Full disclosure: I loved both Cloverfield and 10 Cloverfield Lane, and was very excited to see what this film would add to the Cloverfield mythology.

The Cloverfield Paradox is the third entry (and the first Netflix film) in the now loosely-connected film trilogy which is a good film on its own, while managing to somewhat explain the events in the first 2 films, and actually seems to strengthen those ones without really standing on its own 2 feet.

This movie takes your usual "space horror" genre movie and adds a new mind-bending aspect to it, for better or for worse. Acting from all the cast members is suitably great. I was invested in the story from the opening scene, and I didn't ever really predict what would happen next. Lots of twists and turns, so prepare to be sitting at the edge of your seat the whole film. It's just the right length at around 1 hour and 40 minutes. A couple of the horror elements are pretty weak, with a handful of very strange visual effects (clearly some experimentation here) that sometimes don't look as great as the filmmakers were probably hoping for. But it's the chemistry, or rather, the fighting and tense relationships between the crew that really makes this movie. While

I can see why they would release this on Netflix vs theatrically because, unlike the first 2, this one would probably have crossed over into R rating territory, which could have definitely limited it's earnings at the box office.

Like it's predecessor, the aspects that make it "Cloverfield" do seemed a bit shoehorned in at the last minute, more as an afterthought than a vital component in the film's chemistry. With Lane that worked out. Here, not as much. It works with the Cloverfield universe logic, but just barely.

Personally, I thought it was a decent entry in the currently-developing Cloverfield franchise. I'm still excited to see the fourth film when it releases (hopefully in theatres) and see how it connects and furthers this ever-interesting film franchise. Hopefully it picks up steam again after this film causes a brief setback for the intriguing Cloverfield saga.