10 Cloverfield Lane

A young woman (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) awakens after an auto accident to find herself chained in an underground shelter presided over by a paranoid survivalist (John Goodman) who claims to have rescued her from a worldwide cataclysm. Written by Josh Campbell, Matthew Steucken and Damien Chazelle and directed by Dan Trachtenberg, this is a horror movie with a difference: It’s genuinely horrifying, not just “scary.” In fact, cheap scares are few, replaced by a mounting sense of dread and foreboding that gnaws at the pit of the stomach. Acting is excellent, including John Gallagher Jr. as Winstead’s fellow inmate. Depending on your perspective, the resolution is either a brilliant twist or a monumental howler; suffice it to say that just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you. J.L.