Just a few days ago, the internet exploded with news that a new Cloverfield film was not only confirmed but that it was already filmed and would be coming out in just under two months. Titled 10 Cloverfield Lane, the film is a. “…blood relative of Cloverfield,” according to J.J. Abrams, who produced the original 2008 film, and stars John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and John Gallagher, Jr.
The premise of the film revolves around a woman who wakes up in a cellar where she’s being kept by a stranger, played by Goodman. Winstead explains further, saying, “He tells me that basically the world is over outside because there’s been a nuclear fall-out. It does have similarity to ‘Faults’, in some ways, because you don’t know who’s telling the truth or who to believe. There’s a lot of, who’s manipulating who, and all of that. Tonally, it’s very different, but it has some of those same themes.”
One of the lingering questions many have after seeing the trailer is, “How exactly does this connect to the first film?” After all, the original was a found footage film while this is a standard narrative that we’re used to seeing. Furthermore, the original trailer referenced the gigantic creature multiple times as “it” – not to mention the massive amounts of destruction being leveled upon New York City – while 10 Cloverfield Lane doesn’t confirm precisely what is the malevolent force that keeps them trapped in the bunker. In typical J.J. Abrams fashion, it’s all so mysterious.
While the filmmakers obviously have something in the can and ready to come out on March 11th, I figure there are some things that we as fans would love to see. So, let’s get to theorizing, shall we?
1. What happened to New York?
I’m really curious to get an explanation of what happened to New York City. The original film ends with a missile attack, one that theoretically vaporized a hefty portion of the metropolis, if not all of it. Furthermore, the very end of the first film tells us that the gigantic creature is still alive, so I’m very eager to know in what state and what it did next.
2. I want to see more of the parasite creatures.
Remember the fuckers from the subway who bit Marlena and caused her to puff up and explode? Yeah, I want more of those guys. While the gigantic creature is undeniably imposing and causes catastrophic damage, it’s these little bastards that cause immediate fear and panic. Once we learn what their bite is capable of, their threat level increases exponentially. That makes me fear them, which makes me want to see them in the sequel.
3. I want them to bring back the found footage style
Okay, I’m ready to get murdered for this one but I thought the frantic nature of the original was perfectly accentuated by the found footage style. It made things far more immediate and terrifying, expertly conveying the madness and chaos of such an event.
What we’ve seen in the trailer for 10 Cloverfield Lane only shows us inside the bunker and nothing outside of it. When the doors open and Winstead steps outside (this is total theory, by the way. None of it is confirmed), I want her to begin recording her adventures. After all, we saw that she has a cellphone and the video quality of those is rather amazing these days.
It’d just be a really cool way to connect it to the original film while not making it the focus. By giving us that flavor, it’s a really wonderful homage and I’d get a HUGE kick out of it.
