This is sci-fi psychological thriller and a spiritual sequel to the Cloverfield movie released in 2008. While the first one in this franchise was a found footage style, this one takes a more conventional third person narrative route and feels more like an indie film at least until the very end. I also loved how this movie got dropped to us in what felt like a sudden. I cannot imagine how hard it must be in today's day and age.The story starts with a woman named Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who after an argument with her fiancé Ben, decides to drive away from New Orleans where her car crashes and she is knocked unconscious. She wakes up in an unknown room chained to a wall. This is where the movie gets interesting when she meets her supposed captor Howard (John Goodman) and fellow resident Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.). Most of the film revolves around the interaction between these three people as they cope with life in a supposed apocalyptic world as convinced to them by Howard.
You can feel the brewing tension as Michelle comes to grasp about something being out of order with Howard even if it seems alright. Both Mary Elizabeth and John play their part magnificently. I was continuously engrossed from start to finish and really enjoyed not knowing what is going to happen next. Howard killing Emmett just surprised me in a good way.
The direction of Dan Trachtenberg and Jeff Cutter's cinematography deserves special mention. I imagine it's really hard to have a film this appealing and precise in such a confined setting and both of them manage to do so wonderfully. The music at the beginning sets the discomfort and tension and transports you this world. The movie had elements of I am Legend in a limited capacity.
I just wanted to see a bit more of that tension played out and believe it or not, that might a negative for me. The movie isn't long and I could have seen a longer version of these characters in the basement as I would have liked even more character development but perhaps that was the intention of the filmmakers to leave it for the audience. In that sense, the ending did not quite fit what the actual film was building up to be.
But a must watch in my opinion.