# 10 Cloverfield Lane \[open spoilers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 15, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cloverfield-lane-open-spoilers/743258 "2016-01-15T18:34:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2016, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cloverfield-lane-open-spoilers/743258/81 "2016-03-27T13:26:55Z")
Thanks for the replies! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2016, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cloverfield-lane-open-spoilers/743258/82 "2016-03-27T15:23:13Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > There’s no giant monster like in Cloverfield but there is a monster that is from an alien spaceship. > > I think the question of whether John Goodman was hiding from the aliens or a broken clock that gets one right by accident is up for discussion. I think JJ Abrams has been hinting that that question (and whatever connection there is to the earlier film) will be answered in a proposed third film. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cloverfield-lane-open-spoilers/743258/83 "2016-03-29T20:18:03Z")
Bradley Cooper was awesome!! as the voice of Ben on the phone. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cloverfield-lane-open-spoilers/743258/84 "2016-04-02T17:22:41Z")
For those of you who’ve seen the movie, I recommend searching out the international trailer that just was just released. It’s very, VERY different. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cloverfield-lane-open-spoilers/743258/85 "2016-04-03T04:21:42Z")
We watched it the day it opened here in Thailand, this past Thursday. Word was it’s best watched soon for fear of someone spoilering it a la _The Sixth Sense_. It had no publicity campaign over here, and while we did watch _Cloverfield_ some years ago, we had no idea it was supposed to be a sequel, nor did we until I looked at this thread. I guess if we had known it was a sequel of sorts, then we could have guessed about the alien invasion. But we liked it. Very good. I agree they probably could have done without a lot of the stuff at the end, after she escaped from the bunker. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cloverfield-lane-open-spoilers/743258/86 "2016-04-03T16:57:47Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > We watched it the day it opened here in Thailand, this past Thursday. Word was it’s best watched soon for fear of someone spoilering it a la _The Sixth Sense_. It had no publicity campaign over here, and while we did watch _Cloverfield_ some years ago, we had no idea it was supposed to be a sequel, nor did we until I looked at this thread. I guess if we had known it was a sequel of sorts, then we could have guessed about the alien invasion. > > But we liked it. Very good. I agree they probably could have done without a lot of the stuff at the end, after she escaped from the bunker. Spoiler alert! A movie poster from Thailand: > **[Don't look now: why movie posters are the biggest spoilers around](https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2016/apr/01/dont-look-now-why-movie-posters-are-the-biggest-spoilers-around-10-cloverfield-lane)** > > The Thai campaign for JJ Abrams’ 10 Cloverfield Lane ruins the film’s big ending. Here’s five other times a movie’s own marketing gave away the plot twist ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cloverfield-lane-open-spoilers/743258/87 "2016-04-04T22:53:01Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Spoiler alert! A movie poster from Thailand: > > [Don't look now: why movie posters are the biggest spoilers around | Movies | The Guardian](http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2016/apr/01/dont-look-now-why-movie-posters-are-the-biggest-spoilers-around-10-cloverfield-lane) That’s funny, but typical for over here. We didn’t see that movie poster though. It’s in Thai script, indicating it’s posted in one of the cinemas that only feature Western films dubbed in Thai. We go to the more Western-oriented cinemas, where films are heard in the original language and Thai subtitles provided – that poster never saw the light of day in those. I suspect it was made up here and not sent from Hollywood. And you need a poster like that to hook the Thais. I don’t think this film did all that well here, because it’s too “talky.” Thais generally like solid back-to-back action. The funniest case along this line I’ve heard of is _The Sixth Sense_. In China, they translated the title to _He’s a Ghost_. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cloverfield-lane-open-spoilers/743258/88 "2016-04-23T14:40:55Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I enjoyed it. It was an episode of the Twilight zone/ Outer Limits and I mean that in a good way. While watching I was immediately reminded of “Shelter Skelter”, an episode from the 1985 series of _The Twilight Zone_. That show, like the film, features a half-crazed, gun-toting survivalist. Just like Howard, he builds a secret bomb shelter under his home and stocks it with enough food and supplies to support a family for many months. The shelter is also equipped with elaborate air filtration, communication, and entertainment systems. While showing the shelter to a friend, a disaster occurs above-ground—its nature isn’t clear but the survivalist assumes it to be a nuclear attack. The two men lock themselves in the shelter. When the friend hears signs of life outside several weeks later, he attempts to leave, but the survivalist prevents him from doing so, saying that it’s not yet safe. As you can see, the premise and some plot elements of the film and the show are quite similar, though it turned out the endings (which I won’t spoil here) were quite different. Personally I thought “Shelter Skelter” had a much better ending. I wish _10 Cloverfield Lane_ had ended as soon as Michelle had spotted the alien ship and realized that Howard, unhinged though he was, was right all along. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cloverfield-lane-open-spoilers/743258/89 "2016-04-23T15:36:13Z")
I see a few complaints about the air filtration unit not being accessible. This is wrong, there was a hatch leading to it but it was stuck shut. That’s why John Goodman was saying things went bad then went worse, first the air filtration quit working then he couldn’t get it fixed because the hatch wouldn’t open. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cloverfield-lane-open-spoilers/743258/90 "2016-04-23T16:00:28Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > While watching I was immediately reminded of “Shelter Skelter”, an episode from the 1985 series of _The Twilight Zone_. Oh, and another similarity that struck me: both the TV show and the film have the survivalist shave his beard to signal his state of mind. The more I think about it, the more I can’t help but wonder whether the writers of _10 Cloverfield Lane_ took inspiration from this _Twilight Zone_ episode. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2016, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cloverfield-lane-open-spoilers/743258/91 "2016-05-07T10:21:19Z")
