Jackson Schrater as the titular character.

THE CLOVERVERSE

The Cloverfield Franchise, dubbed the Cloververse, has been a long journey. From the film that spawned from the famous 1–18–08 viral marketing campaign from Bad Robot and producer J.J. Abrams to a mediocre attempt at answering the unanswered in a rushed Netflix affair.

Cloverfield started out as sort of a new spin on the Kaiju genre with the 2008 flick. About eight years later, 10 Cloverfield Lane came out of nowhere. The movie was marketed as a “blood relative” to the sequel, having the story take place within the same timeline as the first film…or so we thought. In 2018, The Cloverfield Paradox made a surprising appearance into the entertainment, with the primary release of the film being right after it was first advertised within ad time for Super Bowl LII. The franchise took an unnerving turn, seemingly trying to give reason as to why every event started throughout the entire story between the two previous films. It was proven to be a disastrous mistake, as the newest edition in the franchise led to massive confusion towards the ‘why.’

It was then silent after Paradox. Rumors of a fourth installment, codenamed Overlord, was shot down when the trailer for a film with the same named (and from the same studio that released every Cloverfield film) released, deeming it not apart of the now infamous franchise. According to comic site Den of Geeks, the franchises’ producer J.J. Abrams stated that he and the team were creating a true sequel to the film and that it would hit theatres. It has been over a year now and we still have no information, nor tease about a true sequel.

The viral marketing had halted. Everything about the franchise seemed dead. But little did any persons know, some thing massive was about to take place…

MEGAN

In the same year as the flopped attempt at bringing every piece of this unique story together, two small production companies, Decipher Entertainment and Eternal City Productions, released Megan. The Cloverfield-based short, according to the studios, was a tribute short to the Cloverfield Universe. After it’s release though, it made a lot of fans, viewers, and critics think: Was this just an attempt at fan service, or an alternative telling of the original story?

This one thought created a theory. A theory in which Jamie, the owner of the YouTube analysis account Inside the Mind, and many others stated about the future of the Cloververse. The stated theory, by Jamie, fans, critics, and general viewers that appreciated the franchise, is that Megan was a gateway towards the opening of what the Cloververse should now be; an opening for fans and small studios to envision their own stories to tell that lie within, or in the near future of the original tale produced by Abrams & Co.

This theory about the near future of the franchise seemed plausible, though not one-hundred percent of a push. A number of people started to share their own stories, theories, and even screenplays (heck, even I chipped one in) that could continue the hurt, but beloved franchise. This is until one redditor posted, onto the famed Cloververse subreddit, about an idea to make a short film that would lie within the Cloverfield Universe.

FELIX

Fifteen-year old director Elijah Feigner announced that he would be writing and directing a short film that would take place within the Cloverfield Universe, continuing the theory of pushing the franchise forward with small based fan/studio work. After nine to ten months, according to Feigner, the project was out open to the public.

STORY

The film revolves around a young lad named Felix, played by Jackson Schrater, venturing various neighboring houses within the time of the same alien invasion taken place in 10 Cloverfield Lane. He looks into them, finding whatever he needs to survive in a time of awe, horror, and disaster.

The story itself is fairly simple and to the point. It’s set-in-stone a post-apocalyptic short that shows the audience the living conditions that the survived are in. For a low budget, this short really does put those living conditions out there. The pacing maybe a little too quick at times, but it does not cut away from the important aspects to the initial plot.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Now this has to be one of my favorite aspects of the short. The camera work is very well done for the budget and, perhaps, even more. How the film is captured really does make a profound difference and changes the way we view it.

What really shines are the outdoor shots of the titular character entering into houses and traveling to them. The indoor shots are in good quality and format as well, but it lacks when showing the titular character up close. The lighting within the indoors can always be a tricky aspect in photographing, but the fantastic macro shots make up for it.

CHARACTER(S)

Felix. One human character. One human story. Sometimes having much less is better than having more due to the fact that bringing in more characters can convolute the story and actually bring it down. This type of story is a damn near perfect example as to why a one character arch is formidable. Schrater brings a small, but straight to the point performance which carries a plot steadily ‘till the end.

There is though a hidden character. One that many have might missed if the mute button was initiated on their devices while watching this flick…the ship. The same alien ship, or another one of the many ships, that had been seen in 10 Cloverfield Lane, makes an appearance in audio. The scene in which portrays the villain is cleverly done, as a low budget would have been difficult to simulate a CG alien ship.

CONCLUSION

This is truly the next step. Megan was a groundbreaking attempt at continuing the future of the Cloververse and so it did. With filmmakers such as Feigner rising up to create their own stories within the original overall story, the Cloverfield Franchise may have found its stride once again, marching itself in so many creative ways. Who knows what is more to come out of this universe? Books? A Netflix series? A comic line? I guess we’ll have to keep an eye out because with the fans and small studios, it seems this franchise overall is in good hands.