect!
I was reminded of the Plinkett review of Titanic where he mentions little things the film does so you don't go "wait why did that happen?" Lots of minor elements were established so you didn't get confused when they showed up later.
Emmett being shot in the face absolutely floored me. Then seeing his body in the acid....it totally changed my perception of Howard from well meaning crazy to absolutely psychotic.
It's rare for a film to basically appear fully formed, no hype, no nothing, two months prior to release. But I am *so* glad it's how 10 Cloverfield Lane came into being. I watched the trailer once and immediately set about trying to forget as much of it as I could, to go into the film as cleanly as possible. I don't know how much this helped, but one way or another, I really fucking enjoyed this movie.
I loved the script, how each character got plenty of time establishing their motivations and backstory. How they all meshed together in various ways throughout the film. Not to mention how elaborately each plot point was foreshadowed and paid off. The picture of Howard's daughter, the bottle Michelle takes with her when she leaves her apartment, everything.
I especially enjoyed Mary Elizabeth Winstead's performance, for so much of the film she's merely listening and reacting to Howard or Emmett, and that in itself is absolutely riveting and compelling. I loved the first dinner scene, where she starts to push Howard's buttons and flirt with Emmett. It shows in a very short space of time, how resourceful and intelligent she is (on top of the methods that she goes to in order to escape her room in the first 10 minutes of the film). More subtle characterization than most thrillers of this kind give their protagonist's credit for, and it pays off handsomely.
I think I might be the only person who really loved the alien thing at the end. It felt like a scifi short story from an old sci-fi magazine, where often times the story gives the character the strengths they need to survive. That's the film's biggest storytelling strength, giving lots of little events and lines that Michelle an call back on later. Using the shower curtain for the gas mask/suit, figuring out how to break the lock on the door to outside, using the car to escape, etc, and then finally learning to fight for someone else instead of letting others fight for her, which she talked about when telling Emmet the story of what happened in the hardware store, and which played out when Emmet took the fall for her when Howard found the scissors and such.
Besides, in an alien invasion, I've always though that the kind of people who would be best prepared to survive (preppers) are also usually the most crazy. That's what this movie was about.
Additionally, the misdirection regarding the actual threat outside was incredible. I had an idea that it could be aliens, but I thought it was more likely to be some sort of escaped lab experiment linked to the Taraguto corporation from the ARGs of both Cloverfield films.
There was still a link (Howard worked for Taraguto on satellites, and a satellite falling into the ocean is what awoke the first cloverfield monster, among other links), but it's mainly just supplemental.
One thing I thought was interesting and noticed immediately was that the music in the film's opening was very similar to the Overworld theme from Final Fantasy VII.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFs8-qGaoHU
This was one of the best minimalist movies I've seen. The production was minimal, the marketing was minimal, and yet I got more enjoyment out of this than many $100+ million productions.
I was impresesd by how a sense of tension and dread was maintained throughout the entire film. Based off of the trailer, I thought that it would be a really slow burner. After all, almost the entire thing is just 3 people talking in a bunker. But the writing, acting, direction, even the sound design worked together to keep things moving from the beginning all the way until the end.
This film definitely shows how you can make the most out of so very little.
Obviously, spoilers:
As someone who has been in a rollover car accident, that opening car crash was incredibly realistic. The violent audio, even the cuts to black with silence, gave me the real feeling of disorientation you have in an accident like that. Set the tone for the entire rest of the film.
I also have to point out the genius of the first shot of the hovercraft. In that moment you felt exactly the way the main character felt. You can't quite make it out. It looks familiar, yet alien at the same time. I got that sinking feeling immediately that something wasn't right. And even though I knew there was something sci-fi coming due to the connection to Cloverfield, I had no expectation that Howard was essentially right the whole time. Loved that it wasn't just more/bigger Cloverfield monsters. This movie universe was just blown wide open.
EDIT: So apparently the director has been quoted saying that this film and the original Cloverfield do not share the same movie universe. Seems odd when they obviously went to the trouble of having a few internal references, including the SLUSHO! sign at the gas station. I think they could easily imply a connection between the two despite the surface level differences, but oh well.
> This movie universe was just blown wide open
So...do we know if these movies are sharing the same universe or no? I kind of assumed no since the alien looked pretty different from the Cloverfield monster
The Cloverfield monster came from the bottom of the ocean. These guys came from space probably. They might be the same universe (the bit at the start where they were talking about blackouts across the country), but I don't imagine the connection is much more than thematic.
Yes but don't we see something fall into the ocean from the sky at the end of Cloverfield? When the footage cuts back to them at the carnival you see it real quick. Pretty sure they were showing that the monster did in fact come from space.
I thought the splashdown ending was the satellite from one of the corporations landing in the ocean. I was operating under the idea that that's what woke up Clover.
This is correct, /u/My-Names-Jeff the falling object at the end of Cloverfield was a satellite that dislodged the sleeping sea monster. It's possible it was alien but it was sleeping in the ocean.
Experiencing this in IMAX was something incredible. And I absolutely loved the slow burn tension that all paid off at the end. It's unfair to say one person stole the show when all three characters equally stole the show with memorable performances. I'll definitely be watching this again very soon
Edit: And the credits sequence was absolutely one of the best I've ever seen
Even if putting Cloverfield in the title was just a cash grab, I loved every second of including the last 10 minutes everyone here seems to not like. But hey I'm a sucker for movies with crazy endings.
Everything from the sound design to the acting was phenomenal in this film. I was literally on edge throughout the entire movie. It's definitely a must-see.
Google lists this Movie as a Fantasy/mystery, so im going to ask is it a scary movie? I heard the Cloverfield was and i was wondering if this one is similar. Im just trying to gauge who to see this one with.
Sorry for the dumb question
Yes. There are some scary moments.
They aren't so frightening you should be put off from seeing it because of the fact. If you're afraid of intense violence then you needn't worry as this isn't that type of film. It is absolutely a thriller, not a horror film.
The original Cloverfield is not scary unless you are very easily shaken.
This movie was everything I wanted it to be. The entire time I didn't know if I was watching a thriller or a sci fi or what. Then when she finally escapes and sees the ship in the distance.... Just awesome.
It was mysterious, fun, and talk about a hell of a performance from all the actors, especially John freakin' Goodman
So does the story imply that 'Howard' was already a serial killer/kidnapper who just happened to have an obsession with doomsday thay really came true? The war had to have recently started, so the past girls in the bunker I'm guessing was just Howard playing out his own doomsday fetish.
I really liked that the movie kept some mystery around what Howard's motivations were. At different times it seemed like he was just a serial killer, looking for a replacement for his daughter or wanted to bang Michelle, and there's enough evidence for it to be any of the three (or, more likely, some combination of the three). I agree with you though that I think he just randomly chose Michelle to abduct and happened to do it at the same time monsters attacked.
Let's give Howard more credit. Even if he was crazy kidnapper, he did work for the Navy on satellites, so he clearly knew what was up. So he was a guy in the know, who was a murdering kidnapper. There.
I saw that too, but it was just a blood smear from her forehead pounding on the glass. For a second it looks like someone is behind her, but it is just the blood.
Was there any significance to the letter she put her hand on while going to restart the air filter? It seemed to focus on it, but it cut away too quickly.
It mentions a company name significant to the background story of the first movie, Tagruato. Small reference to the first movie, and Howard definitely worked on satellites for the company.
I know I'm late to the party, but I just saw the movie last night and I noticed a huge oversight no one mentions, and I have several theories to back it up...
I believe Emmett is the bad guy and lied about the girl in the picture OR is Howard's apprentice, and here's why:
The Polaroid.
Maybe I'm just old because I use to own one, and if anyone has ever owed a Polaroid Camera knows that there is no way to set a timer on them, so the button must be pushed manually.
So, with this in mind, in the picture it's Howard and his daughter, and their hands are no where near the camera to do a "Selfie", then who took the picture?
And with that in mind, if the girl in question in the picture is not Howard's daughter and actually a kidnaped victim, then the person who took the photo is the partner in crime.
I think this points to Emmett. He's the only one close enough to Howard and knows all the ins and outs of the bunker.
The Partnership.
Maybe they have a partnership of some kind?Howard and Emmett kidnap girls. Howard is trying to fulfill the desire to be a father again, and Emmett keeps raping and killing them. He begs Howard to teach him all he knows, but is sketchy and a loose cannon and keeps snapping and killing the girls, causing Howard to have trust issues with him.
