The Maker of This Music Video Is Doing a JJ Abrams Mystery Movie – Guess Why

Yep, JJ’s pulling another Cloverfield (not literally, but spiritually) with a top-secret sci-fi feature by a little-known director, this time named Chris Alender.

I know I’ll be accused of blanket Abrams hatred, but honestly, the music video for Lovett’s “Eye of the Storm” Alender made three years ago that appears to have helped him get the gig does not impress me. It’s visually stylish, to be sure – but it doesn’t tell a clear story, and it doesn’t really put the band over. If you didn’t already know it was a music video, you might not – Mike Fleming at Deadline doesn’t seem to.

It also goes back and forth between cartoony stylization and realistic closeups, which doesn’t work well for me. However…here’s the big point: it features a literal mystery box! Is Abrams really that predictable in what he likes? I can’t know for sure – but it seems like the equivalent of pitching me an article about My Little Pony porn.