One movie, two opinions: Netflix's ‘The Last House’ reviewed by our Culture team

14 AUG 2026, 08:00

8 min read

One movie, two opinions: Our culture editor, Theolin Tembo, and our culture reporter Bernelee Vollmer, both happened to watch the latest Netflix movie, 'The Last House' and in doing so, presented us with an opportunity.

Sometimes when reading one person's review, you often find yourself wondering if you share the taste of the writer. Well now, you have the benefit of getting to hear from two, and maybe that will help you make up your mind on whether this movie is for you or not?

“The Last House” centres on a family sealed inside their home with no way out where they are stuck with only their resources in their house and with it quickly running thin, they must work together to survive while a mysterious looming threat keeping them trapped inside, lurks close.

Greta Lee (Ann) and Wagner Moura (Jason) star in this original sci-fi thriller directed by Louis Leterrier (Now You See Me, Lupin).

Here is what our reviewers had to say, and let us hear your thoughts in the comments:

'The Last House' sees a family face mounting odds while being trapped inside

Would you survive being trapped inside the house indefinitely with no way of getting out or getting to feel the sun’s rays on your skin?

Judging by how well people lived through the Covid-19 pandemic, the answer for most people would be no, but now there is no need to imagine that scenario as a new movie now streaming on Netflix, “The Last House”, shows one family living through that very nightmare.

While some people may find the first half of the movie boring enough to turn it off, for those of us who found the first half engaging, the movie goes on to reward viewers for their patience.

It is easy to see why Lee and Moura signed up to star in this movie as there is so much character work that goes into setting up the family dynamics, the relationships and creating the tension upon which the film rests.

The film definitely follows in the vein of "A Quiet Place" where they are keeping the budget tight and using one central location throughout the story, but the movie is also a good reminder of what a solid script and good acting can deliver.

“The Last House” really works so well because of the acting performances and also the directing and editing. We see the family evolve from confused, to frightened and ultimately determined and focused as they come to grips with their new reality.

The movie could also just rest on that dynamics and keep it as a small drama, but the mystery of the rain and figures lurking in their neighbourhood are ultimately paid off with an engaging climatic scene.

The filmmakers knows what type of story it is telling, and that it is what keeps you invested. It could easily overstay its welcome, but personally, the change in tones and dynamics help keep this from becoming too monotonous or boring.

Some might agree, and feel that “The Last House” takes too long to get any momentum.

Leterrier knows how to make a solid movie, especially given the success and fun of the first “Now You See Me” film which spawned a franchise. He adds speed and urgency at the right spots, where those watching with their full attention and not just on their phone will notice the difference in pacing.

In an interview with Netflix, Leterrier said that “The Last House” challenges the idea of a safe haven, by “turning a family home into a hostile environment where survival demands unity”. “This is an ordinary family’s worst nightmare, pushing them to their limits to protect each other and exposing the fragility of security — and the desperate fight to reclaim it.”

“The Last House” could have easily been a generic movie but there is at least a commitment to the concept and its lore that helps make this a more intriguing mystery.

That being said, the movie is still at best a slightly above average movie where if you give it your attention, you will have a lot of fun with it. It is neither remarkable nor offensive, but it does have heart and intent.

★★★½ (3.5/5): Theolin feels that the movie is worth the watch if you can give it your full attention, and just looking for a tense film the whole family can watch.

‘The Last House’ turns an ordinary family home into a terrifying fight for survival

I am not usually a thriller person. I like my evenings with considerably less screaming, mysterious creatures and families making decisions that have me talking to the television.

So when I sat down to watch Netflix’s "The Last House", I was prepared to be the difficult audience member asking why nobody had tried a different door by now.

The set-up, however, got me interested.

The doors cannot be opened, the windows cannot be broken and something outside is determined to keep them there. As their food and other resources begin to disappear, the family has to figure out how to survive inside a house that was supposed to be the safest place they had.

For a while, that is enough.

What makes the confinement unsettling is how quickly the extraordinary becomes routine. Food has to be rationed, the children still need entertaining and birthdays continue to arrive, regardless of what is happening outside.

As the years pass, the family grows older alongside the house, with their belongings, routines and surroundings quietly recording the life they are losing. The ordinary details end up carrying more weight than some of the film's bigger scares.

The film inevitably recalls the pandemic, when home became both refuge and restriction and the outside world suddenly carried a sense of threat. But "The Last House" pushes that familiar anxiety into something far more extreme.

There is no grocery run, no quick escape, no promise that things will return to normal next week. The family is not simply sheltering from the world. They have been cut off from it entirely, with no clear idea of what waits beyond the walls.

Lee and Moura give the film much of its emotional weight. Lee brings a quiet warmth to Ann, while Moura plays Jason with an intensity that becomes increasingly difficult to contain as the family's situation deteriorates.

Their relationship feels believable because the film allows the strain of confinement to play out in small ways, rather than relying entirely on dramatic outbursts.

The problem is that the film's central mystery keeps getting bigger while the family story becomes less compelling.

What is outside? Why has this happened to them? What is keeping the house sealed? At first, those questions create the tension you want from a thriller. Eventually, they start to feel like promises the film is struggling to fulfil.

The simpler version of the story is also the stronger one. Four people are trapped inside a house with limited food and no idea when they will be allowed out.

That is enough to make anyone nervous, especially when the children are growing up inside the same four walls and their parents are trying to maintain some version of normal life.

As the film moves towards its wider ideas about humanity, nature and the consequences of our actions, the story becomes more ambitious but less convincing. The environmental message is not difficult to understand, but it is delivered with far less subtlety than the family drama that came before it.

That left me wondering why the film did not stay with the thing it had already made me care about most: the people inside the house.

I went into "The Last House" expecting to be less interested than the average thriller fan, but I ended up caring far more about Ann, Jason, Ruth and Graham than I did about the mystery outside their windows.

The irony is that the most unsettling part of the film is not whatever is waiting beyond the rain. It is the possibility of spending years with the people you love, in the same house, while the life you knew disappears.