One of the most beautiful things about Steven Spielberg’s films is their ability to make even the most mundane aspects of a story feel extraordinary. Often that’s through focusing on suburban families, either working or middle-class, and how they have to fight for survival. This could be against rampaging dinosaurs, like in Jurassic Park, or an alien invasion, like in War of the Worlds. Seeing a family go through the strife of the fantastical is a potent reminder that most people can relate to how precious family can be and why you should never take these relationships for granted — you never know when they could be ripped away.
This blend of the mundane and the miraculous, quintessential to many of Spielberg’s films, is also the beating heart of Netflix’s latest original sci-fi thriller.
Directed by Louis Leterrier of Lupin and Now You See Me fame, The Last House follows the Delgados family, who, in the weeks leading up to Christmas, discover that every exit in their home is sealed shut and every attempt to leave is foiled by a mysterious power related to the rain. What’s worse is they aren’t the only ones — every house in their neighborhood seems to be going through the exact same issue. Panic arises, but is briefly quelled when a neighbor who was out for a jog runs off to get help.
All of this, the introduction to the Delgados and the reveal of their entrapment, happens in less than 20 minutes. Other survival movies can plod along at a snail’s pace, sprinkling clues that give a sense of unease long before the twist happens. Leterrier doesn’t give viewers that luxury with The Last House. It’s a sudden shock to the system, just as alarming and frightening as it would be if you were in that situation yourself.
Left to weather this abrupt, indefinite imprisonment are parents Jason (Wagner Moura) and Ann Delgados (Greta Lee) and their children, eldest Graham (Noah Alexander Sosnowski and Gabriel Barbosa play the pre-teen and teenager versions respectively) and youngest Ruth (Riley Chung and Emma Ho, child and pre-teen). Moura and Lee’s chemistry is solid from the moment they are introduced, making it easy as pie to fall in love with their love for each other and their children, as well as with them as characters. Jason is an engineer who’s out of a job, but desperately wants to provide for his family in any way he possibly can — even if that means fishing for grub. Ann is a quiet but fierce woman who craves to protect and inspire her children equally.
When the Delgados become trapped, the struggles they had before play a significant role in how they react to said entrapment. Ann is more determined than ever to protect her children from the psychological damage of months of being locked away, with the real world only a thin wall away from them, and Jason has more time than ever to prove that he can provide in ways he was struggling to before as an unemployed dad. One scene where they burn overdue mortgage payments in the fireplace for kindling emphasizes the silver lining of their distressing situation.
It’s this tight-knit family unit that feels like the key nod to Spielberg’s filmography. While the question of who, what, and why all of this is happening to the family and their neighborhood may sit comfortably at the back of your mind, you’ll likely find yourself far too enamored with the Delgados to care (at least until the real threat finally reveals itself). They are an incredibly characterized family, from squabbling siblings to devoted dog-lovers (yes, there’s a dog in this survivalist movie, I’m sorry). Leterrier spends a good amount of time portraying this family as a community that you truly believe would go to the ends of the earth for one another.
Leterrier deftly builds up the joy and adoration of the Delgados family, and just as quickly rips it away. To see them break down at the loss of modern conveniences, of food, electricity, water, and even communication, is devastating. Much like the family itself, their house also begins to unravel as time goes on. Days and years are represented by marks on the wall, floorboards are pulled up to make room for plants and food, and cracks litter the corners and crevices of the family’s home as its foundations begin to sink into the soaked earth.
Yet, in typical Spielberg fashion, the fractured Delgados family ultimately highlights the complex questions that are rife throughout The Last House. What would you do in this situation? How would you survive? Would you even attempt it? The Delgados’ struggle against this new, horrifying reality is anything but ordinary — but their struggle to weather it while trying to remain true to who they were before their world changed dramatically is beautiful and Spielberg-esque in its execution. That’s what makes The Last House a must-watch.
The Last House is now streaming on Netflix.
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