The story of a monster attack on Manhattan, Cloverfield’s action-horror combo is one part King Kong, one part War of the Worlds, one part Independence Day, and the rest, The Blair Witch Project if the Blair Witch were a gigantic monster, the woods New York City, and its special effects budget many millions of dollars.

All supposedly filmed with a handheld camera operated by one of the movie’s characters, Cloverfield follows a group of friends during the last seven to eight hours of their lives, beginning the evening before the monster attacks and ending when no one is left to film.

The night’s events begin at a farewell party for Rob. It is Rob’s last night before he moves to Japan and around him life swarms the promise of twenty-something youthfulness, the drama of young love, the sentimental bonds of friendship, and the sense that every single person at Rob’s party has their whole lives before them. That is until the monster arrives, all but five of the partygoers are relegated to extra status, and the fight to survive begins.

From decapitating the Statue of Liberty to laying waste to the streets just outside of Rob’s building, the monster wastes no time moving from possible tanker-crash status to very real unidentified creature existence. And so after surviving the monster’s first pass through their neighborhood, Rob, Jason, Hud, Marlena, and Lily set out to get as far away from it as they can.

But as anyone who has ever seen a horror movie before knows, it’s not that simple. We are all aware that it is only a matter of formulaic Hollywood timing before another character will die and then another and then another. And just to make sure that can happen, a frantic call from Beth to Rob makes sure that instead of heading in a direction that might actually allow them to escape the monster, the group of friends heads right back towards it.

Cue creepy underground subway scenes, falling buildings reminiscent of 9/11, freakishly scary human-sized spiders, increasingly close glimpses of the monster, and a new death every fifteen or so minutes.

As the monster lays waste to more and more of the city, the group of friends continues on, trying to survive each attack themselves and on a mission to save Beth’s life as well. But even though Lily can scale rubble in a cocktail dress and heels, Hud can outrun monsters while filming like a seasoned pro, and Beth can sprint across the city immediately after being pulled off the rebar piercing her chest, a time comes for each character when he or she can no longer escape death.

Rob does not become Will Smith and fly in to save the day. Hud does not remember the dying words of his wife and realize they are the key to disabling the monster. Lily does not discover automatic weapons in her purse and transform into Sigourney Weaver. And the monster does not develop a life-threatening cold and die.

When all is said and done, Cloverfield is about death and destruction. But what it has to say about it is a bit more open to interpretation. Beginning with the decapitation of the Statue of Liberty and peppered with scenes and shots reminiscent of 9/11 throughout, Cloverfield could be a commentary on 9/11, a recognition of the hateful destruction of innocence the day embodies, and a warning against whatever we may have done to cause that hatred.

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