10 Cloverfield Lane ending explained (spoilers)

[Gregory Hunts]

Howard (John Goodman) is truly hiding from a real alien attack that includes a chemical weapon that renders the air temporarily toxic.

Unfortunately, Howard is also a psychotic, murdering kidnapper. He deliberately rammed Michelle's (Mary Elisabeth Winstead) car off the road and took her to his bunker where he planned to play house and eventually kill her like he killed a previous girl, Brittany.

Howard's plans were upended by the alien attack and by the arrival of Emmett (John Gallagher, Jr.) who forced his way into the bunker at the start of the invasion.

When Michelle and Emmett discover that Brittany is actually the Megan that Howard claims was his estranged daughter, they plan their escape.

Michelle builds a makeshift Hazmat suit out of the shower curtain. When Howard discovers the scissors and utility knife they are using, Emmett covers for Michelle by telling Howard that he was making a weapon to try to get Howard's gun away. Howard summarily executes Emmett by shooting him in the head and dissolves the body in a barrel of perchloric acid.

As Howard attempts to play house now that Emmett is dead, he discovers the Hazmat suit. Michelle dumps the perchlorate barrel causing Howard to slip and fall in it as well as short some electrical wiring. Michelle crawls through the duct, dons the suit, freezes and cracks the lock to the hatch and escapes. The bunker explodes and presumably kills Howard.

The bunker explosion attracts a flying alien spaceship. Michelle hides in Howard's truck where she makes a makeshift Molotov cocktail out of a bottle of Glenmorangie. When the alien ship lifts the truck to eat it, Michelle throws the Molotov cocktail into its maw, destroying the ship and forcing it to drop the truck.

Michelle takes the car of the woman who died trying to get into the bunker earlier in the film. She hears that their are survivors in Houston that need help and heads in that direction.

Thanks Evil Ed!

[bernard]

The devastating attack outside the bunker is real, proven when a scarred woman desperately tries to get in, but dies. Howard is a murderer - the photo he showed Michelle of his daughter is actually of a young girl who went missing. Michelle and Emmet secretly get together the parts to build a protective suit, but Howard suspects something when he finds scissors. Emmet says he was trying to make a weapon, claims sole responsibility and is shot by Howard.

Michelle continues work on the suit but is discovered by Howard. She knocks over a barrel of acid, injuring him and accidentally starting a fire. She escapes through the air ducts and out of a hatch - upon seeing birds she realises that the air is not toxic and removes the helmet. However an alien spacecraft appears, attracted by the explosion. It releases toxic gas, forcing her to put the helmet back on, then when trying to take shelter in a car it starts pulling the vehicle into itself. Making a molotov cocktail from a bottle of spirits, she heaves it into an opening on the ship, causing it to release the car and crash. Driving away, she hears a voice on the radio saying the southern seaboard has been retaken - telling survivors to head to Baton Rouge and anyone with combat or medical experience to go to Houston. Michelle starts driving to Houston.

[WillBruh]

Short Version:
From what we the audience sees, only Lily Ford (Jessica Lucas) survives.

Longer Version:
At the goodbye party for Rob Hawkins (Michael-Stahl David) thrown by his brother Jason (Mike Vogel), Lily (who is Jasons girlfriend), and Robs best friend Hud (T.J. Miller), Rob has a confrontation with Beth (Odette Yustman) who he apparently slept with then ignored since he couldnt sort out his feelings due to him leaving for Japan. She leaves with another guy, and Jason and Hud go to talk to him. However, all hell breaks loose when a unseen force starts destroying New York City. Realizing they need to get out of Manhattan, they bring Marlena (Lizzy Caplan) with them to cross the Brooklyn Bridge.

There, while crossing, Rob gets a call from Beth who is hurt at her apartment complex. At that point we see the unseen force is a large monster aka Cloverfield who destroys the bridge and kills Jason and many others in the process. Escaping into the tunnels in an effort to get to Beth, they are attacked by spider like creatures and Marlena is wounded. They escape with the U.S. military but unfortunately, Marlena is infected from her bite and literally explodes, an event that shakes Hud (since he had a crush on her).

Rob, Hud, and Lily, go to Beths building to see it fallen to the side of the one next to it. They climb over to find Beth wounded but alive. They get to the helicopter where Lily is separated from the group. Getting into another chopper they see the military bomb the monster, and apparently kill it. However, in the middle of congratulations, it grabs their chopper and spins it out of control.

Rob, Hud, and Beth survive the crash and wake up in Central Park. The monster sneaks up on them while they are preoccupied and personally kills Hud, tearing him in half. Rob grabs Beth and the camera and hides in a tunnel. He and Beth make a last statement and say they love each other. Two explosions rock the tunnel of what was most likely a nuclear bomb and they are supposedly killed.

The last scene is footage of the original tape from the previous month when Rob took Beth to Coney Island. Before, the camera runs out of power Beth looks at the camera happy, and says I had a good day.
NOTE: During this final 10 second scene, almost undetectable, you can see something falling into the ocean from space...the future monster?)

Thus, despite Robs mission to save Beth, they die due to the uncontrollable entity known as fate. One wonders if Rob, Beth, and Hud had been allowed on the other helicopter if they would have lived.

The ending is ambiguous as we have no knowledge if the monster is killed, or if it continues its rampage across the city and nation, with the US government being unable to stop its destruction.

Thanks Spectre!

[Michaelderne 0]

After saving Beth from her crumbled building, Rob, HUD, Beth and Lily escape the buildings and board evacuation helicopters just as the giant creature attacks nearby. Lily is separated during the evacuation, with her escaping in a different helicopter. Flying above Manhattan as day breaks, Rob, Beth and Hud witness military planes attacking, and seemingly killing, the giant creature; however, the creature leaps out of the smoke plumes and swipes at their helicopter, causing it to crash in Central Park. Hud, Rob and Beth survive the crash, only to look up and see the creature towering over them. After the creature chews on Hud, killing him, Rob grabs Beth and the camera and hides underneath a bridge. He gives a final testimonial to the camera and tells Beth that he loves her. In the background, air-raid sirens begin to go off. A presumably nuclear explosion rocks all of Manhattan and seems to kill them both, and the camera is covered in rubble. The movie then cuts to a scene from Rob and Beth enjoying their Coney Island date a month before. During this, as the camera briefly focuses on the ocean, a meteor like object falls from the sky and hits the water in the distance, hinting at the creatures origin.