Character Relationship Map: Cloverfield

Characters

• Marlena (played by Lizzy Caplan) — protagonist

  Military medic in the rescue squad, dies from parasite infection.

• Lily (played by Jessica Lucas) — protagonist

  Rob's sister attending the farewell party before the attack.

• Hud (played by T.J. Miller) — supporting

  Cameraman documenting the monster attack via found footage.

• Rob Hawkins (played by Michael Stahl-David) — supporting

  Protagonist searching for Beth during the monster attack.

• Beth McIntyre (played by Odette Annable) — supporting

  Rob's love interest trapped in her apartment.

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Rob Hawkins → Lily (Family Sister) — Lily is part of Rob's close family circle and refuses to abandon him during the catastrophe.

  The character profile identifies Lily as Rob's sister attending the farewell party held for him before he moves to Japan, and she remains by his side...

• Rob Hawkins → Beth McIntyre (Romantic Lovers) — Rob's guilt and love for Beth after their one-night stand turns into a desperate cross-city rescue mission.

  The story opens with Rob and Beth waking up together after a one-night stand; Beth is hurt by Rob's silence and argues with him at the party, and Rob...

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Lily → Beth McIntyre (Alliance Rescue And Evacuation Allies) — Lily risks her life to reach Beth and is the first to escape before the final crash.

  Lily is part of the group that reaches Beth at the Time Warner Center, travels with her to Grand Central and is separated from her only when Lily boar...

• Hud → Beth McIntyre (Alliance Escaping Companions) — Beth and Hud share the final flight together and both experience the crash that costs Hud his life.

  Hud helps carry out Beth's rescue and then evacuates with her in the same helicopter, which is struck by the creature and crashes into Central Park se...

• Lily → Marlena (Social Fellow Party Survivors) — Lily shares the early escape with Marlena and witnesses the rapid worsening of her infection.

  Lily and Marlena are both part of the farewell party circle and stay together through the street collapse, the store shelter and the field hospital un...

• Hud → Marlena (Social Documented Friends) — Hud's camera tracks Marlena's tragic arc from stunned survivor to infected casualty.

  Hud films Marlena from the moment she emerges covered in dust, records her being bitten by a parasite in the subway and continues capturing her horrif...

• Hud → Lily (Alliance Survival Teammates) — Hud and Lily are thrown together as two members of the shattered party who keep moving through a destroyed city.

  Hud and Lily take cover together during the Woolworth collapse, retreat from the ruined Brooklyn Bridge, hide in the electronics store and push throug...

• Rob Hawkins → Marlena (Alliance Fellow Survivors) — Marlena becomes part of Rob's rescue party and sacrifices her life before they ever reach Beth.

  The group finds Marlena covered in dust after the creature attacks, and she then joins Rob, Hud and Lily in the plan to reach the Time Warner Center,...

• Rob Hawkins → Hud (Social Best Friends) — Hud is Rob's loyal best friend and the closest companion of his nightmarish journey.

  Rob's brother asks Rob's best friend Hud to film the farewell party testimonials, and Hud stays with Rob from the first attack to the helicopter crash...

Story Analysis

A found-footage survival story following Rob and his friends through one night when a monster destroys Manhattan.

Plot Progression

1. A Farewell Before The End — Rob wakes up with Beth, then returns to his apartment where friends throw a farewell party before his Japan move. Hud films testimonials, but Beth's arrival with another man triggers an argument befor...
2. When The Monster Breaks The City — An earthquake becomes a citywide catastrophe as the creature is seen from the rooftop and the Statue of Liberty's head crashes into the street. The group hides in a convenience store, meets Marlena an...
3. The Long Walk To Beth — After the bridge is destroyed, Rob commits to rescuing Beth in Midtown. The team hides from military fire, survives a parasite attack in the subway and watches Marlena die in quarantine, then learns o...
4. Rescue At The Time Warner Center — Rob, Hud and Lily climb the damaged Time Warner Center and find Beth impaled on rebar. They free her and race to Grand Central, where Lily boards the first helicopter and the others follow in a second...
5. Helicopter Crash Over Central Park — The military bombards the creature, but it survives and knocks the helicopter out of the sky. Rob, Beth and Hud crash in Central Park, where Hud is killed moments later, forcing Rob and Beth to run to...
6. Last Tape Under The Arch — Under Greyshot Arch, Rob and Beth record their final testimonies and confess their love as the saturation bombing buries the camera. The recovered tape closes with a Coney Island flashback showing the...