Louis Leterrier’s **THE LAST HOUSE** feels like another addition to a recent wave of thrillers reflecting experiences from the time after COVID. The movie is likely to bring back unpleasant feelings about being forced to stay home during the pandemic, and it serves as a bleak reminder of how difficult life was with so few opportunities for socializing. It's almost enough horror on its own to be stuck inside a house with your family for years. The screenplay by Matthew Robinson gets off to a strong start; an unusual rainstorm traps countless people in their homes, but the film falters when the focus shifts to a single family simply continuing their lives while confined indoors. Parents Ann and Jason (Greta Lee and Wagner Moura) struggle to keep their two children together, both emotionally and physically, as weeks turn into months and then years pass. (The fact that the family hasn’t fallen ill from black mold after all this time spent inside is a significant question left unanswered.) As the family's situation deteriorates from survival to barely scraping by, the central mystery surrounding *who*, *what*, *why*—or even *how*—this global crisis began receives surprisingly little attention until a rushed final act, full of thrills but weighed down with exposition, attempts to resolve everything. Leterrier, who is known for creating exciting visuals but not always delivering a satisfying conclusion, repeats that pattern here as the family confronts creatures resembling a combination of Bill Nighy’s Davy Jones from **PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN** and H.P. Lovecraft’s ***Cthulhu***. The film could have delved deeper into the mystery surrounding these creatures rather than settling for the weak explanation that they simply disappeared, according to the narration. It's an unsatisfying resolution—particularly after Netflix generated considerable excitement with a clever advertising campaign that will probably lead to record-breaking viewership this weekend. **THE LAST HOUSE** starts with a captivating idea that suggests something far more substantial than what is ultimately delivered. Sadly, once the doors are locked, the story doesn’t have nearly as much interesting territory to explore.

Source on TMDB