Based on the award-winning book of the same name by Adam Nevill, No One Gets Out Alive tells the terrible eerie story of a young immigrant woman who takes a room in a boarding house and finds herself confronted with an inescapable nightmare.
Ambar (Cristina Rodlo) is embarking on her American Dream after years spent dutifully tending to her terminally ill mother in Mexico. She arrives in Cleveland illegally, with very little money and unsuitable clothing for what’s expected to be the coldest winter on record. After finding cash-in-hand work at a local garment factory, she rents the cheapest room available from Red (Marc Menchaca) in a near derelict boarding house.
Kept awake by the other tenants’ sobbing, disturbing nightmares and strange unearthly noises echoing from the basement, Ambar begins to wonder exactly who – or what – lives inside the house with them. Soon it becomes clear that Ambar has walked into a trap, one where she will soon be introduced to the evil that has been lurking in the basement. Ambar must fight to escape her living nightmare, but in a house where no one listens to the screams, will she ever get out alive?
No One Gets Out Alive is directed by Menghini, with script by Jon Croker and Fernanda Coppel, based on the novel of the same name. In addition to Rodlo, the film stars Marc Menchaca. Jonathan Cavendish and Will Tennant produce the movie, with Andy Serkis, David Bruckner, Philip Robertson, Nevill, and Croker serving as executive producers. No One Gets Out Alive was released globally on Netflix on September 29, 2021.
About the Production
Director Santiago Menghini, who was tapped by The Imaginarium (the same production company behind another Netflix horror movie, The Ritual), revealed that he was “drawn to the dark and stark world Adam Nevill created in his novel,” which led him to want to become involved in the screen adaptation. “I was drawn to the film because of the story’s peculiar ominous feel and harsh depiction of the world,” said Menghini. “The story had a distinctive tone that progressively closes in on its heroine and an uncanny mystery at its core that I knew I wanted to capture in the film. It was clear to me it was a film I would have great fun in making and one I had to make.”
The director also divulged that he drew on inspiration from films like David Fincher’s Panic Room and series such as The Haunting of Hill House in crafting the aesthetic of No One Gets Out Alive, saying he “wanted to reflect a foreboding characteristic” to the boarding room that lead character Ambar (Cristina Rodlo) finds herself staying in. The influences are definitely clear in the trailer, but the film sets itself apart by its very premise, as well as a commanding performance by Rodlo that can be clearly seen.
No One Gets Out Alive (2021)
Directed by: Santiago Menghini
Starring: Marc Menchaca, Cristina Rodlo, Victoria Alcock, David Barrera, David Figlioli, Alejandro Akara, Joana Borja, Mitchell Mullen, Vala Noren, Moronke Akinola, Jose Palma
Screenplay by: Fernanda Coppel
Production Design by: Chris Richmond
Cinematography by: Stephen Murphy
Film Editing by: Mark Towns
Costume Design by: Ana Ioneci
Art Direction by: Iulian Bostanaru, Anca Perja, Jim Warren
Music by: Mark Korven
MPAA Rating: R for some strong violence, grisly images, and language.
Distributed by: Netflix
Release Date: September 29, 2021
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