![]() Even the way he casually tells Michelle "You’ll learn to love cooking" is chilling. ![]() The way he speaks for Michelle without consulting her, telling Emmett to stop joking, because she doesn’t find it funny. The way he pities himself for the slights against him while lacking sympathy for anyone else. The way he’s charismatic and easygoing when things are going his way, and even contrite when it suits the story he’s telling. The way he veers wildly between personality extremes. (Given that he doesn’t actually know the nature or extent of the attack on the world above, this is one of the earliest signs that he’s nowhere near the altruist he keeps claiming to be.) The ending ramps up the action, but continues the themesĮven Howard’s smallest actions fit the standard abuser profile. He isolates her from her friends and family, both physically, by locking her into the bunker, and emotionally, by repeatedly claiming they’re all dead and there’s no way to even attempt to contact them. He terrifies her, then blames her for hurting his feelings by not showing him enough gratitude and respect. He threatens her with violence when she disobeys his arbitrary rules, then seems baffled a moment later about why she’s upset. ![]() He has no empathy for her, or understanding of what’s going on in her head. From his first moments with Michelle, he’s more interested in controlling her than comforting her. Howard is a classic abuser, to such a degree that his actions run down a straight checklist of common tactics and warning signs. As outsized and strange as the ending is, it still fits precisely with what’s gone before.ġ0 Cloverfield Lane is fundamentally about domestic abuse. ![]() But ultimately, it only expands on the themes developed in the first two acts. It takes the story in a radically different direction, and parts of it strain credulity. But the claim that the ending doesn’t fit the movie doesn’t hold water. There’s no arguing with personal taste, or with viewers who walked into the film expecting something specific, and were frustrated when they didn’t get it. Viewers have taken to every available social-media platform to complain about the ending, saying it doesn’t make sense, that it came out of nowhere, and that it ruined the movie. Once Howard’s captive Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) finally outmaneuvers him and escapes, she’s suddenly fighting aliens. For the first hour at least, 10 Cloverfield Lane is an escape-puzzle game of a movie, where every object and every casual hint may become important later, especially when assembled in unlikely combinations.īut the film’s final act has become its biggest sticking point with audiences, in large part because it doesn’t initially seem to progress as economically and logically as the first two acts. When the camera lingers meaningfully on a bottle of alcohol in the opening scene, or an IV pole or a shower curtain later on, it’s to establish the tools that are going to become significant as the story progresses. A casual comment from his unwelcome guest Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.) about "mutant worms" ravaging the world turns out to be surprisingly prophetic. When bunker-owner Howard (John Goodman) casually tells a story about using compressed air to freeze and shatter a doorknob, he’s guaranteeing the tactic will be used against him later. The script is tidy and efficient, with almost every tidbit of information serving either as foreshadowing or payoff. Most of the film takes place in a claustrophobic bunker underground, in a few rooms, with just three people. There’s a brutal economy to 10 Cloverfield Lane.
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