These days, you can pretty much glean the entire plot of a movie from its trailer. Which is why it’s rare to watch a film that keeps you guessing.

And your pulse racing.

The film grips you from the get go and in his directorial debut Dan Trachtenberg has kept a tight rein on the proceedings. By focussing on three people in an enclosed space, he gives the grand disaster movie imagery a miss, which works well as we are imagining all manner of horrid things.

The psychological suggestiveness and the tension are quite high. The narrative manages to keep you guessing and at the edge for most of its runtime. The ending in fact raises more questions than the film can answer! So are we in for another sequel? You guessed it!

The performances hold you captive. This one is reminiscent of Misery in a good way. Don’t miss it.

The film’s greatest accomplishment — notwithstanding its superfluous, sequel-inducing epilogue — is the remarkable consistency of tone (director Dan Trachtenberg) with which it is constructed. It sustains a slowburn gloom throughout its considerable runtime, through its characters’ schemes, their counters, tender filial recollections, the first signs of Stockholm Syndrome, of faith, and then, the discoveries of murder, moments of violence and ultimately, the film’s renovation into a new genre.

A SORT-OF sequel to J J Abrams’s found-footage 2008 hit Cloverfield, the film steers clear of it but for the name. In reality, it is a much, much cleverer take on the horror-film, end-of-the-world genre where what lies outside is as dangerous as what is brewing within. And comes just before this summer’s blockbusters get ready to hit us.

The camerawork perfectly captures their closed surroundings, with tight angles, thereby accentuating dramatic tension. Winstead’s performance is also amazing, evoking both empathy and intensity with equal ease. Don’t miss this gem of a thriller.

Cloverfield – the original – is a personal favourite, as is last year’s Room. So 10 Cloverfield Lane, at least on paper, sounds almost too good to be true. But it sure comes close. With its perfectly timed twists, equally captivating silences, engrossing performances, and a sense of foreboding mystery that is stretched to breaking point, it succeeds.

…the movie does teach a lesson, which is that monsters come in many forms. Goodman delivers a brilliant performance, playing his good guy/bad guy part perfectly. While the story revolves around the character of Winstead, it is Stambler who steals the show, mainly due to his impulsive characterization and shifty intentions. Even with minimal set and visual effects, the movie captures a lot more than most other films of the same genre.

The suspense is built around the possibility of escape and the threat of what lies beyond and, worse still, within the sealed-off bunker. The climax is a bizarre and hard-to-swallow genre-shift with some plot points left frustratingly unresolved.