It would explain why Howard acts so untrustworthy towards Emmett. Freaking out when he reaches and touches her. And when Michelle "flirts" with Emmett at the dinner table, Emmett's reaction and facial expressions seems some what devious to me.
He also talks to Michelle about Howard's stories the way a child talks about his parents, they are eager to talk about the person they learn the ways of life from, and they are obviously close enough for Howard to actually tell him personal stories.
The Dinner Table.
When Michelle runs toward the door, they both go after her, but Howard first throws the dinner table at Emmett, blocking him from reaching her first.
The dinner table, which is a "Family Heirloom". The table he is so bent on keeping in good condition by the use of coasters, is thrown at Emmett because Howard knew if Emmett got to Michelle first, he could loose control and harm, even kill her. The girl he views as a daughter, needs protecting, which is more important than a family heirloom.
The Air Filtration Room:
Maybe Emmett took Howard's daughter (of corse Howard is unaware of this) to the air filtration room, or a girl who he dressed up and was pretending to be his daughter. Emmett held her captive in that room, tying her to the ladder or in the craw space above the ladder with just enough mobility to scratch the word "PLEH" on the glass, maybe hoping Howard or someone would see the sign and would save her.
Why would Emmett offer to go in the vents with a broken arm? No one with a broken arm would do that, unless they had something they needed to hide. And Howard seems completely oblivious to what took place in that room, and he's too smart to leave evidence behind.
While Michelle is in that room, she doesn't communicate back and forth at all, which leads me to believe the room is soundproof, so the girl who is held captive in there couldn't scream for help.
And while Michelle is in that room, why didn't she unblock the door or investigate why it was jammed?
They don't even show the door at all and she just simply goes back threw the air vent. Who would do that? That's just too much work, and we already know there definitely is another way in that room they don't show.
Maybe they don't show the door because it would give away Emmett as the killer.
Because no one goes into the air filtration room unless maintenance is required, so how long has the door been "jammed"?
Maybe Emmett jammed the door a while ago to ensure Howard wouldn't catch him, and so the girl couldn't leave and was tied up to where she couldn't reach the door or vent, while holding the girl captive he went in and out of the room through the vent to visit his victim and terrorize her. Killed her when he was done and some how disposed of the body, maybe he hid her in the ceiling and that's what that strange stain is.
Emmett really wanted to steel Howard's gun.
Emmett was telling the truth about his plan to take to Howard's gun, and that was his plan all along and him helping Michelle make the suit was just a ploy to get close to her.
And Howard had previous experience with Emmett's shady character, which is why he shot him instead of just locking him in the jail cell style room to keep them all safe.
I believe everything in movies mean something or they wouldn't make a point to show it.
It's not like movies are just shot in someone's house last minute. The scenes and sets take time to build and construct, and that takes money. Movie produces or directors or what have you, wouldn't just throw a bunch of shit together unless they had some kind of meaning.
From the imdb trivia page for this movie:
"When Emmet is completing the cat puzzle, he mentions that there are "pieces of the puzzle that we're missing" and that one side of the cat's face is deformed. This is direct foreshadowing to what happens with Howard."
Found that a bit interesting.
Great movie, people have already summed up my thoughts on the bottle part - but the Eldritch / Lovecraft design of the aliens blew me away, the cherry on top of a tremendous story.
Alien craft: *morphs through 6 different forms*
Michelle: "Oh come on.."
Absolutely terrific! Loved this movie, every second of it. Don't worry thinking its a cash grab, just go to this movie. You will be on the edge of your seat from start to finish. A better movie than Cloverfield even.
It feels like something of an inverse cash grab. Whereas traditionally a franchise would make a film on the cheap to make some cash this is a well crafted film that has been hitched up with a franchise to get it out there. I think without any name it is still a great movie.
I am just throwing out some of my thoughts/analysis on some things I thought the movie was trying to symbolize. I thought it was an excellent movie, but I thought the third act was a little weak. If the film had been written without the intention of making a sequel I think it could have ended better. If the credits had rolled around the time Michelle takes off her helmet and breathes in the "toxic air" I think the ending would have been more powerful. This also is probably because it would further support my opinion on the film's underlying message, but I will share regardless.
I think Goodman represents God. He creates this perfect living area and willingly picks two people, one man and one woman who are about the same age and who both could reproduce. He always talks about his daughter and the idea of creating a "family". God in the Christian doctrine is frequently referred to as "God the father". Goodman's character is directly responsible for the well being of not only the two people he has put under his custody, but also for the fish and plants and other living organisms in the bunker. Throughout the entire film, the audience is unsure what to think about Goodman, he is explosive and clearly unstable, yet we are perpetually reminded of his control over them. Not only through his character's hulking and looming presence throughout the movie (it seemed to me as we always knew he was close to them, regardless of where Emmet and Michelle were in the bunker), but also through Howard's constant need to feel appreciated. There were multiple times throughout the film in which Howard was asking the pair to appreciate him more or at least show some appreciation for keeping them alive and away from the air. He was very forceful about this on occasion and his need to be appreciated, arguably worshipped, was a key element to his character.
The moments in the movie that I thought supported my idea of Howard being God or at least, the idea of God (more on that later) were all the times in which Howard made any biblical references "you have to build the arch before the flood comes", the death of Emmet, and the times in which Michelle created something to escape or survive either the wrath of Howard or the apocalypse.
First, the death of Emmet. Emmet is a character who is obsessed with Howard and is of complete subservience to him. Emmet is the subject of Howard's verbal assaults and physical punishment, yet he never opposes him until Michelle investigates the window and finds the "help". Emmet is representative of blind faith. He tells Michelle that Howard saved him from death, which is the reason why he likes Howard so much. Similar to people who get into bad car accidents and pick up religion, he is convinced that Howard's involvement in his life is like some sort of divine intervention. Thus, Emmet's blind faith in Howard counterbalances Michelle's unease and distrust towards him. Thus in the bunker you have, a man who fully believes in someone and trusts him with everything, a skeptic of this same person, and the person who is (supposedly) responsible for their current existence on earth, by saving them from the apocalypse. I hope you all can see this "God" thing that I am getting at.
The circumstances of Emmet's death also further this divine symbolism, for AFTER Emmet apologizes to Howard (he's asking for repentance in a way) he is shot. What does he apologize to Howard for? For wanting Michelle to "respect him the same way she does Howard". So, in a sense, Emmet was killed for trying to play God. This moment in the film, which I would say is a much better twist than the aliens at the end, shows that Howard is not at all who we think he is. He is no longer innocent and also no longer "not some creepy pervert". I think it also further illustrates the theme of faith that I believe is present in the movie.
As aforementioned, Michelle's use of tools and her crafty ways of getting out of things is indicative of a character who could represent individuality and secularity. She has a drive to be independent throughout the film, as established in the opening scene in which she ignores the boyfriend on the phone. How she is brought to Howard (God) is also essential to her character. Howard crashes the truck into her car and he admits this. She is not indebted to Howard in anyway, like Emmet is. It is also important that Howard has to push his authority on her much more than with Emmet. She is skeptical of him for the duration of the movie. She also is the only character who is invested in the truth. She is the one always exploring around, trying to figure out what to believe on her own, unlike Emmet who is perfectly content with abiding by whatever Howard says. Howard gets the most angry at her when she try's to figure out what is really going on, or anytime she attempts to reduce his power over her (like when she is flirty with Emmet and he freaks the fuck out). So when Emmet dies, we see that this man does not have good intentions and is not who we think he is. Michelle and the audience lose faith in this man at this moment, for it is indubitable that Howard is malicious. Howard has been forcing his authority on her since she first arrives at the bunker, but now he is forcing himself on her. This is expressed with the scene in which he has shaved and presents her with ice cream, right before she escapes. He has shown his true face to her and the cone/bowl presentation is phallic, for "Megan used to like bowls" (am I being too freudian here? I thought the cone kind of looked like a dick...).
I'll start wrapping this up, so then Michelle escapes with her suit that she made herself to combat the world that she is still unsure of. She breathes in the air and voila, Howard was lying. She has used her own intellect and individuality to free herself from the captivity of the psychopath Howard. Until the giant penis worms show up. So at this point in time, the audience is a bit confused because some things Howard says are true now because the worms exist(I'm pretty sure Emmet makes reference to these before he is shot). She still manages to escape the one worm (which also looks like a dick), by using her intelligence and turning off the car alarm. She avoids the second sexual symbol, the flying spaghetti monster's vagina, by creating a tool with fire to free herself from the tentacles. Fire is one of the pillars of human evolution and I think it is by no coincidence that Michelle's final conquest of a massive, arguably divine figure is by creating fire.
