A thriller is a hard thing to pull off well, especially a claustrophobic one. Three people, trapped in a bunker, with something bad happening outside. How do they get out of this one? That pressure is magnified when, soon before release, it was revealed through marketing that the movie is actually a secret sequel to quite possibly the most fun and explosive found-footage movie of all time. And yet, somehow, they pulled it off.
10 Cloverfield Lane is streaming for free on Pluto this month, giving viewers another chance to revisit the sci-fi thriller nobody saw coming. The film follows Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), a young woman who wakes up in an underground bunker after a car crash. Her captor, Howard (John Goodman, The Big Lebowski), tells her the outside world has been destroyed by an attack and that leaving would be fatal. The problem is, Howard may be even more dangerous than whatever is outside. The film also features John Gallagher Jr. (The Newsroom) as Emmett DeWitt and Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born) as the voice of Ben.
You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
- You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
- You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
- You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
- The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
- You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
- You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
- You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
- In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
- You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
- In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
- You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
- In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
- Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
- You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
- Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
- In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
- You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
- You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
- You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
- In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Was ’10 Cloverfield Lane’ a Success?
Financially, the film was a massive success and proof that adding the Cloverfield branding to it was an incredibly astute decision. Because it was made so cheaply compared to most studio thrillers, it ended up becoming the sort of smash that studios can’t quite believe. It opened with $24.7 million domestically, finishing second behind Zootopia, and went on to gross about $72.2 million domestic and $110.2 million worldwide against a reported $15 million budget.
Critics adored it too, and Rotten Tomatoes has it at 91%, with the consensus calling it “smart, solidly crafted, and palpably tense,” while praising its confined setting and cast. And given that it’s three people in a bunker, the cast has to work for the movie to work. Collider agreed, giving the movie a B, and hailed Goodman as “one of the greatest screen actors of all time.” The review felt the last ten minutes made the film lose its momentum, but that wasn’t enough to derail it because the true monsters were on screen the whole time.
10 Cloverfield Lane is streaming for free on Pluto this month.
- Release Date
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March 10, 2016
- Runtime
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103 Minutes
- Director
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Dan Trachtenberg
