by Samuel Nichols, Contributing Writer
When I heard the next movie of the week from Netflix would star Greta Lee (Past Lives & Toy Story 5) and Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent & Civil War) as a mom and dad stuck inside, I was on board. Then I started watching and realized Netflix had injected its usual overly expositional dialogue and mixed it with some sci-fi nonsense. It makes something ultimately passable but not extraordinary. Yet, I was resolved to finish it anyway. Perhaps the acting chops and astounding charm of our stars could carry this story.
After a bad storm strikes Ana (Lee) and Jason’s (Moura) neighborhood, they find themselves trapped inside. With no apparent or explainable reason for their predicament, they resolve to make the best of their situation as they take care of their kids Graham (Noah Alexander Sosnowski) and Ruth (Riley Chung). Rationing, trapping and growing food, and trying to understand what’s happening, the family survives. But as the years pass and the kids grow up (Gabriel Barbosa and Emma Cho taking over as teenage Graham and Ruth respectively) it becomes clear that something dangerous is outside. The weather has become much stronger as rainstorms beat against the walls of their home far more often. And their home is not going to last forever. Yet they cannot keep their kids from growing up and wanting to go out and discover more about the world. Even more dangerously, Ana and Jason cannot keep what’s outside from forcing its way into their house.
Right from the pitch meeting, The Last House has a really strong setup going for it. Trapped in a house with your family. Mysterious forces keeping you inside. Just trying to survive as supplies dwindle. And the camera work does a great job making you feel claustrophobic and cramped. It gets a little repetitive with the family just trying to survive and still find meaning in this existence. But seeing them triumph against nature, figure out their next meal, and do something innovative is interesting. Somehow it’s like a Covid-Esque version of Castaway, and it’s better than you’d estimate on that front. Rooting for this homebound family to survive becomes easy as you watch them work together and just adapt to their new life situation.
As a whole, the family has really strong chemistry, but Anna and Jason really lock up the audience’s support. There’s no bickering or blame or residual feelings that they are holding onto. They band together to take care of their kids and along the way the charm of Moura and Lee will win you over. I only wish there had been a little more challenge between the two of them because the one fight Moura and Lee have is not enough. It’s a good scene when they let down their guard and lay into each other, but a little more tension between them could have built to more depth of relationship.
Speaking of family, there is nothing of note regarding the kids, Graham and Ruth. Both exist as two-dimensional characters and are mostly in the story to give their parents something to protect. Graham is supposed to have a few rebellious moments of not wanting to follow his parents instructions, but I never felt there was enough angst to portray “rebellious teen.” There’s no true outburst or conflict between him and his folks either, which I felt was lazy writing. Ruth, on the other hand, has no internal emotion or characterization. I suppose she’s a kind of guide for us as Arden Cho is narrating as an older Ruth but the only direct relevance to the plot is that she is the only one who seeks to see the monsters outside.
Exploring these unseen forces outside, keeping them trapped, is where the movie loses me. As the years go on the family realizes that the rainstorms bring in these sea beasts and they have killed anyone who was outside a home. These forces are looming in the background for the first two acts but don’t take cent stage until the last act. Jumping from the survivalism tone to a creature feature is too much. I suppose they have to do something exciting because there’s not a lot of character development here for Jason or Ana when they are just trying to survive and take care of their kids. But forcing these two types of stories together just didn’t work for me.
What pushes The Last House out the door for me is the dialogue. Netflix has gotten a lot of deserved flack in the last couple years with the revelation that they encourage their writers to overly explain the story, as they seem to know people only watch these movies during laundry day or while doomscrolling. But force feeding the audience an insurmountable helping of nonsense-talk at such a breakneck pace can be frustrating. Even if some of the food is good, they are eventually going to run out of people willing to eat it, even if they are stuck inside.
Rating: Did Not Like It
The Last House is currently available to stream on Netflix.
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