By Staci Layne Wilson
@StaciWilson

From the stylistic font on the poster of 10 Cloverfield Lane to the name J.J. Abrams listed as a producer, you should have a pretty good guess that you’re in for a Hitchcockian thriller of epic proportions. The suspenseful story harkens back to the psychological mind-game thrillers of the 1950s and 60s, while the climax remains true to the namesake. Cloverfield was a huge hit featuring a mammoth monster, and while this is a follow-up to that blockbuster, it’s a sequel in name only.

The action kicks off pretty much immediately, soon after we meet runaway bride Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). She’s on the sprint from matrimony, driving her modest sedan on a cornfield-lined highway in anywhere, USA, anxious to put miles between herself and him. Out of nowhere in the black of night, Michelle is sideswiped, rolling, and… everything goes black. When she opens her eyes, she’s hooked up to an I.V. and chained to a pipe in a cinderblock cell.

What follows is a chamber-piece thriller and a game of cat-and-mouse as Michelle tries to get inside the mind of her captor, Howard (John Goodman). Why did he chain her up? He says it’s to keep her from injuring herself further. Why did he kidnap her? He says he rescued her. Why are they are living in a locked bunker? He says the world over-ground is now a nuclear post-apocalyptic bloodbath. She’s not buying it, and she’s determined to escape the subterranean space at any cost… but will it be worth the price she pays?

The direction, music and cinematography are all top notch, adding to the drama and doubt inherent to the plot. But it’s the actors who bring it all home. Howard is a master of deception… or is he? It’s only the gravitas of Goodman that makes his character so nuanced and textured. Winstead is believable as the damsel in distress, albeit one who’s got a few treacherous tricks up her tailored sleeves. The tale unfolds like a good book, one chapter at a time. And when the inevitable showdown happens, we’ve actually lived with these characters long enough to care about their outcomes.

Though 10 Cloverfield Lane is rated PG-13, it’s got acute white-knuckle moments – and is fitting of the all its tags. It’s a drama, it’s a thriller, horror, sci-fi and mystery all in one.

2 Hours
Rated PG-13

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10 CLOVERFIELD LANE Review — Drama, Thriller, Horror, Sci-fi, Mystery all in One