What Does The Ending Of 10 Cloverfield Lane Really Mean?

So What's The Story?

Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) runs away from her boyfriend, but while on the road winds up in a car accident and wakes up trapped in a bunker by Howard (John Goodman). He claims there has been some form of attack that has made the surface uninhabitable which he saved her from. At first Michelle is dubious, but after trying to escape and instead witnessing a diseased woman trying to smash her way into the bunker accepts her old life is over. Michelle, Howard and fellow vault-dweller Emmett (John Gallagher, Jr.) live in harmony underground for a while, forming an unconventional family unit. However, when some form of earthquake disables the air purification unit, in fixing it Michelle discovers a plea for help from a previous inhabitant; it transpires Howard had held a girl hostage in the bunker prior to the end of the world. Scared of the monster they're trapped with, the duo start making a hazmat suit so they can find out what's really going on, but before they finish Howard figures something's up, leading to Emmett takes the fall and being shot in the head. Michelle desperately tries to finish the suit, but Howard finds out and tries to stop her escaping. She douses him in acid, inadvertently starting a fire in the bunker, but manages to crawl to the escape hatch before the whole thing blows.

How Does It End?

Michelle escapes and discovers that the air is actually breathable. However, she's not alone outside; a dog/slug-like monster has been attracted by the commotion at the bunker. She manages to distract it, but then comes face to face with an even bigger threat; a flying alien craft. She tries to escape, only to get trapped by its tentacles, only breaking free in explosive fashion at the last minute. She drives away from the house - called 10 Cloverfield Lane - and heads onto the open road where picks up a call for help from the human resistance and heads towards Houston to meet them. So that's, in the broadest terms, what happens. But why is this how 10 Cloverfield Lane went down? And what does it all mean? Let's take a look.