WATER BORED

2 hours ago
5 min read

The last house (12a)

Director: Louis Leterrier

Screenplay: Matthew Robinson

Starring: Greta Lee, Wagner Moura, Riley Chung

Running time: 112 minutes

Netflix

Review: RJ Bland

Remember the Covid-19 pandemic? Yeah, that wasn't exactly a fun time, was it – for a whole host of reasons. The environment may have benefited, and it led some people to reassess their daily routines, relationships and working lives, but on the whole, it was a pretty miserable and anxiety-inducing period. It also brought the film industry to a virtual standstill for a time. It all feels like something of a bad dream at this point, one that is still rippling through society to some degree. Traumatic events and periods of history often lead to a surge of horror movies that are either inspired by, or feed off, the fears generated by that collective anguish. The 1970s was a volatile time in the US. Vietnam, Watergate, racial tension, the Manson murders - all these things contributed to a plethora of subversive, visionary and sometimes vicious genre movies. The Crazies (1973), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) among them. In the 80s and early 90s, we had the satanic panic, which produced a clutch of occult horror movies that tapped directly into those (misplaced) fears. But the Covid-19 pandemic was worldwide; it didn't just affect the US - so there is untold potential for different cultural perspectives to play out within the genre. However, it's safe to say that we haven't quite had the explosion of pandemic-inspired movies just yet. Host (2020) - filmed during the outbreak - is an ingenious (and pretty scary) occult film that utilises 'lockdown' to great effect. A year later, we had the Taiwanese film The Sadness - about a violent viral outbreak and the breakdown of society and government. And in 2022, Sick (written by Kevin Williamson) gave us a slasher movie that incorporated quarantine protocols, mask-wearing and social distancing. But films tapping into the claustrophobia of being trapped in your own home have been surprisingly few and far between. The Last House, just released onto Netflix, leans heavily into that idea however...

The film opens with Jason, a handsome middle-aged engineer (Wagner Moura), fishing off a pier. He catches a fish but decides to throw it back because it's too small. A not so subtle hint that the theme of the film may be environmental. He heads home sharpish as the clouds look rather ominous. We then get a 'Weapons' style narration where a little girl talks about 'the day the rain came' and 'when we learned we're not alone'. Anyway, Jason gets back home and we're introduced to his young(ish) family – his wife Ann (Greta Lee), his son Graham (Alexander Sosnowski) and his daughter Ruth (Riley Chung). This is a pretty happy family despite clear financial pressures and the fact they have a big old crack in the chimney that needs to be sorted out ASAP. Then the storm hits and the rain keeps pounding down unabated. But hey, nothing to worry about really. But when they realise their doors won't open, they begin to suspect something insidious is going. Attempts to smash windows prove unsuccessful – the glass simply won't shatter. They're trapped. And so are their neighbours and well, who knows, possibly everyone who lives inside a building. And the internet's down too. Bummer. At first, Jason and Ann try to get through the following days by rationing food and making the best of a bad situation; they cook, they dance, they spend time together as a family (rewatching the TWO DVDs they own). But as the days roll on, their supplies start to dwindle and the vibe changes. Also, the kids have spotted what appear to be shadowy elusive figures looming outside in the rain...

Hmmm. This had the potential to be quite good. We haven't had a decent glossy Netflix high-concept sci-fi since Birdbox (2018) - but the wait goes on, because this is actually pretty poor for the most part. We'll start off with the positives, of which there aren't too many. But we'll mention them nevertheless. The set up and concept of The Last House is undoubtedly intriguing and it feels like enough time has passed since lockdown for us to revisit the whole 'people stuck in a building' narrative. In fact, it feels as if now is exactly the right time for this type of story and this film felt primed to maybe tap into some of our trauma from 2020-2021, whilst delivering a few thrills and chills along the way. The early signs are encouraging too and the initial glimpses we get of the shadowy shapes watching the house from outside are quite effective.

And, well, that’s pretty much it. The rest is something of a hot mess. While the actors involved can’t really be faulted, the script certainly can, and the characters at the heart of the story are, well, just quite annoying to spend time with. There’s very little that feels authentic or convincing about any of them, and that’s largely down to the writing, which gives them very little in the way of personality or depth. A random time jump sees the two children replaced by older actors, and at this point it feels less like we’re watching the same characters develop and more like they’ve simply been replaced altogether. We get hysterics and over-dramatic reactions at various points, in what we presume is an effort to add some tension - but these feel more like compensation for the lack of properly developed characters. Some of the dialogue is just not up to scratch either.

Tonally, the film also pivots quite wildly at times. Cutesy scenes of the family singing along to Annie on the sofa and dancing to old LPs are punctuated by rather grim sequences involving the capture of fluffy animals with homemade traps, winching them through the chimney before killing and eating them. I mean, are we really supposed to be cheering this insipid lot on as they attempt to catch and kill a lovely little fox that keeps visiting their garden? Starvation or no starvation, it’s an odd choice.The logic - or, more accurately, the complete lack thereof - behind everything that’s happening is perhaps the most infuriating element, though. For the first hour, the ‘visitors’ are kept largely in the shadows, but still pose an impending threat, and that works perfectly well. When they’re finally revealed, they inevitably lose some of their power, which was always a risk, but the bigger problem is that we’re left with no real understanding of their motives or what is actually happening. The climax of The Last House effectively shrugs off these questions and expects us to simply go along with it. It feels less like deliberate ambiguity and more like cinematic negligence.

Will there be a sequel? Probably. Do we have any appetite for one? Absolutely not.