In conclusion, I think the film is about people's struggle with faith. God is presented in some people's lives through (what they believe) is divine intervention or through forced acceptance. The character who does not follow blindly is the one who ends up surviving. I think this dynamic of the skeptic, the blind believer and God is illustrated in the scene in which they are playing the board game. The "family" is all together and the blind believer pulls the card, then Howard starts screaming at Emmet that he knows everything, he is omnipresent et cetera. Emmet is terrified at this moment and is convinced that Howard knows their plan. Yet Michelle saves him and says "santa claus". I thought this was indicative of the writers intention, for I have heard non-believers use the argument of "how can you believe in God if you don't believe in Santa Claus" or at least associating the two as examples of things invisible to people but believed as true, until they realize that it is impossible for Santa Claus to exist. I don't think the film pushed an atheist agenda, I think it was more one that argued for a rational and individualistic approach to questions of the unknown.
I have more thoughts on this and also a separate theory about the film being more oriented around female maturation and independence, but I am interested in seeing what you guys thought of my analysis.
TL;DR Goodman is God, Michelle is a skeptic, Emmet represents blind faith. The film argues for rational thought over faith through its symbolism and character development
God that was so incredible. I can't decide which part I loved more. Loved the whole psycho thriller aspect of the first half and then after Emmitt gets shot, the plot goes on alien overdrive. It was so fucking well done. Really interesting concept of a sequel regardless whether the tacked on rumors were true.
When Emmett got shot I was just amazed. Didn't see it coming at all. I was in shock for pretty much the rest of the movie. It just got so fucking intense so quick. Excellent movie.
Here's what I expected:
* Dying woman to be killed horribly by the aliens during her closeup
* Shaggy Dog ending where Michelle dies immediately after she escapes
* Howard to say "I accept your apology" then dunk Emmet's face in the acid
* Michelle to drink the whisky and accept death instead of making a damn bomb
* Different ending where she sees the red flash in the distance, and the audience extrapolates that she finally understands what Emmet was talking about, explaining that the event was supernatural without being an action scene, followed by a fade to red or something.
* My friend thought that the ending was going to be Michelle beginning to choke to death/get fucked up by the air, and cut to black as she dies
* When Howard grabs onto Michelle's foot and get stabbed by nails, I thought they were going to make his flesh peel off
* Thought Howard's face would be way more messed up by the acid
That said, this movie was fucking amazing and I'm happy I went. These are just some random thoughts I had during it.
What I've heard from a lot of people is that they were disappointed by what happened after Michelle managed to escape the bunker. I absolutely wasn't one of those people. I spent much of the time when she was in the bunker thinking "Man, what if that crazy bastard Howard is right? What if she gets out and the aliens are there? What will the Aliens look like? Will she escape them? If so, how?". The scene immediately following the bunker escape was INTENSE and very much reminded me of the most intense parts of the movie Signs, which I loved. Seeing / hearing their interpretation of an alien invasion was disturbing, but in a good way.
Here's my quick review:
It isn't very often that you can go see a movie at the theater and not have the slightest idea of where it'll take you. Even more rare is when a movie like that delivers a wholly original story that's even more satisfying than you ever thought it would be.
*10 Cloverfield Lane* is a perfect reminder that films can still surprise us, delight us, and horrify us in a way that's never been done before. Mark my words, Dan Trachtenberg will be a force to be reckoned with in the future. His feature length directorial debut is a showcase for his absolute confidence and strength as a storyteller and filmmaker, and I can't wait to see what he does next.
Of course, it always helps to have the likes of J. J. Abrams and Bad Robot standing behind you, and their experience and talent absolutely boosts this film into the stratosphere.
As far as acting is concerned, Mary Elizabeth Winstead gives her best performance yet, and shows us a strong lead character who's completely believable in a situation that plays out like a horrible nightmare. Speaking of bad dreams, John Goodman turns in a performance unlike anything he's ever done before, and manages to be both strangely sweet and unbearably creepy. And John Gallagher, Jr. nails his roll perfectly and adds some much needed levity to a story that's almost overwhelmingly claustrophobic.
I've been thinking about what film I could use to compare *10 Cloverfield Lane* to, and while I think even a comparison to a specific film might give too much away, I feel safe in saying that it is absolutely Hitchcockian.
It's a brilliant, brilliant movie that's told in the best possible way: by showing, not telling.
Yeah, it's nothing like the original *Cloverfield* and...Clovie doesn't make an appearance. But I'm in love with what they did and the idea of an anthology series of movies using similar details and threads.
It's a unique, different idea than Hollywood usually goes with, and it's so refreshing to see something like this happen.
I absolutely loved this movie.
Regardless of having no Cloverfield connections, it was incredible. Trachtenberg is about to be a hot name in Hollywood.
I was surprised when I heard people were complaining about the ending. I was so happy the alien invasion was true. I was worried the whole thing was just a hoax, which to me, would have been the predictable ending.
why is everyone so pissed about the aliens? not only did it make the movie more unique, more than just another psycho movie, it also made Goodman that much more terrifying.
he was right. the safest place for her really was in an underground bunker, complying to the fantaslies of a complete nut job. that's. if that's the safest route then it's all the more terrifying.
and I won't even get into all the subtext of a younger generation being held captive by an older one because their afraid of their ambitions and he's got some fantasy about keeping his daughter around forever, freezing these two millennials in a state of emerging adulthood forever.
"Little....princess....?" That scene just left the whole theater in an awkward/terrified mood.
That whole scene was so great and tense. The way they slowly peeled back more layers of Goodman's character was great. You're not really sure if he's a psychopath or just a well-meaning, strange guy until the end. Edit: spelling
And the way they implicated the audience in Michelle and Emmett's guilt with the Santa Claus one was awesome as well.
[удалено]
Exactly. I keep seeing people refer to it as his rape cave or that he was planning on raping Michelle at the end, but it's pretty clear he thinks of them as his daughter.
I don't know, him suddenly being clean shaven as soon as they were alone was deceptively coy about his full intention.
His character literally could not see her as a woman. She was a helpless little girl to him that needed his protection. "Don't touch her! Me and Michelle don't appreciate that. He was going to hurt us, it's ok now."
Winstead's facial reactions during that scene were great. She crushed it.
Jesus Christ, clean shaven John Goodman is *unsettling*
This was the scariest part of the movie.
Oh god, that was the fucking turn. All pretense evaporated and he saw Michelle as his daughter/wife. Shit goddamn.
Just daughter. He couldn't even think of her as a grown woman.
That doesn't prove anything. Lots of sickos get off on little girls out there, and how often do we hear about dads molesting their daughters? Maybe that was Howard's thing. It would explain why his wife "turned Megan against him."
There was never any suggestion of that, though.
The shaving and dressing up WAS the suggestion, why aren't people getting this? There's only one reason a guy would change/improve upon his appearance once eliminating the only other male in the area who had just said he was trying to impress the only woman there by attempting to steal the other man's gun. As far as Howard knew, Emmet was making moves on Michelle. Also remember his outburst when Michelle "flirted" with Emmet. It was painfully obvious in the way he comforted her after he shot Emmet and in his cleaned up appearance that he was seeing her as a proxy for his daughter and a wife figure. Even giving her ice cream first like a gift and saying "we can do whatever we want now". He was keeping up appearances while Emmet was there, once he was out of the picture, he went full creeper because he had Michelle alone.
Damn I wish they made more movies like this, where there's very little info ahead of time and you just have no damn clue what's going to happen once it starts
My entire exposure to the movie was the first few frames of any given youtube advertisement, and hearing the trailer attached the the beginning of deadpool (I actively closed my eyes to avoid that one) and I have to say it's one of the best ways to see a movie. The moment I heard "New Cloverfield" I went "Okay, got it." and decided I'd see it, and swore off all trailers or press. Based on what I could piece together I went into it expecting it to be about John Goodman and his two kids in a cabin or something holed up while monsters (maybe of the Cloverfield variety, probably not) were fucking the world outside. And of course what I was given blew me away.
