At first glance, Netflix’s No One Gets Out Alive (read my review) appears to be another familiar and conventional haunted house story. But there’s far more than meets the eye here. Director Santiago Menghini‘s adaptation of Adam Nevill‘s novel doles out a few clues along the way, building toward one insane third act that shifts out of haunted house mode right into creature feature territory. 

No One Gets Out Alive opens with vintage footage of Professor Arthur Welles’ 1963 archeological excavation of ruins in Mexico. Along with vital artifacts, the team discovers multiple headless bodies and moths that flock to a strange box unearthed from the ruins’ dark depths. Cut to the present, where a woman is talking on the phone to a loved one, alone in a creepy old house. She complains of bad dreams, the cue for strange paranormal activity around her. The mysterious box appears, as does a fluttering moth before she’s claimed by what seems to be a ghost.

NO ONE GETS OUT ALIVE. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix

Then we meet Ambar (Cristina Rodlo), an immigrant with limited options who comes to board in that same house in Cleveland, Ohio. The longer Ambar stays, the more she becomes unsettled by strange happenings. Nightly sobbing from other tenants echoes throughout the walls, nightmares grow more vivid, and other eerie occurrences plague her, including glimpses of ghostly women.

In the third act, Landlord Red (Marc Menchaca) nearly helps her finally leave, but his familial obligation to brother Becker (David Figlioli) overrules his conscience. And Becker aims to sacrifice Ambar to the box. Ambar dreams of her mother before realizing it’s all a deceptive trap by the box’s entity, Aztec goddess Ītzpāpālōtl. The goddess, whose name translates as “obsidian butterfly” or “clawed butterfly,” requires ritualistic sacrifices to remain satiated.

No One Gets Out Alive. Cr. Teddy Cavendish/Netflix © 2021

Menghini explained in a statement of what’s happening in Ambar’s visions of her mother and why she escapes: “The entity has been communicating with Ambar throughout the film through her dreams, but it’s here during this final encounter where Ambar’s fate is determined. The monster tries to use the memories of her mother to subdue Ambar before killing her – but Ambar is not like yet other victims. She shows just what she’s willing to sacrifice to live. Recognizing this strength, the entity lets her go.”

Red and Becker are the children of Professor Welles. Becker unwittingly became the priest of the box once he killed his father after discovering Welles had been sacrificing people to it. When Amber kills Becker, she becomes Ītzpāpālōtl’s new priestess. The director confirms, “Ambar has taken the role of priestess in the ceremonial ritual. By doing this, she’s granted its blessings, as mentioned by Arthur in his audio recordings.“

NO ONE GETS OUT ALIVE. Cristina Rodlo as Ambar, in NO ONE GETS OUT ALIVE. Cr. Teddy Cavendish/Netflix © 2021

Of the film’s recurring imagery, Menghini said, “The moths are Rothschildia orizaba from the family Saturniidae, a Lepidoptera associated with our goddess. In the film, they also represent the trapped souls and previous victims consumed by the entity. The imagery of hands plays a subtle but important role in the film. I wanted to reflect on the sense of touch and intimacy associated with hands. Much of the film has visuals of people being caressed and groomed. This “grooming” is key to how the entity operates – it creates a closeness and bond with its victims. It doesn’t just want to eat its victims; it wants to own them, possess them, keep them forever.”

No One Gets Out Alive. Cr. Teddy Cavendish/Netflix © 2021

Menghini also detailed what it took to bring Ītzpāpālōtl to screen: “Her creation began with Keith Thompson’s incredible design. From there, we worked closely with Unit VFX studio to create a 3D model of our creature. We proceeded to refine the design and began rigging the creature to understand its articulation or movements. This was a useful step in helping to define the character’s physicality and how she interacts with the environment. Following this, we brought the talented William Todd-Jones to break down our design into key real-world components for both reference and special effects. He created an awesome articulated puppet that we used during production for both reference and lighting. During filming, we also worked with a performer, Luana Chebeleu, with special effects makeup to represent our creature interacting with Ambar. Finally, everything was put together by Unit VFX to create the incredible and memorable final images of our monster.”

As for the box itself: “Perhaps it’s less a box, and more a gateway to somewhere else.”

NO ONE GETS OUT ALIVE. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix

No One Gets Out Alive is the spiritual cousin of The Ritual in many ways, and is currently available on Netflix.