20 Best Movies Of 2016
19. 10 Clovefield Lane
This secret Cloverfield spin-off is a bracingly intense chamber piece for the majority of its run-time, a pulsing psychological thriller propelled by John Goodman's magnificent, awards-worthy performance as survivalist Howard Stambler.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Gallagher Jr. are also splendid as his fellow survivors, in a three-player psychodrama which continually ratchets up the intrigue until the terrifying third reel finally lets loose.
Opinion is split on the film's finale, which ties it directly into the Cloverfield universe, but it's nothing if not proof that this loose franchise has real potential if it continues to put a premium on characters over lavish visual effects-driven carnage.