10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
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A woman trapped in an underground bunker must decide if her captors are protecting her from a global catastrophe or holding her prisoner.
The story
After a car crash in rural Louisiana, a woman named Michelle wakes up in an underground bunker. She is held there by two men, Howard and Emmett, who claim the surface of the Earth has become uninhabitable due to a mysterious attack. While Howard insists they are in a safe haven, Michelle's growing suspicion about their motives and the true nature of the outside world creates a tense atmosphere of uncertainty. As she struggles to understand the reality of her situation, she must navigate the complex dynamics between her captors while trying to determine if they are her saviors or her jailers.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After a car crash in rural Louisiana, Michelle wakes up in a bunker guarded by Howard and his assistant, Emmett. Howard claims the surface is poisoned by an attack, while Emmett insists the threat is real. During her confinement, Michelle discovers inconsistencies in Howard's story, including a mysterious girl's identity and a hidden 'HELP' sign. After a tense standoff leads to Howard killing Emmett, Michelle escapes the bunker and faces a biomechanical alien craft. She manages to flee in a vehicle, eventually hearing a radio broadcast about a safe zone in Baton Rouge while two massive alien ships appear in the distance.
- First release year
- 2016
- Runtime (minutes)
- 104
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Dan Trachtenberg
- Cast and characters
- John Goodman · Howard; Mary Elizabeth Winstead · Michelle; John Gallagher Jr. · Emmett
- Genres
- science fiction; thriller
- Themes
- survival; paranoia; isolation
- Tone and mood
- tense; suspenseful
- Premise and plot tags
- post-apocalyptic; alien invasion; survival thriller
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Cellar
- Content notes
- violence; frightening sequences
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews and was praised for its tense atmosphere and strong performances.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 91% · scale: percentage · review count: 316; Metacritic · score: 76 · scale: 100 · review count: 43
- Production trivia
- The film was originally titled 'Valencia' during production.; It was developed from a script titled 'The Cellar'.; The film features a voice cameo by Bradley Cooper.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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