The Last House – Movie Review | Netflix (3/5)

THE LAST HOUSE on Netflix is a sci-fi thriller that begins on a very strong note, but ends with a splash rather than a bang. It’s always better to start slow and end on a high note. Ending a movie on a lesser note leaves the audience disappointed. That’s certainly how I felt. Read our full The Last House movie review here!

THE LAST HOUSE is a Netflix sci-fi thriller that evolved in a way I was not crazy about. When it began, I was wondering why on earth this didn’t get a theatrical release. As it came to its end, I was no longer wondering about that. The ending isn’t bad in itself, but the entire third act is the weakest part of the movie.

Overall, the core concept is deeply fascinating and even sort of relatable. Especially against the backdrop of a pandemic that forced many of us to be creative within the confines of our homes. Also, the actual plot holds all the way for me, but the storyline goes off the rails somewhere. Hopefully, some forced rewrites went wrong.

Continue reading our The Last House movie review below. Find it on Netflix from August 7, 2026.

Work together to survive

What I really loved about The Last House was the vibe that also made the universe of A Quiet Place work. We have a family doing all they can to work together in order to survive. At the same time, this means some are adults, and others are kids. The latter are not as good at understanding consequences.

Well, at least not in our part of the world, where most of us feel safe and know that we have a roof over our heads and access to food and water. Not everyone, I recognize, but most of us. Or at least most of the time.

When The Last House opens, it’s the world as we know it, but then it starts raining, and everything seems to suddenly change. For the family we follow, everyone is at home, but when they try to go outside, they can’t. There is nothing obvious stopping them, but no doors or windows will open.

Looking at the people in houses around them, they are also trapped inside their houses. At the same time, wi-fi and every other kind of communication have broken down. Everyone can only communicate via written notes to those within their view.

Priorities and choices

How long will this involuntary house arrest last? Will electricity and water keep working? For how long can we survive on the food we have? These are the questions that arise within a few days, but not many answers are known.

Nor will they be anytime soon.

Also, there are elements of this story that may have a deeper meaning, but I am truly not sure if I’m trying to attribute more to it than it deserves. The mother is by far the smartest at keeping them alive, while the father tends to work on vanity projects.

It’s the old “hunter-gatherer” discussion, where the hunters wanted glory, but the gatherers were the ones who secured food every single day.

Familiar yet different

Having watched movies like the A Quiet Place franchise and the Netflix movie Brick (2025), The Last House does feel fairly familiar. If you add The Martian (2015) to this, with his whole “I’m gonna have to science the sh*t out of this!” can-do attitude, then you have the core plot of The Last House.

Well, with the exception that in this 2026 Netflix sci-fi thriller, there is also an outside villain that differs from all three of the above. Again, this is a science-fiction thriller, so you know it will be something out of this world. Or maybe of this world?!

I won’t reveal that here, but this is what our family is wondering as the days go by and they remain trapped inside their own house.

Inside the house are the parents portrayed by Greta Lee (A House of Dynamite) and Wagner Moura (The Gray Man), with their two children, a son and a younger daughter. Also, they have a senior dog, who will be the first to miss going outside, as this is where he usually goes potty.

In essence, The Last House is a survival story, as the family has to stick together and be creative and smart to stay alive.

Watch The Last House on Netflix

The director of The Last House is Louis Leterrier, who previously directed movies like The Transporter (2002), Now You See Me (2013), and The Incredible Hulk (2008). The script comes from Matthew Robinson, who previously wrote Love and Monsters and Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die.

As already mentioned, The Last House does begin strongly. Unfortunately, that final act seemed rushed and too “easy” somehow. It’s like if you expect a delicious brownie for dessert and instead get a dry piece of chocolate cake. As a result, the entire meal just feels like a bad experience, even if you just had the best starter ever.

I have a very difficult time understanding that the writer of Love and Monsters and Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die couldn’t come up with a better ending. This movie feels like it was changed “on the fly”, and that’s why the ending is subpar.

Anyway, The Last House isn’t a bad movie. It started as a solid 4, but ended as a somewhat annoying 2 (in my worldview), so we’re landing on a middle-ground 3, to be fair.

The Last House is on Netflix globally on August 7, 2026.

Details

Director: Louis Leterrier
Script: Matthew Robinson
Cast: Greta Lee, Wagner Moura, Gabriel Barbosa, Emma Ho, Noah Alexander Sosnowski, Riley Chung