Poster © Paramount Pictures. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreDrama, Horror & Sci-Fi
RatedPG-13
Runtime1 hr 43 mins
ReleasedMarch 11, 2016
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorDan Trachtenberg
StarringJohn Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Gallagher Jr.
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10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
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| 10 Cloverfield Lane's Details | |
| Genre | Drama, Horror & Sci-Fi |
| Rated | PG-13 |
| Released | 03/08/2016 (New York City); 03/11/2016 (United States) |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 1 hr 43 mins |
| Budget | $15M (reported) |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| 10 Cloverfield Lane's Interests | |
| General | Board games, the jukebox, jigsaw puzzles, air filters, a very well-stocked pantry. |
| Music | Bear McCreary. The jukebox plays "I Think We're Alone Now," which is a lot. |
| Movies | Cloverfield (2008). Related, sort of. Don't ask how. |
| Television | Silo. Same big question about the air outside. |
| Heroes | Emmett. Helped build the place and still gets zero say in the house rules. |
| 10 Cloverfield Lane's Crew | |
| Director | Dan Trachtenberg |
| Writers | Josh Campbell, Matt Stuecken, Damien Chazelle, Josh Campbell (story), Matt Stuecken (story) |
| Producers | J. J. Abrams, Lindsey Weber |
| Cinematography | Jeff Cutter |
| Music | Bear McCreary |
| Edited By | Stefan Grube |
| Production | Bad Robot |
| Distributed By | Paramount Pictures |
Three people, one bunker, a jukebox and a reported $15M, and 10 Cloverfield Lane squeezes more tension out of a dinner table guessing game than most horror movies get from a monster. The weak spot is the swerve at the end. Without spoiling it, the final stretch feels like a different movie bolted on to earn the Cloverfield name. John Goodman plays Howard as a man who might be a hero, might be dangerous, and definitely gets angry when you forget to say thank you. Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Michelle is smart in all the ways horror heroines usually aren’t: she watches, plans and builds tools from whatever is lying around. John Gallagher Jr. gives the bunker its only warmth. Dan Trachtenberg keeps the camera tight, so the walls seem to inch closer. It made $110.2 million worldwide. A 7.8 because it’s a tight little pressure cooker with a lid that pops at the wrong time. $6.44 says you go shopping this week and quietly buy three more cans of soup than you need.
What works: John Goodman is terrifying and strangely sad, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead makes Michelle one of the smartest heroines in the genre.
What doesn’t: The last act swerves into a different kind of movie, and it feels like a franchise tie-in bolted onto a tight thriller.
Who it’s for: Thriller fans who love a single location, a slow burn and a villain you can’t quite read.
Spoilers
Howard was telling the truth about an attack and lying about almost everything else, including a local girl who went missing before Michelle arrived. Michelle escapes in a homemade hazmat suit, finds alien ships really are outside, takes one down with a homemade firebomb, and heads for Houston to join the fight instead of the safe zone.
Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) packs a bag, walks out on her fiance and drives off across rural Louisiana. Her car gets knocked off the road. She wakes up in a concrete room underground with a hurt leg and a man named Howard (John Goodman), who says he saved her life. According to Howard, there has been an attack, and the air outside is now poison. Also in the bunker: Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.), a local guy who helped build it. Howard has rules. Michelle has questions. Dan Trachtenberg directs. One hundred four minutes, stay inside or don't.
Anyone who reads the fine print before moving into a bunker.
| John Goodman | Howard |
| Mary Elizabeth Winstead | Michelle |
| John Gallagher Jr. | Emmett |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +480 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $110.2M; Domestic box office $72.1M; Opening weekend $24.7M; Profit / loss (est.) +$32.6M; Rotten Tomatoes 91%; CinemaScore B−; box office chart updated; Rotten Tomatoes critics 91% (316 reviews); Metacritic 76 / 100; CinemaScore B−; IMDb users 7.2 / 10 (390,660 votes); movie.guru score 6.9.
- (cur | prev) 12:00, 17 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.