Cloverfield (2008)
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Six friends must navigate the chaos of New York City as a massive, mysterious creature emerges and begins its destruction.
The story
In the heart of New York City, a group of six friends gathers for a farewell party for one of their own. The celebration is abruptly shattered when a massive earthquake strikes, causing a citywide power outage and the appearance of a colossal, unidentified creature. As the city descends into chaos, the friends must navigate the crumbling streets, dodging falling debris and the terrifying presence of the monster. Captured through the lens of a personal camcorder, the footage follows their desperate attempt to escape the escalating disaster and find safety amidst the destruction of the urban landscape.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The film is presented as found footage from a personal camcorder. It begins with a party for Rob, whose brother Jason and friends are gathered in a Manhattan apartment. After an earthquake and a power outage, the group witnesses a massive creature destroying the city and the Statue of Liberty. They flee through the streets, eventually seeking refuge in a convenience store and later an electronics store. During their journey, they are attacked by smaller parasites falling from the creature. The group splits to rescue Rob's girlfriend, Beth, who is trapped in the Time Warner Center. They eventually reach her, but the military initiates the 'Hammerdown Protocol,' a massive bombing of Manhattan. The survivors reach a rescue point at Grand Central Terminal. While being evacuated by helicopter, the creature strikes their craft, causing it to crash in Central Park. The final survivors, Rob and Beth, take shelter under an arch as the bombing begins, and the footage ends with them declaring their love before the camera is buried in rubble. The film concludes with a flashback to a month earlier, showing a mysterious object falling into the ocean.
- First release year
- 2008
- Runtime (minutes)
- 85
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Matt Reeves
- Writers
- Drew Goddard · writer
- Cast and characters
- Lizzy Caplan · Marlena Diamond; Jessica Lucas · Lily Ford; T.J. Miller · Hud Platt; Michael Stahl-David · Rob Hawkins; Mike Vogel · Jason Hawkins; Odette Yustman · Beth McIntyre
- Genres
- found footage; monster; disaster; science fiction; horror
- Themes
- survival; urban chaos; fear of the unknown
- Tone and mood
- tense; claustrophobic; urgent
- Premise and plot tags
- found footage; monster movie; disaster film; urban survival
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the direction and the cinéma vérité style narrative.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 78% · scale: percentage · review count: 213; Metacritic · score: 64 · scale: 100 · review count: 37
- Production trivia
- The film's title was once changed to several names including Slusho, Cheese, and Greyshot.; The director, Matt Reeves, provided the uncredited voice for the phrases after the credits.; The film's style was inspired by the 'cinéma vérité' and the 'La Shakily Queasy-Cam' style.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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