So before Michelle makes off in her car, there are some kind of tremors—some stuff rolls around, maybe something falls down, etc. At first, I thought that maybe those were from the fight against the Cloverfield monster, but then it became apparent that that wasn’t what she was fleeing from. Were those supposed to be the initial attacks? Together with the power outs? Maybe Ben was trying to warn her? ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2016, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cloverfield-lane-open-spoilers/743258/92 "2016-06-15T18:24:34Z")
Just caught this on Netflix DVD. Loved it. > [@Quimby](#): > > So do you think that John Goodman ever really had a daughter or was he just kidnapping a string of women and killing them at some point when they set him off and the "daughter " was a creation of his insanity? > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Emmett, who appeared to be sane, said that Howard’s daughter was a classmate of his sister. So I think the daughter really existed. No, I don’t think Howard ever had a real daughter. After reading these two comments I popped the DVD back in to be sure: Emmet said he knew the girl in the picture: “I know her, that’s Britney, she was a classmate of my sister’s.” He then goes on to explain that Britney disappeared a couple years ago and was never found, and then they found a picture of Britney and Howard in the bunker with Britney wearing that J’aime Paris shirt Howard gave to Michelle. There is no evidence that Megan ever existed, other than Howard’s say so. Another thing I noticed was that Michelle stopped at a gas station at the beginning to fill up her tank, and while there she got a creepy guy from an unseen man in a pickup truck. I think Howard was stalking her as his final prey before locking himself in the bunker. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cloverfield-lane-open-spoilers/743258/93 "2016-06-17T17:06:15Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Just caught this on Netflix DVD. Loved it. > > No, I don’t think Howard ever had a real daughter. After reading these two comments I > … > There is no evidence that Megan ever existed, other than Howard’s say so. I disagree. There is some evidence he really had a daughter. He expresses real anger and anguish over her mother turning her against him. There’s are several children’s pictures in “girly” frames hanging on the walls including a child’s painting of the Eiffel Tower(?) on the wall. The “J’aime Paris” has some sentimental significance to him as he kept it even after Britney was gone. The VHS collection , including “Pretty in Pink” suggest it may have belonged to his daughter. My take-away was that he had a daughter who was a teen in the 80s who had a fascination with Paris. She would be much older than Emmett, so he would not have known her. It’s possible she died, but I read it as her mother left him and took her away, possibly to Paris. I don’t think there’s any evidence that the daughter did not exist at all. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cloverfield-lane-open-spoilers/743258/94 "2016-06-17T18:57:51Z")
I think it’s possible there was a daughter but I am definitely sure he kidnapped a string of girls and eventually killed each one. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cloverfield-lane-open-spoilers/743258/95 "2016-06-17T19:29:44Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I think it’s possible there was a daughter but I am definitely sure he kidnapped a string of girls and eventually killed each one. Agreed. Britney may have been just the most recent. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cloverfield-lane-open-spoilers/743258/96 "2016-06-17T22:32:03Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > I disagree. There is some evidence he really had a daughter. > > He expresses real anger and anguish over her mother turning her against him. > > There’s are several children’s pictures in “girly” frames hanging on the walls including a child’s painting of the Eiffel Tower(?) on the wall. > > The “J’aime Paris” has some sentimental significance to him as he kept it even after Britney was gone. > > The VHS collection , including “Pretty in Pink” suggest it may have belonged to his daughter. > > My take-away was that he had a daughter who was a teen in the 80s who had a fascination with Paris. > > She would be much older than Emmett, so he would not have known her. > > It’s possible she died, but I read it as her mother left him and took her away, possibly to Paris. > > I don’t think there’s any evidence that the daughter did not exist at all. I think all the girly stuff is just stuff he collected for the string of girls he kidnapped and murdered. If that J’aime Paris shirt really were from his daughter in the 80s, it would have disintegrated by now since he clearly gives it to every girl in the bunker. (Both Britney and Michelle are seen wearing it.) T-Shirts can’t be worn for three decades without completely falling apart. His expression of “real anger and anguish over her mother turning her against him” is another way of saying “his say so.” ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cloverfield-lane-open-spoilers/743258/97 "2016-06-18T03:39:32Z")
Actually, the more I think about it, I’m going back and forth. I see lots of supporting clues pointing to him having an actual daughter, and I also see lots of supporting clues that he never had one and is just psycho. So I could go either way. ---
**Author:** ![Nom\_de\_Plume](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85f322/32.png) [@Nom\_de\_Plume](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nom_de_Plume)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2016, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cloverfield-lane-open-spoilers/743258/98 "2016-06-19T14:40:02Z")
One of the things I loved about this movie is how it left so much up to you to figure out for yourself. We only see what Michelle sees, and she apparently has no way of knowing the truth. Does he have a daughter or not? Is he a sexual predator or just looking for a daughter figure to protect? The tag line about monsters coming in many forms applies not only to the alien invaders, but also to Howard. He may be creepy and be a killer, but the version in Michelle’s mind, and ours, might be worse than the real one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-cloverfield-lane-open-spoilers/743258.md?page=4)