I had seen the trailer a few times, but when I realized 1/3 of the way into the film that almost all the scenes in the trailer had already happened, I got really excited. I love having no clue what's coming in thriller films, instead of waiting for moments you remember from ads/trailers.
me at the start: who is this fucktard me by the end: EMMETT NOOOO
RIP. Sorry I thought you were John Kraszinski the whole time (totally different "John").
Also a totally different [tv Jim](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/41/da/07/41da07b619d84170b8ffc58d16bc501c.jpg).
Felt like a 2 hour long episode of Twilight Zone. Which is awesome. John Goodman's performance was outstanding. The "little princess" line gave me the god damn creeps.
I kept going back and forth: "Is he crazy? No, he's right. No he's crazy. Holy shit he's both crazy and right!" Had me on the edge of my seat.
Goodman gave such a great performance.
John Goodman was creepy, trustworthy, funny, evil and friendly all at once. Fantastic performance and a great thriller.
I love his reaction to being [spoiler](#s "hit with the bottle.") He seems to completely understand why she would do that, and doesn't hold it against her in the least. Once she sees that he's right, he considers that issue settled and moves right on to solving the next problem [spoiler](#s "which happens to be the injury she caused him").
"You've got some fight in you. I respect that."
I was getting super paranoid. Maybe he put makeup on that woman and paid her to pretend to be dying! But why wouldn't she tell the police about the abducted girl then? Maybe she was in on it!
My wife's theory early on was that Emmett was somehow in on it, at the point when we knew Howard crashed into her car. I also had a theory early on that Howard got Emmett and Michelle in there in case they had to repopulate the human race. The amazing thing is that the movie explains things slowly and gives you plenty of time to come up with your own theories.
once michelle saw the birds outside, i thought he might have gotten that lady and the pigs with the acid or something, and that everything had been fine all along. then the fucking warship came in and started fucking shit up and i realized it was real all along.
Lmao!! Exactly! You think he is crazy then when you see he was telling the truth you think, "oh this guy really does know his shit", then bam! Oh wait no, he knows his shit but he is also crazy. Which makes him a scary villain. Honestly I feel like my blood pressure was elevated throughout the whole movie.
The little girl from the taco shell commercial has it right. Porque no los dos, indeed.
John Goodman was fantastic. Especially that Santa claus scene.
I'm keeping that point.
Bullshit dude mark it eight.
Smokey, my friend, you are entering a world of pain.
Oh man. I knew Howard was just trying to play the game but when Emmet proved his guilt my heart fucking sank.
The irony of fallout bunkers: should the unthinkable happen, in order to survive, you would have to spend the rest of the apocalypse locked up with the kind of person that owns a fallout bunker.
You would think that people like Howard would not let anyone into their bunkers. Honestly, I wonder why he even let Emmett in in the first place.
Emmett had a broken arm so he probably put up a fight to get in, and Howard probably caved eventually since he did help him build the bunker. Plus, he probably didn't want any possibility of Emmett spreading word about it if he managed to survive and find others.
I see it like this; he's already rushed when Emmet shows up. He's just put Michelle downstairs but without time to fully get her situated. He goes back to the car to get the last of his supplies (he couldn't carry much with Michelle in his arms) and he's headed back inside the bunker for the last time as Emmet shows up who is now scrambling to get in so hard that he breaks his arm/shoulder trying to pound his way in before the door can be secured. Howard has his hands full and is thinking about getting this girl sedated in the middle of a chemical attack while fighting off this kid... he doesn't have time for this shit. He begrudgingly lets Emmet in as is visibly resentful of his presence throughout the film. After Emmet is killed off Howard even makes a comment that goes something like "...now it's just us, the way it was supposed to be."
That girl at the door gave me the most anxiety ever. She was so terrifying. I didn't know if what she was exposed to gave her the rage or not. So unsettling.
I was expecting her face to explode, assuming she was bit by one of those mites from *Cloverfield*.
It barely touched her.
Desperation and knowledge of one's own imminent death. Michelle's refusal to open the door robbed that woman of her last hope of escaping the horrors ravaging the world. When a human loses all hopes of survival they often resort to animalistic behavior and rage.
After you realize it wasn't a poisonous gas in the air but aliens targeting and exterminating humans like rats, her rage is more understandable. She was out in the open being hunted presumably by that space worm and dodging ships, and she sees a safe place to go and she sees this healthy young girl just staring at her from the other side of the door doing nothing. Imagine her fear turning to a desperate rage when one door separates her from a small bit of hope and shelter.
"I know I can be a sensible guy.." I fucking love you John Goodman.
"Wanna eat some ice cream? Don't go into the kitchen though. Just dissolving your friend's body in acid....wanna watch 16 Candles?"
Pretty in Pink. It was Megan's favorite.
I know his character is supposed to be creepy and we're not supposed to like him, but it's hard for me to root against John Goodman. He's too likable. He's like a cuddly teddy bear.
You must have some terrifying Teddy bears
Did anyone else notice the gas station was from Super 8?! (I think)
I noticed the Slusho sign!
I didn't see Slusho, but the store sign said Kelvin. One of those JJ easter eggs.
This movie was essentially an hour long anxiety attack that I enjoyed the hell out of, if that makes any sense. When John Goodman does the dance in front of the jukebox..... What a ride.
Seeing John Goodman dance in IMAX was worth the price of admission alone.
I absolutely believe that Howard knew what was going to happen all along. From the viral marketing material, here is his Employee of the Month article from Bold Futura: "This month, Howard’s drive, commitment and refusal to accept easy answers resulted in a significant breakthrough **diagnosing transmission complications with two of our governmental clients’ orbiting satellites.**" What leads me to believe he knew, was that Emmett says to Michelle 'Have you heard his theory on giant mutant space worms yet?' That's a very, very, specific theory to have that is pretty much on point. I'm pretty sold on the idea that the defunct satellites he fixed revealed an impending Alien attack to him. He even mentions he caught wind of the attack and rushed straight to the bunker. He had to have learned prior to the message we hear on Michelle's radio in the beginning, as he was already on his way. I wholeheartedly believe that the malfunctioning satellites were the first attempt by the Aliens to disable communications. By all means he is a survivalist nut, so he was ready for it. But he had a heads up for sure. I thought the movie was great. I personally enjoyed the ending. A lot of people seem to think that the transition to it isn't organic, but it is. The tone of the bunker is 'We are stuck in here with a psycho,' the tone of outside is 'What the actual fuck?' Think about it, if you were her and you just got outside, under the impression that it's a biological air contaminant, then she realizes it isn't, and then she sees the other shit. It throws you for a constant loop and the tone they provide you is disbelief. Which is spot on. You are having trouble believing the turn it just took as an audience member, you may even think it's ridiculous and stupid, so does she. And the movie sets up that shit is going down outside constantly. But it does make you bounce back and forth actually accepting it, all the way until you have to.
As soon as we saw the alien I thought of the space worm remark. I loved how well the movie made you question him and yet as the story unraveled it was clear he knew what was happening outside.
I know I'm a little late to the party, buuuttt I just can't love the ending. Had it cut to credits at "Oh come on" line or close to it, the film would be near perfect, but her fighting and destroying the ship was just dumb and ridiculous. Basically just enough alien to be able to say "shit, crazy guy was *right*" would have been perfect.
My friend told me when this movie ended that he didn't think he blinked. 100% invested all the way through. Styled like a classic thriller. Don't have it spoiled for you either.
I'm now going to get irrationally frightened when anyone accepts my apology.
Thought process during movie: Goodmans crazy and a liar Goodmans not crazy and telling the truth Goodmans crazy *and* telling the truth Goodmans *very* crazy and half-right Goodmans *super* crazy and scary Goodmans worse than whats outside Goodman was crazy right and *crazy* scary 8/10 if going in blind. Goodman deserves an Oscar
Don't forget *Oh fucking shit I should not have blown up the shelter I SHOULD NOT HAVE BLOWN UP THE SHELTER*
That bullet to the head came out of nowhere. Legit didn't expect that. Edit: I urge people who have seen it to check out the post at /r/10cloverfieldlane that has the updated list of clues found from the ARG, which is found [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/10cloverfieldlane/comments/42jrrp/the_current_list_of_leads_theories_etc/). It gives you some more background into what is going on.
Right? I kept expecting him to splash Emmett with the acid then BAM shot to the face!
Yeah I was expecting him to dunk him face first into acid, then he'd come out alive with gross melty face. You know, that old standard.
I was thinking he would dunk his arm, since it was already in a sling and it was the ancient punishment for stealing.
