After surprising everyone after the SuperBowl by playing a trailer and releasing the same day, suffice to say, “The Cloverfield Paradox” did not disappoint.

This movie was kept virtually a secret from the public, most likely because of its two predecessors. Although they don’t seem connected, the movies “Cloverfield” and “10 Cloverfield Lane” are a part of this new trilogy of movies. For those who don’t remember, “Cloverfield” (released in 2008) was a horror film shown through a handheld camera. The movie followed a few characters as a huge monster suddenly appears out of nowhere and wreaks havoc upon the city. “Cloverfield” was a hit, as it combined elements of “The Blair Witch Project” and “Godzilla” to create a whole new kind of horror.

“10 Cloverfield Lane” (released in 2016) was much different from the first movie. This film followed Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) as she was kidnapped and trapped in a bunker by a conspiracy theorist (John Goodman). This movie doesn’t seem at all related to the first film other than the name. Not until the end, when a major fight happens, do the two movies seem to connect. “The Cloverfield Paradox” provides some answers to these two film.

This film seems to take place before the events of the two movies. It focuses on the crew of The Shepard, a space station affixed with a particle accelerator that, if they can get working, could provide limitless power to the soon to be powerless Earth. However, when repairs go awry, there is a much bigger consequence than power. The crew finds themselves in a situation they never thought possible with monsters from what seem to be different dimensions onto Earth.

So what makes this movie stand out? Well, if you have knowledge of the two other films then this answers some questions for you. When starting this movie you almost forget it’s a horror movie. It seems very cliché with other sci-fi movies: there’s a crew of astronauts in space and something goes wrong.

But this is a horror film. Once everything starts going crazy, you are reminded of that. The way that they do horror in this film is amazing. It’s clever and unexpected that it not only scares you but leaves you intrigued and worried about what might happen next. In addition, you follow Michael (Roger Davies), the main character Ava Hamilton’s (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) husband back on Earth as he tries to save himself and others from the new terror.

Another aspect is that the cast is amazing. It’s diverse and everyone brings everything they can to their characters. They don’t just speak English. One character, Tam (Zhang Ziyi), speaks in Chinese in what seems like at least 50 percent of the time, and the other characters are able to understand her and speak back in Chinese. I find this particularly great because a lot of times when a crew has people from all over the world, they only speak English. Which isn’t very plausible, is it? The fact that they were able to make it truer and give diverse people the chance to speak their own language speaks volumes.

Now, let’s talk about the fun part: the easter eggs. I have a vivid memory of checking “Cloverfield” out at my local Blockbuster. I loved the movie, so this was my second time watching it. The man at the counter told me that if you look closely in one scene at the end, you could see the monster falling into the ocean. I watched the movie then stood up to be two inches from my television to try and see. What he said was true, they had craftily put in a small speck of the monster falling into the ocean before the events in the movie unfolded.

Because of this, I knew there was going to be some more easter eggs in “The Cloverfield Paradox.” The thing that stood out to me the most was the ending scene. Without spoiling it, let’s just say that maybe it wasn’t the monster that was falling into the ocean.

“The Cloverfield Paradox” is now officially up there with “Alien,” one of the highest regarded film that mixes the horror and sci-fi genre together. The story, characters and special effects added in to connect everything back to each other is astounding. Although some things might not add up, it seems that because they worked this particle accelerator into the movie, the other films might be their own unique version or world. “The Cloverfield Paradox” will keep you on the edge of your seat, so strap in, and enjoy the ride.