The Last House Movie Review

The Last House was released to Netflix about a week ago, on August 7th, 2026. Its main premise reads as follows:

This film progressively improves from a story about a family who can't leave their homes and transforms into a dystopian world with themes of survival instincts, desperation, and mercy.

The following will contain spoilers.

The Concept

Watching the beginning of this film, I was convinced that this story was going to be a dramatized commentary of what the COVID-19 pandemic was like for extroverts who couldn't handle isolation. People were communicating with whiteboards through the windows, couldn't leave or access the outside world, and the kids were homeschooled. I couldn't help but cringe at the comparison.

I was pleasantly and happily surprised that I was wrong. A pivotal moment of the film took this concept, grew legs, and became a kraken-like monster that made it rain daily. That's when I realized that my brain is so pandemic-poisoned and I acknowledge that even if this film was inspired by quarantine, that shouldn't dictate the story's value and refreshingly new dystopian concept.

I don't think there's been a dystopian story like this since A Quiet Place.

Compliments

I love dystopian stories and enjoy seeing new creative visions for this genre. There are many attributes of the story that I appreciate were covered.

• The parents in this movie are so incredibly smart and skilled, seeing the mother take on gardening and the father take on hunting while being stuck in their home provides a new perspective on repetitive themes in other dystopian stories. The mother creates a garden under the home and the father engineers traps for animals outside. These kids are so lucky that they had them as parents for this situation.

• I enjoy that this movie covers about a 5-6 year time span of this family stuck in their home. We see the very beginning, them discovering methods of getting food, their highs and their lows, and then them in their prime. The evolution of their dynamic, survival methods, and mental health feel realistic.

Critiques

There were a few ideas that the film introduced that were not further explored or explained. The movie ended and left me curious, although I am understanding of time constraints and choices that leave things up to interpretation for the audience.

• We, and the characters, are led to believe that the kraken monsters are from outer space. Later, we discover that it's plausible that they are from the ocean. They make it rain, can turn fresh water to salt water, and perfectly describe ancient myths like Leviathan. Although I love the switch up from alien to sea creature, I would have loved more information about them, and what made them decide to launch their attack at the moment they did.

• Although I am not sure how the movie would have explained it, I would like to know how the homes were being sealed. The doors, holes in the walls, windows, and even floorboards appeared to be sealed by a clear substance. Our main character's only access to the outside world is a crack in the chimney. How are they not flooding? Towards the end of the movie, we learn that homes have been flooded during the rain every day, while our main character's home doesn't flood until the monsters find them. Were the monsters showing mercy the entire time by not flooding their home?

Overall

I am so glad that I watched this movie, and I was left wanting more. Seeing a flooded Seattle, and the sea level burying 90% of the Space Needle, puts the new world into perspective. I am yearning to know if they find more survivors. Additionally, I think the actors did a great job.

With that, I rate this movie 4/5 stars.