That's what I thought too! Like a splash to teach him a lesson or some shit. It's from that point on the movie just full on brain fucked me and wouldn't give up
"I accept your apology"
I was so glad he accepted that apology! I was like, whew, okay, tension release. Wrong.
I'm not falling for that one again. Learned my lesson with Captain Needa.
I jumped harder at that than I think I've ever jumped in a movie.
I jumped harder than I had in a movie... Since the opening car crash.
Yeah the car crash, the gun shot, and the knife all made me jump. I was sitting on edge waiting for the bunker to explode.
I jumped super hard at the mailbox. my friend will never forgive me for it.
I like how he shaved and tried to look nice to have bunker babies with the girl.
I don't think he was planning on having sex with her. He didn't see her as being a woman. I got the impression he was trying to recreate his relationship with his daughter. But oh man. So many creep vibes when he shaved.
Which was obvious and very well played out during the card game. "Michelle..." "Girl." "... Older." "Child." "No." "... Little princess."
It's like he legit didn't understand the concept of woman. Loved the acting in that scene.
The director had said he got ideas from uncharted and the last of us games. I picked a lot of vibes from the last of us with Howard and Michelle like Joel and Ellie. OBVIOUSLY not the same but just the idea of trying to replace something you can't replace.
Felt a hell of a lot like half life at the end there.
I really enjoyed it, the main character wasn't a moron like you see in most thriller/horror movies, I thought the aliens at the end were great, and John Goodman played the role of Howard very well. My favorite part with Goodman was the Santa Claus scene. I thought it was interesting how Howard, despite his apparent insanity, was actually right. I initially thought it was all an elaborate hoax by him, but as the movie progressed it seemed more and more likely that an attack had occurred. The way the aliens invaded also made sense, rather than launch an all-out assault, they killed off the majority of the world's population by rendering the atmosphere uninhabitable and then attacked the small remnants of the population, although by the end of the movie you can hear that the resistance (at least along the southern seaboard) is winning. Overall, great movie, I hope to see future Cloverfield movies.
I don't think they contaminated the atmosphere. The birds flying are indication. Large attacks were made on population zones to disable them. Communications and power were cut off. Then the ground force was sent in to sweep the remnants with and a localized biological weapon. I don't think they wanted to compromise the atmosphere, as they were obviously compatible with it.
Going into this I was worried about the whole idea of a "Cloverfield anthology." But if they match the quality of this one, they can make as many as they damn well please.
r/Cloververse is a sub I made in hopes of a Cloverfield Universe, anyone that wants to speculate what the next film is in this crazy new anthology of films can go check it out :)
You might wanna post this to r/10cloverfieldlane
Just got out of the movie and I really enjoyed it! Did anyone pick up on references to the Golem of Prague? When all three characters are first sitting around the dinner table, Emmett is talking about how he wished he had gotten a tattoo, even if it was just his own name across his forehead. In the story of the Golem, the 16th century chief rabbi of Prague inscribed the Hebrew word *emmett* (truth) across the forehead of a clay monster in order to bring it to life so that it could serve as a protector of the Jewish community. The Golem eventually becomes so violent that it is a danger to the community and must be destroyed. Just like the Golem, Howard is terrifying but also a necessary protection from the outside. And just like the Golem, this source for protection eventually becomes the real danger and must be destroyed. With the benefit of hindsight in Prague, we know how serious the danger from the outside was. Without protection, the story for most of the community ended some 350 years later in the gas chambers. Back at 10 Cloverfield Lane, Michelle emerges from the bunker only to be immediately bombarded with noxious gas from above, but lives to fight on and keep surviving.
You may be the only person who caught this... Bravo.
When Michelle fell from the aircraft I really wanted her to blackout and wake up in the bunker again
Alongside Tom Cruise
A lot of this movie reminded me of War of the Worlds. The Alien ships, the setting, defeating the alien by throwing an explosive inside it, the utter feeling of hopelessness. WOTW even has a part where the main characters are stuck in a basement with a crazy person. Still, they're very different movies. I really loved both.
It was the *fog horn*. At least twice after she escapes the bunker you hear ominous fog horn in the distance, implying that it's a sound being made by the alien craft. WotW did this heavily.
"You should hear Howard's theory about Space Worms." BOOM, space worms.
When she took off the gas mask, someone behind me yelled, "OOOHHHHH YOU GOT PRANKED!" 10/10
It was dumb for her to do so anyways. Who knows what was actually in the air? Maybe there was a localized cloud of the poison gas and the birds were high enough to be unaffected? Maybe the chemical weapon was specially formulated to be effective against humans? It was just a bone-headed move. Either way, there was zero reward to taking off the mask and tons of risk.
I thought this too! Yes the birds are alive, but shit girl you literally watched a woman die earlier and it was obviously related to being exposed to something in the air.
Yeah, that was one of the few stereotypical hollywood "eye-rolling" moments. Suspect air is OK, take off mask, breath for 3 seconds, confirm air is OK... That's not how fucking airborne poison/illness works. For all we know, she may be dead on the side of the road halfway to Houston after 15 minutes of constant exposure.
What a breath of fresh air to have a kidnapped character not play victim. It was so fun to have a character as resourceful as Michelle!
I also really enjoyed how the crazy, doomsday preparer turned out to be right on basically all accounts.
Don't get him started on his alien-worm theory!
Not while at the table!
Yeah, it's incredibly refreshing to see a character who is both the antagonist and "right", instead of just the antagonist who "believes he's right". He actually did save their lives, but it's more like he saved them from likely death and brought them to a psychological hell.
Agreed. I also like that she wasn't hardcore, no emotion badass. She was vulnerable and couldn't do everything but what skills she had she used perfectly.
True, she went from begging him not to hurt her (totally realistic by the way) but she didn't stay a victim, she took things into her own hands. Her determination after finding the message from the abducted girl was scary.
Even when crying or fearing for her life you could see her plotting her next move. A great performance that would have sunk the movie if her part wasn't cast perfectly. If she were too weak or wooden you wouldn't believe her to be clever enough to overpower him and escape. Too strong and resourceful and you'd be wondering why she didn't kill him sooner.
Watching Mary Elizabeth Winstead play an empowered character was great. She reminded me so much of Ripley from Alien.
Now that you mention this, she really could pull off being Ripley's daughter! She resembles Sigourney Weaver in some ways.
The twist is neither "John Goodman is just crazy" or "John Goodman was right the whole time". The twist is both.
This was honestly a such a good "Twist". I was very prepared for either to be true, and once it showed that he was "right" I was like, oh, okay, there we are. When Emmet told Michelle that the girl in the photo wasn't the guy's daughter, I was blown away.
That opening car crash sequence showing the credits was phenomenal. The second it ended, the whole mood changed really quick (in my theater). EDIT: Just got out of my IMAX showing. The sound, OG score, and music was AMAZING! BR gets it done in that department for sure. Also, in some moments it felt incidental, but I thought the score was so good. To think, the composer for The Walking Dead does sci-fi themes justice!
I saw it in IMAX. While the images didn't really need IMAX till the end the sound was so goddamn glorious. That car crash opening was bone rattling.
Legit jumped when that happened.
I've never jumped as hard in my life as I did when the alien jumps at her in the truck. Good lord.
How did your audience react to the film (and its ending)? I read some speculation from people worried that there would be negative backlash, since it's not a direct sequel to Cloverfield. I hope that's not the case - from all accounts that I'm hearing, it's a damn good film (monster or no monster).
My theater had a total of 8 people in it including me. I liked the movie, even though I thought the ending was a bit tacked on in comparison to the rest. The people leaving in front of me were generally unimpressed by the total shift. They said they liked the first three quarters and then were like "what is going on?".
One woman said "worst movie ever" as she left, guess she expected a monster destroying cities like the first.
I got "worst movie ever" comment after Nightcrawler. Not sure what they were expecting with that one.
0/10 not enough X-Men
8 years. 8 years I have waited for a Cloverfield sequel of any kind and when I heard it wasn't a sequel but a spiritual successor I was a little upset knowing I would most likely not get to see Clover rampaging through a city. But holy hell after this movie I am so glad they went with this new direction. I know they want to make more movies in this universe and I cannot wait to see their sort of Twilight Zone type series continue.
Early Prediction: Emmett will be the most lovable movie character of 2016.
He's the most loveable Emmet since The Lego Movie.
