Women of Action: Mary Elizabeth Winstead – 10 Cloverfield Lane
Imagine waking up from the suddenness of a terrible car accident and finding that you’re now shackled to a wall. Unable to move your injured body even a few feet from the mattress, your only source of news or information on the outside of the room is a mysterious man who seems and acts as guilty as anyone you’ve ever seen. That is the situation that Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) finds herself in after her car went careening off the road and into a ditch. It’s a scary idea and one that adds incredible tension to the story of 10 Cloverfield Lane.
Released several years after Cloverfield, 10 Cloverfield Lane is another film from the folks over at Bad Robot. If you have any experience with the company and their previous films then you know they care as much about secrecy as the CIA. Much of what was known about the film was simply from its title. All we knew was that it shared one word with the Cloverfield movie released back in 2008.
10 Cloverfield Lane is the kind of thriller that is enhanced greatly by the performances it gets from John Goodman and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. They are among only a handful of actors even in the movie. While it takes place mostly in the bunker built by the creepy-as-hell Howard (Goodman), Winstead’s Michelle takes it to the streets to find that the world isn’t in such good shape. Good thing she’s one tough cookie.
Winstead’s work in 10 Cloverfield Lane will probably be one that fans will remember her for the most. The movie follows her every move and we’re in as much a cloud of confusion as she is. The only thing a viewer might have over her is the knowledge from what happened in 2008’s Cloverfield. Even that isn’t going to help much in this flick because the two movies are connected with the thinnest of margins. If they were trying to get me to watch the new Netflix film The Cloverfield Paradox then they’ve most definitely succeeded.
