Synopsis
The Cloverfield Paradox, released in 2018, was directed by Julius Onah. It serves as the third and final movie in the loosely connected Cloverfield series. Unlike its predecessors, Cloverfield (2008) and 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016), which contained elements of suspense and mystery, The Cloverfield Paradox opts for a full-blown sci-fi approach with a space-based plot intended to link all the films retroactively in one narrative.
The film portrays a highly dystopian world on the verge of global catastrophe in the year 2028. Earth is in an energy crisis, and wars are being fought over dwindling supplies. To try to save civilization, an international team of scientists are placed aboard a spaceship called Cloverfield Station. Their mission was to test a particle accelerator, Shepard, which if successful would provide boundless energy to Earth’s civilizations.
The cast of the Cloverfield Station comprises of the following characters: Ava Hamilton (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), a woman plagued by the deaths of her children; Kiel (David Oyelowo), the captain; Schmidt (Daniel Brühl), a German physicist; Monk (John Ortiz), a Brazilian doctor; Mundy (Chris O’Dowd), an Irish engineer; Volkov (Aksel Hennie), a Russian technician; and Tam (Zhang Ziyi), a Chinese scientist.
The team finally succeeds in activating the Shepard after numerous failed attempts. Unfortunately, instead of solving Earth’s energy problems, the experiment triggers a catastrophic reaction that tears a hole in the fabric of space-time. The Earth is now out of sight, while the ship sustains damage and strange events begin. The crew starts experiencing hallucinations, unexplained vanishings, and random bursts of violence.
It becomes apparent the experiment has thrown the station into an alternate dimension—where things unfold differently. Cloverfield Station is now orbiting a different Earth, where they find another space station in severe disrepair in a different orbit. They discover a woman named Mina Jensen (Elizabeth Debicki) embedded in the walls of the ship. She is a crew member from the alternate timeline and seems to know some of them.
Trust begins to erode among the crew as they attempt to fix the station and return to their dimension. Volkov dies mysteriously after vicious hallucinations, and suspicion only rises further with Mundy’s bizarre accidental death linked to the ship’s structure. Continuing to spiral, tension escalates further. Interdimensional survivor Mina reveals that in her universe, Ava’s children are alive. This revelation tempts Ava to consider whether she should return home at all.
On Earth, Roger Davies as Michael, Ava’s husband, attempts to aid survivors after what seems like a catastrophic event. While aiding survivors, monstrous silhouettes alongside rampant unexplained destruction can be seen in the background. This serves to subtly tie the space station’s events to the original Cloverfield monster’s invasion.
Ultimately, the crew realizes that the Cloverfield Paradox—multidimensional instability resulting from activating the Shepard—has been caused by crossing over different realities in the multiverse, timelines, and even creatures. It is implied that experiments conducted in this timeline have released the retroactively seen monster(s) from previous films, providing a sci-fi explanation for Earth’s chaos.
In the final scenes, Ava chooses to return to her timeline despite the anguish of knowing her children are dead. Together with Schmidt, they manage to activate the Shepard again, stabilizing the rift and returning to their Earth. However, in the film’s latter moments as the escape pod with Ava and Schmidt descends towards the planet, a colossal creature akin to the original Cloverfield monster bursts through the clouds, letting out a deafening roar. The film’s closing scene is equally ominous, implying that the return might not signal the apocalypse.
Cast and Characters
Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ava Hamilton
As the emotional heartbeat of the story, Ava is someone grappling with the tragedy of being personally unattached. Moore-Raw’s performance creates resonance for a character who is hellbent on making the impossible decision of weighing love against greater humanitarian sacrifice.
David Oyelowo as Kiel
Kiel, the station’s captain, does his best to bring some level of order into the increasingly chaotic team. With his dependable demeanor and commanding presence, Oyelowo does his best to balance gravitas since the role is somewhat underwritten relative to his peers.