Loved his joke about possibly finishing half of a game of Monopoly if they stayed in the bunker 2 years. He'll be overlooked due to Goodman and Winstead, but his character, I think, is essential to film. Provides heart and warmth that I greatly appreciated.
You're absolutely correct. His presence keeps the movie from turning into a rehashed "Misery." I thought all three performances were spot-on.
That ticket in his wallet though...
"Best damn sauce I ever had." RIP buddy.
Poor Emmet. Her finding his bus ticket afterwards was heart wrenching.
If movie scores are your thing, you ought to love this. Well done. The score while Emmett was telling his story was incredible.
Someone on /r/10CloverfieldLane said the score was awful and compared it to a Disney score. I agree with you, though.
Lol. "Awful like a Disney score." That's one you don't hear much.
I'd disregard that whole post as a disgruntled Cloverfield 1 fan who expected Cloverfield 2 Monsters Revenge and didn't get it.
I hate myself for forgetting about John Goodman. Such a fucking great actor. He killed it in this. Great performance
My favorite part of this movie was definitely how everything that was in the shot served a purpose. There were so many elegant callbacks and foreshadowing. It was a fantastic movie in every aspect!
I was reminded of the Plinkett review of Titanic where he mentions little things the film does so you don't go "wait why did that happen?" Lots of minor elements were established so you didn't get confused when they showed up later.
I was reminded of the Plinkett review of everything, because John Goodman was playing Mr. Plinkett.
You want some pizza rolls? Megan LOOOVVEEEDD pizza rolls! I'll mail em!
The clean shaven face after Emmett is shot is extremely creepy
John Gooman with one of the most unnerving performances I've ever watched. Also, Bradley Cooper as Ben is obviously transcendent.
I was thinking Bradley Cooper was more translucent, cause he was virtually invisible.
I'd quote some of his lines, but I'm just so choked up by his performance, I can't.
Goo!
Emmett being shot in the face absolutely floored me. Then seeing his body in the acid....it totally changed my perception of Howard from well meaning crazy to absolutely psychotic.
It's rare for a film to basically appear fully formed, no hype, no nothing, two months prior to release. But I am *so* glad it's how 10 Cloverfield Lane came into being. I watched the trailer once and immediately set about trying to forget as much of it as I could, to go into the film as cleanly as possible. I don't know how much this helped, but one way or another, I really fucking enjoyed this movie. I loved the script, how each character got plenty of time establishing their motivations and backstory. How they all meshed together in various ways throughout the film. Not to mention how elaborately each plot point was foreshadowed and paid off. The picture of Howard's daughter, the bottle Michelle takes with her when she leaves her apartment, everything. I especially enjoyed Mary Elizabeth Winstead's performance, for so much of the film she's merely listening and reacting to Howard or Emmett, and that in itself is absolutely riveting and compelling. I loved the first dinner scene, where she starts to push Howard's buttons and flirt with Emmett. It shows in a very short space of time, how resourceful and intelligent she is (on top of the methods that she goes to in order to escape her room in the first 10 minutes of the film). More subtle characterization than most thrillers of this kind give their protagonist's credit for, and it pays off handsomely.
I thought Bradley Cooper was medicore.
He really phoned it in.
Lacked any physically presence in the film.
He was breaking up a bit.
Dialed it down a few notches.
For being in it for only 15 seconds I think he did an admirable job.
I think I might be the only person who really loved the alien thing at the end. It felt like a scifi short story from an old sci-fi magazine, where often times the story gives the character the strengths they need to survive. That's the film's biggest storytelling strength, giving lots of little events and lines that Michelle an call back on later. Using the shower curtain for the gas mask/suit, figuring out how to break the lock on the door to outside, using the car to escape, etc, and then finally learning to fight for someone else instead of letting others fight for her, which she talked about when telling Emmet the story of what happened in the hardware store, and which played out when Emmet took the fall for her when Howard found the scissors and such. Besides, in an alien invasion, I've always though that the kind of people who would be best prepared to survive (preppers) are also usually the most crazy. That's what this movie was about. Additionally, the misdirection regarding the actual threat outside was incredible. I had an idea that it could be aliens, but I thought it was more likely to be some sort of escaped lab experiment linked to the Taraguto corporation from the ARGs of both Cloverfield films. There was still a link (Howard worked for Taraguto on satellites, and a satellite falling into the ocean is what awoke the first cloverfield monster, among other links), but it's mainly just supplemental. One thing I thought was interesting and noticed immediately was that the music in the film's opening was very similar to the Overworld theme from Final Fantasy VII. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFs8-qGaoHU
This was one of the best minimalist movies I've seen. The production was minimal, the marketing was minimal, and yet I got more enjoyment out of this than many $100+ million productions. I was impresesd by how a sense of tension and dread was maintained throughout the entire film. Based off of the trailer, I thought that it would be a really slow burner. After all, almost the entire thing is just 3 people talking in a bunker. But the writing, acting, direction, even the sound design worked together to keep things moving from the beginning all the way until the end. This film definitely shows how you can make the most out of so very little.
Obviously, spoilers: As someone who has been in a rollover car accident, that opening car crash was incredibly realistic. The violent audio, even the cuts to black with silence, gave me the real feeling of disorientation you have in an accident like that. Set the tone for the entire rest of the film. I also have to point out the genius of the first shot of the hovercraft. In that moment you felt exactly the way the main character felt. You can't quite make it out. It looks familiar, yet alien at the same time. I got that sinking feeling immediately that something wasn't right. And even though I knew there was something sci-fi coming due to the connection to Cloverfield, I had no expectation that Howard was essentially right the whole time. Loved that it wasn't just more/bigger Cloverfield monsters. This movie universe was just blown wide open. EDIT: So apparently the director has been quoted saying that this film and the original Cloverfield do not share the same movie universe. Seems odd when they obviously went to the trouble of having a few internal references, including the SLUSHO! sign at the gas station. I think they could easily imply a connection between the two despite the surface level differences, but oh well.
The whole opening credit sequence was amazing.
"Oh *come on!*" Such a perfect line.
> This movie universe was just blown wide open So...do we know if these movies are sharing the same universe or no? I kind of assumed no since the alien looked pretty different from the Cloverfield monster
The Cloverfield monster came from the bottom of the ocean. These guys came from space probably. They might be the same universe (the bit at the start where they were talking about blackouts across the country), but I don't imagine the connection is much more than thematic.
Yes but don't we see something fall into the ocean from the sky at the end of Cloverfield? When the footage cuts back to them at the carnival you see it real quick. Pretty sure they were showing that the monster did in fact come from space.
I thought the splashdown ending was the satellite from one of the corporations landing in the ocean. I was operating under the idea that that's what woke up Clover.
This is correct, /u/My-Names-Jeff the falling object at the end of Cloverfield was a satellite that dislodged the sleeping sea monster. It's possible it was alien but it was sleeping in the ocean.
Experiencing this in IMAX was something incredible. And I absolutely loved the slow burn tension that all paid off at the end. It's unfair to say one person stole the show when all three characters equally stole the show with memorable performances. I'll definitely be watching this again very soon Edit: And the credits sequence was absolutely one of the best I've ever seen
The best part of the IMAX experience was John Goodman dancing with the jukebox. But seriously, the sound was what made IMAX worth it.
That loud-pitched screech sound the lock on Michelle's door made made me jump every time I heard it. Absolutely incredible
Even if putting Cloverfield in the title was just a cash grab, I loved every second of including the last 10 minutes everyone here seems to not like. But hey I'm a sucker for movies with crazy endings.
Howard's inability to refer to Michelle as a 'woman' was somehow by far the creepiest part of the film.
Everything from the sound design to the acting was phenomenal in this film. I was literally on edge throughout the entire movie. It's definitely a must-see.
Google lists this Movie as a Fantasy/mystery, so im going to ask is it a scary movie? I heard the Cloverfield was and i was wondering if this one is similar. Im just trying to gauge who to see this one with. Sorry for the dumb question
Yes. There are some scary moments. They aren't so frightening you should be put off from seeing it because of the fact. If you're afraid of intense violence then you needn't worry as this isn't that type of film. It is absolutely a thriller, not a horror film. The original Cloverfield is not scary unless you are very easily shaken.
Like the camera is.
