The Last House Review: Wagner Moura shines in an apocalyptic family drama that feels uncomfortably familiar

There is something deeply unsettling about watching The Last House in 2026. The apocalyptic science-fiction thriller repeatedly brought back memories of the Covid-19 lockdown — not because the situations are identical, but because of the claustrophobia, uncertainty and strange new routines that come with being trapped inside your own home.

Spoilers ahead

Directed by Louis Leterrier and written by Matthew Robinson, The Last House follows a family inexplicably sealed inside their home while something catastrophic appears to have happened to the world outside. Ann (Greta Lee) and Jason (Wagner Moura) are left to protect their children and figure out how to survive as the familiar structures of society disappear. The film was released on Netflix on August 7.

What worked for me most was how quickly the film turns the family home into its own little world. It becomes a place where every object, skill and decision suddenly has value. Jason's engineering abilities, for instance, become far more important than whether he has a conventional job. The family gradually develops a system for survival, and watching them learn to work together provides some of the film's strongest moments.

What worked for me most was how quickly the film turns the family home into its own little world. It becomes a place where every object, skill and decision suddenly has value. Jason's engineering abilities, for instance, become far more important than whether he has a conventional job. The family gradually develops a system for survival, and watching them learn to work together provides some of the film's strongest moments.

Wagner Moura is particularly good here. His portrayal of Jason as a desperate father trying to keep his family alive gives the film much of its emotional weight. There is a constant sense that he is one bad decision away from losing control, and Moura handles that desperation convincingly. Greta Lee is also solid as Ann, although I found some of her character's choices frustrating. Her decision to stop and show the medicine rather than immediately run felt particularly foolish given the danger surrounding her.

The film does not shy away from the uglier side of survival. The death of the family dog, Cassidy, is painful to watch, while the scene in which their son is forced to kill his pet fish because the family is running out of food is even harder. Jason's attempts to hunt animals are similarly uncomfortable. These moments work because they make survival feel less like an adventure and more like a series of increasingly difficult moral compromises.

One of the film's most refreshing elements is its garden. The greenery surrounding the house, with animals gradually reclaiming spaces once dominated by humans, creates a striking contrast to the family's fear. There is something beautiful about seeing nature take over, even as the family struggles to survive within it.

The film also touches on climate change, ecosystemic adaptation and the strengths and limitations of community spirit. Unfortunately, I never felt that these ideas were explored with enough depth. The Last House gestures towards bigger questions about humanity's relationship with nature and each other, but often settles for broad observations rather than genuinely probing them.

That becomes the film's biggest weakness. I enjoyed watching The Last House, particularly because of its performances and its intimate depiction of survival, but I kept waiting for it to say something more substantial. Instead, its central message ultimately feels rather simple: when everything else disappears, families need to look after one another.

It is not a particularly groundbreaking conclusion, but the film makes it emotionally effective. Moura and Lee give the family enough weight to keep the story engaging, while the increasingly wild world outside provides some of its most memorable imagery.

The Last House may not fully deliver on the larger ideas it introduces, but as an intimate survival thriller about a family forced to confront the worst possible circumstances, it remains an absorbing watch.