Daniel Brühl as Schmidt
As one of the key figures in the story, Schmidt is a morally ambiguous scientist whose actions shape the plot’s direction. Brühl’s depiction of Schmidt as a calm, cool, and collected figure adds to the intrigue of the overall narrative.
Chris O’Dowd as Mundy
O’Dowd’s engineer character offers laughter and humor even as weird and deadly events happen around him. His fate is also one of the film’s most peculiar.
Zhang Ziyi as Tam
One of the most important characters in solving the scientific problems on the station is Tam. Her role as a polyglot adds to the diversity of the character as well as the global scope of the mission.
Elizabeth Debicki as Mina Jensen
Debicki deepens the narrative as an enigmatic cameo from another reality. Her dialogue with Ava brings emotional and moral clashes.
Themes and Symbolism
- Multiverse and Consequences
In assuming the relationships between “Cloverfield” and its sequels, it might indicate that manipulating spacetime will not only have consequences within the given zone, but will affect other zones, as well. It’s a classic example of human arrogance, this time concerning science beyond our grasp.
- Loss and Redemption
Ava’s narrative arc is centered on grief. Choosing to return to her reality instead of staying in a different dimension to recover her children, showcases her moral and personal development. The story poses the question: What lengths would a person go to in order to undo a tragedy?
- Chaos and Control
As the mission progresses, the relationships among the characters as well as reality itself begin to collapse. The film depicts a parallel between the disintegration of the scientific mission’s order and the chaos that ensues in the characters’ relationships and sanity. This suggests that order is easily disrupted by chaos.
- Unity Through Diversity
Because the film has an international cast, it serves as the representation of a global alliance working towards saving humanity. Despite cultural or ideological divisions, the entire crew is required to work together in order to survive. While optimistic, this vision exists in a grim context.
Direction, Style, and Cinematography
While attempting to fuse high-concept sci-fi with character-driven drama, Onah’s uneven direction further contributes to the film’s issues. The sense of herrmetical confinement aboard the station creates a claustrophobic tone, yet the film suffers from sudden shifts between horror, drama, and satire.
The production design conveys an operational space environment quite literally inhabited by people. The effects are competent and serve the story even if they are not groundbreaking. Lighting and color choices also reinforce the film’s isolation, echoing the scientific themes in a cold sterile ambiance.
The film’s tension is supported atmospherically by Bear McCreary’s score. As the paradox unravels, his music intensifies the confusion and dread entwining the viewer.
Reception and Critic Response
Critics and audiences gave The Cloverfield Paradox a mix of negative and positive reviews. Although some viewers praised the film’s connection to the overarching Cloverfield universe, many others criticized the film’s convoluted plot and underdeveloped characters, citing an attempt to force a narrative link across unrelated films.
It currently sits with low scores on various review aggregator sites. The script was heavily criticized for its lack of cohesion, overreliance on sci-fi clichés, and lack of original content. In contrast, the buzz surrounding the surprise release strategy—dropping the film on Netflix immediately after the 2018 Super Bowl with no prior promotional material—turned it into a pop culture spectacle.
Franchise fans had polarized opinions. While some enjoyed the attempt to tie the trilogy together through multiverse theory, others felt that it retroactively diminished the preceding entries’ mystery and uniqueness, particularly the found-footage style and ambiguity of the original Cloverfield.
Conclusion
As with many films containing ambitious concepts, The Cloverfield Paradox suffers from poor execution. The film seeks to integrate hard science fiction and multiverse theory into the Cloverfield universe. Although the film more than adequately provides a backstory—albeit added after the fact—there are significant gaps in the narrative flow and emotional depth.
Regardless, there are some redeeming qualities. Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s emotional portrayal the film’s protagonist serves as the film’s anchor. The premise itself offers intriguing possibilities surrounding the concepts of causality, effect, and reality. Although far from flawless, The Cloverfield Paradox combines many fascinating pieces into a messy but compelling attempt to expand on a genre universe rich with unexplored terrain and unpredictable, mind-bending horror.
Watch Free Movies on Fmovies