Cloverfield (2008) | Plot, Cast & Horror Facts

Cloverfield is a 2008 found-footage monster horror film about friends trying to escape a giant creature attacking New York City.

At a Glance

Overview

The film is presented as recovered footage from a personal camera found in the area formerly known as Central Park. On the night of a going-away party for Rob Hawkins, who is about to move to Japan, a giant creature attacks Manhattan. Rob, his brother Jason, Jason’s girlfriend Lily, friend Hud (who is filming), Marlena, and others attempt to reach Rob’s ex-girlfriend Beth, who is trapped in her apartment, while the city collapses around them. The monster is rarely shown in full; most of the terror comes from the handheld camera, the chaos of the streets, and the smaller parasites that detach from the creature. The story stays locked to the group’s limited point of view as they move through collapsing buildings, subway tunnels, and military operations. Its found-footage approach to a large-scale disaster places it alongside other containment-driven horror entries such as The Thing (1982), where the camera itself becomes the only reliable witness.

Production

Matt Reeves directed from a screenplay by Drew Goddard. J.J. Abrams produced through Bad Robot. The film was developed under strict secrecy; the first teaser trailer, which showed the Statue of Liberty’s head landing in a street, played before Transformers with no title. Principal photography used practical locations in Los Angeles standing in for New York, with extensive digital work for the creature and destruction. Neville Page designed the monster, which the production referred to only as “the monster” or Clover. Actors were not given the full script until after they signed on. The running time without credits approximates the length of a consumer MiniDV tape. The production emphasized the limitations of the handheld camera, including motion that later prompted theater warnings about possible motion sickness. Its secrecy-first campaign followed the event-horror lineage of Scream (1996), where word of mouth arrived ahead of any clear look at the film.

Cast

• Michael Stahl-David as Rob Hawkins
• Mike Vogel as Jason Hawkins
• Odette Yustman as Beth McIntyre
• Lizzy Caplan as Marlena Diamond
• Jessica Lucas as Lily Ford
• T.J. Miller as Hud Platt

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes lists approximately 78 percent based on more than 200 reviews. The film opened to $40 million on its first weekend, a record for January at the time, and finished with roughly $80 million domestic and $171–172 million worldwide on a $25 million budget. The $40.1 million opening weekend held the January record until 2014, and the approximately $172 million worldwide finish ranked it among the most profitable films of 2008 relative to cost. Critics praised the immediacy of the found-footage style and the decision to keep the monster mostly off-screen. Some viewers reported motion sickness from the camera work. The picture launched a franchise that later included 10 Cloverfield Lane and The Cloverfield Paradox. Its combination of large-scale spectacle and restricted viewpoint remains one of its most discussed elements.

Spoiler: The Ending

The group reaches Beth’s apartment and rescues her, but the military’s final bombing of the creature (and the city) catches them in the open. Most of the friends are killed. The final moments show Rob and Beth recording a goodbye as the camera is buried. Earlier tape from the day of the party reveals a brief glimpse of something falling into the ocean in the background, which some have interpreted as the creature’s arrival. The recovered footage ends with the Department of Defense designation “Cloverfield.” The ending leaves the creature’s ultimate fate and origin ambiguous within the film itself.

Trivia & Facts

• The first teaser trailer contained no title and played before Transformers.
• Actors were not allowed to read the full script until after they were cast.
• The Statue of Liberty head shown in the film is approximately 50 percent larger than the real statue’s head.
• Designer Neville Page has described the creature as a newborn experiencing separation anxiety.
• The film’s runtime without credits is roughly the length of a consumer MiniDV tape.
• The production used the code name Cloverdale during filming to limit leaks.