COVERFIELD Director Matt Reeves Explains the Monster's Backstory of an Infant Experiencing Separation Anxiety
Cloverfield director Matt Reeves recently sat down for an interview with Syfy Wire to talk about his found-footage monster movie in celebration of its 15th anniversary. During the interview, he shared some new information about the monster’s backstory and why it went on a rampage in New York City.
When Reeves was asked if they came up with a backstory for the monster, he said: "For sure we did because you have to figure how to direct the monster, so to speak. So you have to understand what's going on with them emotionally."
The director then reveals a fascinating aspect of the giant creature that makes me look at the film in. whole new light. The monster is an infant that is experiencing separation anxiety. Reeves explains:
"And for me, the big secret was that the monster was a baby and was experiencing separation anxiety. The reason the monster was freaking out is because they were having fits based on looking for their mother. And so, [the monster] was just as afraid as the main characters, because it seems like there would be nothing more terrifying than the human element fighting this giant monster element and, actually, both of them are just terrified. That's a mess. That's not good. So that part of it was absolutely something that we talked about in the development of the creature and in terms of how I shot it."
That gives audiences such a different perspective, and I found that so interesting. The filmmaker went on to talk about the monster’s origin, saying:
"It's alien. In fact, at the end of the movie, you can see the moment when it comes to [Earth]. It's another one of those little Easter egg moments, but when we revisit that footage where they're on the Ferris wheel at the end, you can see the meteor flying down and hitting the ocean. That's actually the beginning of the baby being on Earth."
The ending of the film sees a video Rob (Michael Stahl-David) and Beth (Odette Yustman) enjoying more joyful times while riding a Ferris wheel. In that video a meteor is seen crashing into the sea. Did you notice that the first time you saw it!?
There have been two other films in the Cloverfield franchise including 10 Cloverfield Lane and The Cloverfield Paradox. There’s also a fourth film in development that will be directed by Babak Anvari, with J.J. Abrams back to produce.