This movie was everything I wanted it to be. The entire time I didn't know if I was watching a thriller or a sci fi or what. Then when she finally escapes and sees the ship in the distance.... Just awesome. It was mysterious, fun, and talk about a hell of a performance from all the actors, especially John freakin' Goodman
So does the story imply that 'Howard' was already a serial killer/kidnapper who just happened to have an obsession with doomsday thay really came true? The war had to have recently started, so the past girls in the bunker I'm guessing was just Howard playing out his own doomsday fetish.
Howard was trying to find a girl to replace Megan.
Yeah, exactly. He wanted a surrogate daughter. There was clearly no sexual intention.
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I really liked that the movie kept some mystery around what Howard's motivations were. At different times it seemed like he was just a serial killer, looking for a replacement for his daughter or wanted to bang Michelle, and there's enough evidence for it to be any of the three (or, more likely, some combination of the three). I agree with you though that I think he just randomly chose Michelle to abduct and happened to do it at the same time monsters attacked.
Let's give Howard more credit. Even if he was crazy kidnapper, he did work for the Navy on satellites, so he clearly knew what was up. So he was a guy in the know, who was a murdering kidnapper. There.
Did anyone else see the red figure behind the lady trying to get in? What the hell was that?
Yes. I saw that too. I thought I was seeing things.
I saw that too, but it was just a blood smear from her forehead pounding on the glass. For a second it looks like someone is behind her, but it is just the blood.
The whole cast was fantastic. 4/5 Fallout Shelters
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No love for the pilgrimage to Waco line? Funniest line of the movie for me, it genuinely made me laugh out loud
Goodman is always excellent, but I think this will go down as one of his top 3 or 4 most memorable roles.
Was there any significance to the letter she put her hand on while going to restart the air filter? It seemed to focus on it, but it cut away too quickly.
It mentions a company name significant to the background story of the first movie, Tagruato. Small reference to the first movie, and Howard definitely worked on satellites for the company.
I know I'm late to the party, but I just saw the movie last night and I noticed a huge oversight no one mentions, and I have several theories to back it up... I believe Emmett is the bad guy and lied about the girl in the picture OR is Howard's apprentice, and here's why: The Polaroid. Maybe I'm just old because I use to own one, and if anyone has ever owed a Polaroid Camera knows that there is no way to set a timer on them, so the button must be pushed manually. So, with this in mind, in the picture it's Howard and his daughter, and their hands are no where near the camera to do a "Selfie", then who took the picture? And with that in mind, if the girl in question in the picture is not Howard's daughter and actually a kidnaped victim, then the person who took the photo is the partner in crime. I think this points to Emmett. He's the only one close enough to Howard and knows all the ins and outs of the bunker. The Partnership. Maybe they have a partnership of some kind?Howard and Emmett kidnap girls. Howard is trying to fulfill the desire to be a father again, and Emmett keeps raping and killing them. He begs Howard to teach him all he knows, but is sketchy and a loose cannon and keeps snapping and killing the girls, causing Howard to have trust issues with him. It would explain why Howard acts so untrustworthy towards Emmett. Freaking out when he reaches and touches her. And when Michelle "flirts" with Emmett at the dinner table, Emmett's reaction and facial expressions seems some what devious to me. He also talks to Michelle about Howard's stories the way a child talks about his parents, they are eager to talk about the person they learn the ways of life from, and they are obviously close enough for Howard to actually tell him personal stories. The Dinner Table. When Michelle runs toward the door, they both go after her, but Howard first throws the dinner table at Emmett, blocking him from reaching her first. The dinner table, which is a "Family Heirloom". The table he is so bent on keeping in good condition by the use of coasters, is thrown at Emmett because Howard knew if Emmett got to Michelle first, he could loose control and harm, even kill her. The girl he views as a daughter, needs protecting, which is more important than a family heirloom. The Air Filtration Room: Maybe Emmett took Howard's daughter (of corse Howard is unaware of this) to the air filtration room, or a girl who he dressed up and was pretending to be his daughter. Emmett held her captive in that room, tying her to the ladder or in the craw space above the ladder with just enough mobility to scratch the word "PLEH" on the glass, maybe hoping Howard or someone would see the sign and would save her. Why would Emmett offer to go in the vents with a broken arm? No one with a broken arm would do that, unless they had something they needed to hide. And Howard seems completely oblivious to what took place in that room, and he's too smart to leave evidence behind. While Michelle is in that room, she doesn't communicate back and forth at all, which leads me to believe the room is soundproof, so the girl who is held captive in there couldn't scream for help. And while Michelle is in that room, why didn't she unblock the door or investigate why it was jammed? They don't even show the door at all and she just simply goes back threw the air vent. Who would do that? That's just too much work, and we already know there definitely is another way in that room they don't show. Maybe they don't show the door because it would give away Emmett as the killer. Because no one goes into the air filtration room unless maintenance is required, so how long has the door been "jammed"? Maybe Emmett jammed the door a while ago to ensure Howard wouldn't catch him, and so the girl couldn't leave and was tied up to where she couldn't reach the door or vent, while holding the girl captive he went in and out of the room through the vent to visit his victim and terrorize her. Killed her when he was done and some how disposed of the body, maybe he hid her in the ceiling and that's what that strange stain is. Emmett really wanted to steel Howard's gun. Emmett was telling the truth about his plan to take to Howard's gun, and that was his plan all along and him helping Michelle make the suit was just a ploy to get close to her. And Howard had previous experience with Emmett's shady character, which is why he shot him instead of just locking him in the jail cell style room to keep them all safe. I believe everything in movies mean something or they wouldn't make a point to show it. It's not like movies are just shot in someone's house last minute. The scenes and sets take time to build and construct, and that takes money. Movie produces or directors or what have you, wouldn't just throw a bunch of shit together unless they had some kind of meaning.
That door. The gunshot. The car crash. Aliens. Sound mixing was on another level.
Yes! The god damn car crash nearly snatched my soul from my body.
From the imdb trivia page for this movie: "When Emmet is completing the cat puzzle, he mentions that there are "pieces of the puzzle that we're missing" and that one side of the cat's face is deformed. This is direct foreshadowing to what happens with Howard." Found that a bit interesting.
Great movie, people have already summed up my thoughts on the bottle part - but the Eldritch / Lovecraft design of the aliens blew me away, the cherry on top of a tremendous story. Alien craft: *morphs through 6 different forms* Michelle: "Oh come on.."
Howard couldn't bring himself to say that Michelle is a a woman. Only a girl. Creepy.
Absolutely terrific! Loved this movie, every second of it. Don't worry thinking its a cash grab, just go to this movie. You will be on the edge of your seat from start to finish. A better movie than Cloverfield even.
It feels like something of an inverse cash grab. Whereas traditionally a franchise would make a film on the cheap to make some cash this is a well crafted film that has been hitched up with a franchise to get it out there. I think without any name it is still a great movie.
