The Cellar by Matthew Stuecken and Josh Campbell (the script that evolved into 10 Cloverfield Lane) was dominated by a central mystery, albeit a rather different one to the finished film; in their version (which was done up by Whiplash's Damien Chazelle), the story hinges on the question of whether Howard is lying or not, with Michelle only discovering the truth at the very, very end. And, going in cold this would appear to be also the case for the movie it became. However, 10 Cloverfield Lane's first trailer showed this hand, revealing (or at the very least heavily alluding) that there really is something horrible outside that makes the vault a safe place, something that was played up in subsequent sneak peaks. Thus you go into the movie already knowing that Howard is, for all his eccentricities, to some degree right. And that completely changes how you watch it. You anticipate twists and turns constantly, and, for all the engrossing, intimate character drama, you never stop thinking of the bigger picture. Instead of being a conventional hostage thriller, the marketing makes 10 Cloverfield Lane into something more, with the audience taught to not only scan the background of every shot for methods for Michelle to escape, but also for clues to how this slots into the world. It's experimental, unique and, in many ways, transcendent. One worry is that when people watch the film in years to come this brilliance will be lost; it will just be a solid thriller, lacking the contextual edge. And maybe that's the point. In a time where everyone's constantly trying to find new ways to make the big screen exciting again as home video encroaches on the multiplex (see 3D, IMAX, D-Box), perhaps 10 Cloverfield Lane has found the purest solution; embrace hype culture and turn the marketing into part of the film. When you walk out of the cinema, you've not just seen a movie; you've had an experience. 10 Cloverfield Lane is in US cinemas now and UK cinemas from March 18th.
