What is the real danger here?

DEEP into the final reel of 10 Cloverfield Lane there's an "a-ha" moment when the film crosses the genre divide from psychological thriller to more familiar territory.

By then, this well-paced chamber piece has won viewers over, not with unnecessary pyrotechnics or special effects but with strong performances and smart storytelling - old-fashioned cinematic virtues that are overshadowed all-too-often by high-tech razzmatazz.

The movie has been tagged as an offshoot of Cloverfield, a 2008 found footage film about a monster from outer space putting the hurt on New York, but the connection is tenuous at best - apart from having similar titles and JJ Abrams as producer-in-common. Most of 10 Cloverfield Lane, directed by Dan Trachtenberg and written by Josh Campbell, Matthew Stuecken and Damien Chazelle, takes place in an underground bunker so there's no scenery to speak of - just three people in a cramped space, playing high-stakes mind games.