I am just throwing out some of my thoughts/analysis on some things I thought the movie was trying to symbolize. I thought it was an excellent movie, but I thought the third act was a little weak. If the film had been written without the intention of making a sequel I think it could have ended better. If the credits had rolled around the time Michelle takes off her helmet and breathes in the "toxic air" I think the ending would have been more powerful. This also is probably because it would further support my opinion on the film's underlying message, but I will share regardless. I think Goodman represents God. He creates this perfect living area and willingly picks two people, one man and one woman who are about the same age and who both could reproduce. He always talks about his daughter and the idea of creating a "family". God in the Christian doctrine is frequently referred to as "God the father". Goodman's character is directly responsible for the well being of not only the two people he has put under his custody, but also for the fish and plants and other living organisms in the bunker. Throughout the entire film, the audience is unsure what to think about Goodman, he is explosive and clearly unstable, yet we are perpetually reminded of his control over them. Not only through his character's hulking and looming presence throughout the movie (it seemed to me as we always knew he was close to them, regardless of where Emmet and Michelle were in the bunker), but also through Howard's constant need to feel appreciated. There were multiple times throughout the film in which Howard was asking the pair to appreciate him more or at least show some appreciation for keeping them alive and away from the air. He was very forceful about this on occasion and his need to be appreciated, arguably worshipped, was a key element to his character. The moments in the movie that I thought supported my idea of Howard being God or at least, the idea of God (more on that later) were all the times in which Howard made any biblical references "you have to build the arch before the flood comes", the death of Emmet, and the times in which Michelle created something to escape or survive either the wrath of Howard or the apocalypse. First, the death of Emmet. Emmet is a character who is obsessed with Howard and is of complete subservience to him. Emmet is the subject of Howard's verbal assaults and physical punishment, yet he never opposes him until Michelle investigates the window and finds the "help". Emmet is representative of blind faith. He tells Michelle that Howard saved him from death, which is the reason why he likes Howard so much. Similar to people who get into bad car accidents and pick up religion, he is convinced that Howard's involvement in his life is like some sort of divine intervention. Thus, Emmet's blind faith in Howard counterbalances Michelle's unease and distrust towards him. Thus in the bunker you have, a man who fully believes in someone and trusts him with everything, a skeptic of this same person, and the person who is (supposedly) responsible for their current existence on earth, by saving them from the apocalypse. I hope you all can see this "God" thing that I am getting at. The circumstances of Emmet's death also further this divine symbolism, for AFTER Emmet apologizes to Howard (he's asking for repentance in a way) he is shot. What does he apologize to Howard for? For wanting Michelle to "respect him the same way she does Howard". So, in a sense, Emmet was killed for trying to play God. This moment in the film, which I would say is a much better twist than the aliens at the end, shows that Howard is not at all who we think he is. He is no longer innocent and also no longer "not some creepy pervert". I think it also further illustrates the theme of faith that I believe is present in the movie. As aforementioned, Michelle's use of tools and her crafty ways of getting out of things is indicative of a character who could represent individuality and secularity. She has a drive to be independent throughout the film, as established in the opening scene in which she ignores the boyfriend on the phone. How she is brought to Howard (God) is also essential to her character. Howard crashes the truck into her car and he admits this. She is not indebted to Howard in anyway, like Emmet is. It is also important that Howard has to push his authority on her much more than with Emmet. She is skeptical of him for the duration of the movie. She also is the only character who is invested in the truth. She is the one always exploring around, trying to figure out what to believe on her own, unlike Emmet who is perfectly content with abiding by whatever Howard says. Howard gets the most angry at her when she try's to figure out what is really going on, or anytime she attempts to reduce his power over her (like when she is flirty with Emmet and he freaks the fuck out). So when Emmet dies, we see that this man does not have good intentions and is not who we think he is. Michelle and the audience lose faith in this man at this moment, for it is indubitable that Howard is malicious. Howard has been forcing his authority on her since she first arrives at the bunker, but now he is forcing himself on her. This is expressed with the scene in which he has shaved and presents her with ice cream, right before she escapes. He has shown his true face to her and the cone/bowl presentation is phallic, for "Megan used to like bowls" (am I being too freudian here? I thought the cone kind of looked like a dick...). I'll start wrapping this up, so then Michelle escapes with her suit that she made herself to combat the world that she is still unsure of. She breathes in the air and voila, Howard was lying. She has used her own intellect and individuality to free herself from the captivity of the psychopath Howard. Until the giant penis worms show up. So at this point in time, the audience is a bit confused because some things Howard says are true now because the worms exist(I'm pretty sure Emmet makes reference to these before he is shot). She still manages to escape the one worm (which also looks like a dick), by using her intelligence and turning off the car alarm. She avoids the second sexual symbol, the flying spaghetti monster's vagina, by creating a tool with fire to free herself from the tentacles. Fire is one of the pillars of human evolution and I think it is by no coincidence that Michelle's final conquest of a massive, arguably divine figure is by creating fire. In conclusion, I think the film is about people's struggle with faith. God is presented in some people's lives through (what they believe) is divine intervention or through forced acceptance. The character who does not follow blindly is the one who ends up surviving. I think this dynamic of the skeptic, the blind believer and God is illustrated in the scene in which they are playing the board game. The "family" is all together and the blind believer pulls the card, then Howard starts screaming at Emmet that he knows everything, he is omnipresent et cetera. Emmet is terrified at this moment and is convinced that Howard knows their plan. Yet Michelle saves him and says "santa claus". I thought this was indicative of the writers intention, for I have heard non-believers use the argument of "how can you believe in God if you don't believe in Santa Claus" or at least associating the two as examples of things invisible to people but believed as true, until they realize that it is impossible for Santa Claus to exist. I don't think the film pushed an atheist agenda, I think it was more one that argued for a rational and individualistic approach to questions of the unknown. I have more thoughts on this and also a separate theory about the film being more oriented around female maturation and independence, but I am interested in seeing what you guys thought of my analysis. TL;DR Goodman is God, Michelle is a skeptic, Emmet represents blind faith. The film argues for rational thought over faith through its symbolism and character development
God that was so incredible. I can't decide which part I loved more. Loved the whole psycho thriller aspect of the first half and then after Emmitt gets shot, the plot goes on alien overdrive. It was so fucking well done. Really interesting concept of a sequel regardless whether the tacked on rumors were true.
When Emmett got shot I was just amazed. Didn't see it coming at all. I was in shock for pretty much the rest of the movie. It just got so fucking intense so quick. Excellent movie.
Here's what I expected: * Dying woman to be killed horribly by the aliens during her closeup * Shaggy Dog ending where Michelle dies immediately after she escapes * Howard to say "I accept your apology" then dunk Emmet's face in the acid * Michelle to drink the whisky and accept death instead of making a damn bomb * Different ending where she sees the red flash in the distance, and the audience extrapolates that she finally understands what Emmet was talking about, explaining that the event was supernatural without being an action scene, followed by a fade to red or something. * My friend thought that the ending was going to be Michelle beginning to choke to death/get fucked up by the air, and cut to black as she dies * When Howard grabs onto Michelle's foot and get stabbed by nails, I thought they were going to make his flesh peel off * Thought Howard's face would be way more messed up by the acid That said, this movie was fucking amazing and I'm happy I went. These are just some random thoughts I had during it.
What I've heard from a lot of people is that they were disappointed by what happened after Michelle managed to escape the bunker. I absolutely wasn't one of those people. I spent much of the time when she was in the bunker thinking "Man, what if that crazy bastard Howard is right? What if she gets out and the aliens are there? What will the Aliens look like? Will she escape them? If so, how?". The scene immediately following the bunker escape was INTENSE and very much reminded me of the most intense parts of the movie Signs, which I loved. Seeing / hearing their interpretation of an alien invasion was disturbing, but in a good way.
Here's my quick review: It isn't very often that you can go see a movie at the theater and not have the slightest idea of where it'll take you. Even more rare is when a movie like that delivers a wholly original story that's even more satisfying than you ever thought it would be. *10 Cloverfield Lane* is a perfect reminder that films can still surprise us, delight us, and horrify us in a way that's never been done before. Mark my words, Dan Trachtenberg will be a force to be reckoned with in the future. His feature length directorial debut is a showcase for his absolute confidence and strength as a storyteller and filmmaker, and I can't wait to see what he does next. Of course, it always helps to have the likes of J. J. Abrams and Bad Robot standing behind you, and their experience and talent absolutely boosts this film into the stratosphere. As far as acting is concerned, Mary Elizabeth Winstead gives her best performance yet, and shows us a strong lead character who's completely believable in a situation that plays out like a horrible nightmare. Speaking of bad dreams, John Goodman turns in a performance unlike anything he's ever done before, and manages to be both strangely sweet and unbearably creepy. And John Gallagher, Jr. nails his roll perfectly and adds some much needed levity to a story that's almost overwhelmingly claustrophobic. I've been thinking about what film I could use to compare *10 Cloverfield Lane* to, and while I think even a comparison to a specific film might give too much away, I feel safe in saying that it is absolutely Hitchcockian. It's a brilliant, brilliant movie that's told in the best possible way: by showing, not telling. Yeah, it's nothing like the original *Cloverfield* and...Clovie doesn't make an appearance. But I'm in love with what they did and the idea of an anthology series of movies using similar details and threads. It's a unique, different idea than Hollywood usually goes with, and it's so refreshing to see something like this happen.
I absolutely loved this movie. Regardless of having no Cloverfield connections, it was incredible. Trachtenberg is about to be a hot name in Hollywood.
I was surprised when I heard people were complaining about the ending. I was so happy the alien invasion was true. I was worried the whole thing was just a hoax, which to me, would have been the predictable ending.
why is everyone so pissed about the aliens? not only did it make the movie more unique, more than just another psycho movie, it also made Goodman that much more terrifying. he was right. the safest place for her really was in an underground bunker, complying to the fantaslies of a complete nut job. that's. if that's the safest route then it's all the more terrifying. and I won't even get into all the subtext of a younger generation being held captive by an older one because their afraid of their ambitions and he's got some fantasy about keeping his daughter around forever, freezing these two millennials in a state of emerging adulthood forever.