A Review of The
Last House by Nick Olszyk
Distribution Service: Netflix
MPAA Rating, PG-13
OSV Rating, Not rated at the time of this review
Reel Rating, Three Reels
It takes
around half a decade for Hollywood to catch up to current events. After 9/11, it
was only a matter of time until the events would enter cinematic literature,
and, sure enough, United 93 and World Trade Center came out in
2006. As such, there is now a small trickle of films that deal with Covid-19
and all the madness that ensued. The Last House feeds into these fears
by setting up a robust horror premise but unfortunately botches it the last
act, leaving a film that’s a decent Saturday night thriller but fails to go
further.
Jason
(Wagner Moura) is fishing on a perfectly ordinary day but decides to head home
when sees a strange storm on the horizon. As the rain begins to fall, he enters
his house for lunch with his wife Ann and children Graham and Ruth. When he
tries to leave a few hours later, he discovers that all the doors are
mysteriously stuck. So are the windows. Even when he tries drilling holes or
smashing through the wall, nothing works. The rain has somehow made it
impossible for anyone to leave the premises. Fortunately, there is still
electricity and water (for the moment) and air seems to permeate. Yet as the
days turn to weeks, the reality of physical survival arises, not to mention the
constant mystery of what has happened and who is behind it.
One of the film’s
strengths is watching the progression of the characters’ purpose throughout the
story. First, there is an assumption that this will all go away soon. The
family cooks nice meals, watches movies, does homework, and tinkers on
projects. The enemy is boredom, and their situation is an impromptu vacation. As
the calendar lengthens, concerns turn to the essentials, especially food and
water. At this point, the house feels like a deserted island, where every
resource must be managed. Now the enemy is starvation. They create gardens in
the floorboards, systems to collect rainwater, and even traps for outside
animals. The family finally reaches a point of equilibrium but discovers
survival isn’t enough. The children want to experiment and pursue why they are
trapped. There are strange beings that sometimes appear in the rain that may
provide answers. Jason, however, doesn’t want to rock their unsteady boat and
discourages such inquiry. Yet without a reason to survive, what is the point?
This
mirrors the experience of the 2020 lockdowns. Most people, including myself,
fell into the trap of “three weeks to slow the curve.” We accepted quarantine
and solitude as a temporary measure. Once it was clear this was not the case,
people found ways to attempt to restart their lives including social
distancing, masks, vaccine mandates, and hybrid classrooms. When people pushed
for a return to normal, they were met with harsh accusations of recklessness,
like Jason to his children. Security became the central value rather than
pursuit of God’s kingdom. Every action in the world involves risk, but we must
live our vocations in this world, trusting in God rather than our own devices.
As these
wonderfully developed themes begin to sprout, however, the film suddenly goes
off the rails in the third act. Without spoiling too much, the film suddenly
becomes a creature feature with a strange PETAesque pro-environmental message
that ignores the setup almost entirely. It’s hard to pinpoint the cause of this
misstep. Maybe the writers started a good story but weren’t sure how to end it.
Perhaps the logical conclusions of lockdown metaphor bent too conservative and
made the producers uneasy. At any rate, the ending doesn’t ruin the film
entirely but makes the whole thing rather silly. Someday cinema might get a great
Covid allegory, like High Noon with the red scare, but that day is still
in the future.
This article first appeared in Catholic World Report on September 6th, 2026.
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