OK, so that's 10 Cloverfield Lane as a movie, but there's another side to the film we need to address, probably the reason why you were so intrigued about it in the first place; how does it link to Cloverfield? It was a major fan question in the pre-release hype and, even after seeing it, still hasn't been fully answered. So, are we in the same universe? Well, we could be. There's plenty to suggest this is the same world, especially with the more viral inflections (the presence of Slusho and Tagruato are strong clues), and the state of the world is kept vague enough - the original monster attack and alien invasion independent events - that you can easily work out a timeline. However, as much as this can be argued, I don't think that's the intention. In fact, there are incredibly easy ways to dismiss any argument of a definitive connection; since their introduction Slusho and Tagruato have become simple Bad Robot trademarks, appearing in series as diverse as Lost, Fringe, Heroes and Star Trek, not hinting at a wider world. But, bigger than that is the Cloverfield name; in the original it's the government designation for the creature, here it's name of the street Howard's bunker's on. And that disparity of name is the real key. Instead of teasing a sequel, 10 Cloverfield Lane's mystery title was actually an exercise in introducing the new idea of Cloverfield: The Franchise.
What Is The Cloverfield Series
On a basic level Cloverfield and 10 Cloverfield Lane are classic genre pictures - monster and alien invasion movies respectively - from up-and-coming talent told from incredibly tight perspective using a limited cast, with a marketing campaign built around unpredictability. For Cloverfield, it was a one-shot experiment, but as the same broad tricks have been repeated for 10 Cloverfield Lane it appears that this, not the universe, is what the Cloverfield franchise really is; a series of anthology movies that all follow a similar blueprint, but use it for increasingly subversive means. It's not necessarily what everyone expected, but based on the quality of the two films so far it's hard to disagree with; you go into 10 Cloverfield Lane for the Cloverfield, you stay for Howard, Michelle and the weird dog aliens. J.J. Abrams has already talked about the potential of a third Cloverfield movie (some even think it will be other Bad Robot acquisition God Particle), but you can bet when it turns up it'll bear no concrete relation to the other movies and will instead forge out its own, exciting path. Have you seen 10 Cloverfield Lane? What do you think the ending means? Share your thoughts down in the comments.
