Cloverfield

"Whatever it is, it's winning."

2008 1h 25m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 8,158

ActionThrillerScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Five young New Yorkers throw their friend a going-away party the night that a monster the size of a skyscraper descends upon the city. Told from the point of view of their video camera, the film is a document of their attempt to survive the most surreal, horrifying event of their lives.

“Whatever it is, it's winning.”

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Cast

Lizzy Caplan
Marlena
Jessica Lucas
Lily
T.J. Miller
Hud
Michael Stahl-David
Rob Hawkins
Mike Vogel
Jason Hawkins
Odette Annable
Beth McIntyre
Anjul Nigam
Bodega Cashier
Margot Farley
Jenn

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Matt Reeves
Writers: Joel Venti, Drew Goddard
Languages: Russian, English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

85 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 6.8× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 18 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Russian, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

328+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Matt Reeves, shot by Michael Bonvillain. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Michael Giacchino. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Kevin Stitt shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Matt Reeves directs. Michael Bonvillain behind the camera. Michael Giacchino scores. Kevin Stitt cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Russian, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

185 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Made its money back 6.8× over at the box office.
3Released 18 years ago.
4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Russian, English.
5328+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
6Directed by Matt Reeves, shot by Michael Bonvillain. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Michael Giacchino. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Kevin Stitt shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Lizzy Caplan and Jessica Lucas and T.J. Miller carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Whatever it is, it's winning.".
11IMDB entry: tt1060277 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 21 themes, including "quarantine", "monster", "chaos", "skyscraper".
13Released under 13 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Michael Bonvillain
Original score: Michael Giacchino
Editing: Kevin Stitt
Production design: Martin Whist
Costume design: Ellen Mirojnick
Makeup / hair: Dena Fayne
VFX supervisor: Eric Leven
Sound: Will Files
Stunt coordinator: Rob King
Runtime: 85 min · 1h 25m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $25,000,000
Box office: $170,764,026
Return: 683% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Cloverfield (2008)

Awards

Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Matt Reeves

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-05-20
★ 6/10
I suppose the first thing to warn of is - it is shot entirely POV, and for many (including me) that can prove to be really quite annoying at times (and particularly difficult to light effectively). The premiss is that "Jason" (Mike Vogel) and girlfriend "Lily" (Jessica Lucas) are living the happy lives of a young couple. When one night they set off to attend a leaving do for their pal "Rob" (Michael Stahl-David) their party is shattered by what seems like an earthquake, followed by a desperate hunt for his girlfriend "Beth" (Odette Annable) as something ginormous is stalking the streets of New York. The camera passes from person to person, so that does give us a different perspective of the ensuing mania - but actually I didn't find them a particularly engaging bunch of panic-stricken folks so I can't say I was very concerned for their safety. Some of the decisions they make - admittedly under a fair degree of duress - seem staggeringly risky and/or stupid; the sound editing overdoes the screeching and wailing to such an extent that the dialogue can be barely audible at times, and though well paced eventually, it still takes just a bit too long to actually get going. It is certainly an interesting concept, and if the style of cinematography doesn't drive you mad after twenty minutes, then I reckon you will quite enjoy the intimacy of the thing - at times, it is actually quite scary.
Dr Nostromo2026-06-23
★ 5/10
48/100 A group of friends try to survive when Manhattan is suddenly and inexplicably attacked by a massively huge monster of unknown origin. This movie should be an incredibly exciting thrill ride. However, unlike the films "[REC]", "V/H/S/2", and "As Above, So Below", which really knew how to use the hand-held camera most effectively, the camera in this film was just all over the place all the time. Rather than thrilled, I was frustrated the camera was never pointing at what I wanted to look at and it just gave me a headache. -- DrNostromo.com