Ephemeris of the Mind (Film Review) Cloverfield
Time to read: 2 min read
Movie Poster
How are you going to survive without Rob? He's like your main dude.
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Review
A group of friends, Hud (T.J. Miller), Lily (Jessica Lucas), Marlena (Lizzy Caplan), Jason (Mike Vogel), and Beth (Odette Yustman) are celebrating the move of Rob (Michael Stahl-David) to Japan when a mystery monster starts rampaging across Manhattan.
The story is unoriginal but I found the way the story is told, through the found footage of a cam recorder, to be very original for a monster disaster film. The story is generic and the plot armour is extremely strong, especially for Stahl-David’s Rob who insists on putting his friends’ lives in danger to save his love interest, Yustman’s Beth. The acting is also decent all across the board with no real standouts. My favourite aspect of the film is the tension and immersiveness of viewing the film through a found footage perspective; it feels like the audience is going through this ordeal with the characters. The found footage is also smart because it excuses the core selling points of a monster disaster movie, the CGI. The special effects would otherwise have been scrutinized (and probably have aged badly), but due to the shaky camera filming, the film still holds up well today.
Conclusion
The character's actions are silly but the film is pretty fun.