No One Gets Out Alive ending explained: Does Ambar get out of the boarding house alive?

No One Gets Out Alive, released on September 29, 2021, on Netflix, is a horror film directed by Santiago Menghini and loosely based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Adam Nevill. The official synopsis of the film reads:

“Desperate and without documentation, a woman from Mexico moves into a rundown Cleveland boardinghouse. Then the unsettling cries and eerie visions begin.”

The horror film begins as a young girl talks over the phone, wanting to speak to her father. However, she gets afraid when she spots some footsteps on the floor and observes mysterious happenings in the big house. As she fears someone has broken into the house, the camera cuts, letting the suspense hang in the air.

This opening sequence sets up the stage for what is to follow in No One Gets Out Alive. By its end, the protagonist of the film, Ambar, does survive, but her character undergoes a major shift. In fact, it is suggested that she herself might now become like the villains she has just killed.

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No One Gets Out Alive ending comes with a twist

The film follows the hardships of Ambar, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who is trying to settle down in Cleveland, Ohio, by getting a job and forging documents. She takes up residence at a shabby boarding house run by Red.

As No One Gets Out Alive progresses, several horrific details emerge. Ambar realizes gradually that the house is haunted by the spirits of several women. However, the movie is more than just a haunted house thriller.

A subtext of ritual sacrifice underlies the film, and towards its conclusion, it is revealed that Red and his brother Becker have been sacrificing young girls to a monster. The monster is hidden inside a box in the basement, and it often appears in Ambar’s dreams.

In exchange for performing the sacrifice and satiating the hunger of the monster, Becker is rewarded with the power to heal instantly. The climax of No One Gets Out Alive shows Becker trying to feed Ambar to the monster. However, Ambar has a deep secret of her own, and her unwillingness to give in to death makes the monster spare her life.

Freed, Ambar then takes on the brothers, killing them and feeding Red to the monster. As No One Gets Out Alive closes, we see Amber, in turn, getting the same gift as Becker did from the monster: her wounds begin to heal. The viewers cannot help but wonder at this point, “Will Ambar take to conducting the ritual now, like Red and Becker?”

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What about the monster?

The monster in No One Gets Out Alive is not given much backstory, and this rather adds to the allure of the film as the viewers are free to conjure up its lore. However, there are certain clues provided in the film that point to its origins.

A brief montage at the beginning of the film shows certain Aztec artifacts being dug out from a site in Mexico in 1963. The mysterious box that is retrieved from here ends up with Red and Becker’s father, and this very box is the portal through which the monster creeps out to devour its victims.

The monster in No One Gets Out Alive is a huge moth-shaped entity that decapitates its victims. It can be assumed that its origins can be traced back to some fictitious Aztec ritual that Red and Becker somehow revived.

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Why is Ambar’s life spared?

The film ends on an ambiguous note (Image via Netflix)

Throughout the film, Ambar is shown as a resilient and hard-working person. She is portrayed as a character who does not easily give up and carries on ahead even after setbacks. For instance, she does not break down even after Kinsi betrays her by running away with her money after promising to get her her forged documents.

Similarly, it is found out in the closing parts of No One Gets Out Alive that Ambar left Mexico after carrying out her self-interest to a heinous extent: she strangled her ailing mother in the hospital so she could start a fresh life in America.

Given Ambar’s acute mental strength, the monster has no effect on her since it lures its victims into its grasp by enticing them to meet their loved ones from the past. Ambar has severed all her ties with the past, and she can go to any extent to preserve her present and protect her future.

Santiago Menghini, director of No One Gets Out Alive, told 1428 ELM on October 29, 2021:

“The monster tries to use the memories of her mother to subdue Ambar before killing her – but Ambar is not like other victims. She shows just what she’s willing to sacrifice to live. Recognizing this strength, the entity lets her go.”

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No One Gets Out Alive’s cast includes Cristina Rodlo, Marc Menchaca, David Figlioli, David Barrera, Moronkẹ Akinola, among others. The film is available for streaming on Netflix.