NOVA Horror Club Discussion: Cloverfield (2008)

NOTE: This is NOT a screening, please watch the movies before the discussion.

"Approximately seven hours ago, some... thing attacked the city. I don't know what it is. If you found this tape, I mean if you're watching this right now, then you probably know more about it than I do."

Matt Reeves’ Cloverfield captures the feeling of a city realizing, in real time, that it is no longer safe. Framed through a handheld camera passed between friends, the film documents a single night in New York City as celebration gives way to sirens, collapsing streets, and an overwhelming sense of disorientation.

Released in the shadow of 9/11, Cloverfield channels a specific kind of urban dread — the fear of sudden catastrophe, incomplete information, and the helplessness of watching familiar landmarks fall apart. By restricting the audience to fragments and firsthand panic, the film turns spectacle into anxiety, forcing us to experience disaster the way the characters do: confused, trapped, and desperate for answers that never fully arrive.