10 Cloverfield Lane

Dan Trachtenberg, 2016

IMDB

4/5

Everyone has probably at some point imagined what their emergency plan would be if some catastrophic event were to occur. Perhaps there's a bomb shelter in town. Or perhaps you have that rural family member that is as close to off the grid as it gets.

There is this whole sub-culture of doomsday preppers. They are meticulously building emergency shelters, often underground. It's part of our whole post 9/11 zombie-obsessed culture. Planning for the worst. Some would say it's overcautious, even paranoid. There's a stigma associated with the prepper type. Far right wing, reclusive, lacking certain social skills. What's interesting is that while we often let our imagination run wild when it comes to what we would do in an emergency situation, we probably don't envision ourselves buddying up to the doomsday prepper in order to survive.

Howard (John Goodman) is exactly this type of person. Building his underground bunker for years leading up to this "chemical attack", his efforts finally feel justified when something finally occurs. A doomsday preppers wet dream. And Howard is exactly the socially awkward type of person that you would picture a prepper type to be. Paranoid, controlling, impatient, unpredictable. When Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) awakens from her state of unconsciousness after a car accident, Howard doesn't exactly help her feel comfortable. She is chained to the wall, so she might as well assume she's being held captive.

It's a limited storytelling movie for sure. Most of the film takes place in Howard's underground bunker. There is impressive production design here too. Every little nook and cranny of the shelter is decorated. The wallpaper makes it feel kind of homey, and the back-lit glass behind the kitchen sink almost makes you feel like you aren't 20' below grade. And although you don't see the threat above ground, you know it's there from the constant loud noises that suddenly erupt.

It's a satisfying film for sure. You spend a good portion of the film wondering yourself if Howard is a good guy or not. You feel locked in there with Michelle, dealing with that same uncomfortable uncertainty. But of course there's all these things going on above you as well, so it makes you wonder even if Howard is a bad guy you have to weight it out. It's probably still better putting up with the bad guy if it means you aren't falling victim to the chemical attack above you or whatever it is.

A lot of people probably go into this movie having seen Cloverfield (2008) and assuming that it's connected to this film. But it's not really. Producer JJ Abrams has said that it exists in the same universe. But it's probably better to just disregard any connection, because they are really just two completely different films. The only similarity is the extra-terrestrial presence. But that's all. And don't worry, that's no spoiler. 

The Heart Machine

Zachary Wigon, 2014

Can I Stream it?

3/5

Cody (John Gallagher Jr.) finds himself in an online romance with Virginia (Kate Lyn Sheil), consisting of nightly Skype calls and communicating via other social networking sites. But Cody soon becomes skeptical of Virginia's actual location, doubting that she's in Berlin like she says she is. He begins to discover that she may in fact be a lot closer to him than she tells him.

Wigon's unique romantic mystery piece is his first full-feature film, employing some talent behind the camera and also some talent in front of the camera with leading roles by Gallagher Jr. (Short Term 12) and Sheil (You're Next, House of Cards, Listen up Philip). It zeroes in on a pair of twenty-somethings that are in a digital relationship in the busy bee-hive that is New York City. Wigon's New York is friendly and passive by day, and promiscuous and forward at night. In a sense it's a cautionary tale about not knowing who the person is on the other side of the screen, projecting your ideal self through the filter of the internet. Gallagher is not the purely innocent sap that he played in the great 2012 film Short Term 12. Instead here, he is much more relentless and apprehensive. Some of his moments on screen are very uncomfortable in his few moments of great persistence. He certainly isn't a clear protagonist, and there also isn't really a clear antagonistic force at work either. It's certainly not certain that it would be Virginia. She's duplicitous, but not completely malicious. She's filling a void, protecting herself, but you also get a sense that she's protecting Cody. She values the relationship, and when there are hints of it's demise she grows defensive. You wonder why she uses her real name in her online persona, you would think that she would be able to hide more effectively if she hadn't. After all, it's seems quite easy to do some amateur detective work when you have access to the person's Facebook profile. It's probably the point for Virginia, who wants to hide in some shadow secrecy but perhaps not completely shrouded. Cody is a morally compromised character, like a stalker detective who digs his heels in even deeper when it would be way more appropriate to pull out and move on. Wigon plays with tension quite well, it builds to the point of being unbearable. The Cody and Virginia characters are complex and flawed, very much like any real life dynamic. There is irony in the sense that the online relationship is giving Virginia stability while making Cody grow more instable. Wigon's micro story feels much bigger with it's impressive balance of suspicion and deception. 

Short Term 12

Destin Daniel Cretton, 2013

Can I Stream It?

4/5

Grace (Brie Larson) is a staff member at a group home for troubled youth. She struggles to balance the day to say drama while also dealing with her own personal issues that plague her.

The first scene in Short Term 12 really sets the tone for the rest of the film. Staff members Grace and Mason (John Gallagher Jr.) are helping to orient new employee Nate (Rami Malek) to life working at Short Term, Mason giving him a detailed recount of an mishap that involved a teen escaping while Mason was struggling with "plumbing issues". The funny story is told with the backdrop of the not-so-funny facility behind them, a preview of the of humor blended with anguish concoction that will flow through the rest of the picture. The door flies open and out runs the predictable red-headed escape artist Sammy (Alex Calloway), and the couple springs into action to subdue him and calm him down. Back to work. The fading white cinder-block structure that houses these troubled teens is rich with authentic, complicated characters. Their struggles feel real. Your heart breaks for them as you are served with pieces of their past, what they have unfortunately experienced or are trying to work through. Abandonment. Neglect. Abuse. They all have a story. It never comes off caricaturish, nor does it feel so heavy that the film becomes a pure downer. You come away knowing quite a bit about the youth even given the short amount of time that you get to spend with them. And the occasional comedic moments are so well-timed, proving that some welcomed decompression.

The film could easily could easily be considered Brie Larson's coming out party. Possessing both natural beauty and obvious talent, she had appeared in other 2013 films Don Jon and The Spectacular Now but didn't really get the opportunity to put it all out there like she does with her performance here. And she really delivers, bringing some honesty and nuance to her Grace character. She carries the weight of her own past and is able to leave it at the door and be there to support the teens who have gone through similar experiences. You see the burden of her past continue to strain her. You are reminded that there are many mistreated people in the world, people who don't necessarily have the best memories to reflect on. But it doesn't make them any less interesting.

Short Term is a little film with big emotions. Touching. Genuine. Impactiong. Moving without being painful. Funny without being a mockery. Cretton is a good storyteller and strikes a great balance here. He should be on everyone's radar for years to come.