The Last House (2026) Review – I Cringed… A Lot

Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today we are taking a look at the latest Netflix exclusive horror movie The Last House (2026). This is a tough one to review because some people are probably going to enjoy it quite a lot. Me? Well, I absolutely hated almost every second. Let’s take a look.

A Recycled Concept

The Last House’s story follows a family who find themselves trapped inside their house by some external force. Unable to leave, the situation begins to turn drastic as they carve through their dwindling resources with no sign of escape.

This isn’t a particularly original concept. In fact, it almost immediately drew to mind the British festive horror Await Further Instructions, just on a grander scale and with some Netflix funded extra sheen. Hell, the opening stanza even takes place over Christmas.

The general idea with movies like this is that they tend to focus more on interpersonal tension between family members and domestic drama than actual horror. That’s the case here, too, though director Louis Leterrier does attempt to lampoon titles like A Quiet Place every now and then with some more horror focused moments.

The best way to look at this, however, is as a family spending far too much time in each other’s company and all the trappings that come along with that scenario. There’s lots of arguing, lots of trying to make the best of a bad situation, and a hell of a lot of padding.

Whereas titles like Await Further Instructions take place over days, The Last House takes place over years, hence the title. How the family accomplish this is where the movie really descends into farce but that’s not where its biggest problems lie.

It’s a family horror… Unfortunately

This is a PG-13 rated horror movie but there’s a clear focus on creating something that is, ostensibly, family friendly.

Now, I don’t want you to get the wrong impression when I say that. I don’t mean that this is something that you would gather the kids around the television of a Sunday evening to watch. It’s more that there is a devoted focus to portraying blissful family life overcoming all the odds.

Nothing ever gets too heavy, there’s never any real threat, and it never really hints at the possibility of serious scares. Instead, there is an overabundance of trite familial shit that is, quite honestly, a bit difficult to sit through without cringing.

One scene, featuring the family dancing along to the brilliant Close to Me by The Cure, marked a perfect time for me to step out to grab a drink, lest I collapse from the embarrassment of the entire thing.

This is an incredibly cheesy movie on numerous occasions and the saccharine sweetness leaves it feeling like horror by way of the Disney channel.

It hugely impacts on the severity of the story, too. This is supposed to be a harrowing situation but, outside of one or two scenes, you never get the idea that the family are struggling or in any real danger.

It meanders mercilessly

The Last House has a runtime approaching two hours so you are really in for the long haul when it comes to this repetitive formula. There are only so many poorly manufactured moments of escalation you can take before it becomes a rinse and repeat formula of diminished returns.

The family develop a system to cope, something bad happens, they find a different way to cope, something else bad happens, and so on and so forth.

The Last House also has a weirdly unique trait of the tension being higher at the start than it is in the middle as the family become so damn capable that they really aren’t struggling any more. In fact, I would go as far as to say that they are thriving; maybe eating a little too well.

The plot really has to go to some extremely ridiculous places to actually conjure up a reason for us to feel worried for them again, and even that doesn’t really land. Some decent CGI creature designs do stand out but the A Quiet Place facsimile horror sequences really aren’t scary at all.

There’s something of an eco-horror element to this film reminiscent of something like The Beach House. It all feels a bit hypocritical, however, when the family are butchering the local wildlife to stay alive.

Leterrier really indulges in this, as well, so those of you who hate that type of thing in horror, maybe give this a miss. It’s very needless, almost like they are trying to outdo Cannibal Holocaust on animal kill count. It all speaks to the constant tonal confusion that plagues this film.

It’s simply a bit of a mess

The Last House really isn’t sure of what it wants to be. Is it a horror? Is it a family film? Is it an ecologically aware warning message relating the damage humans are doing to the earth? Or is it a film promoting the virtues of hunting the local fauna to survive?

It’s probably a bit too scary for kids, mainly thanks to scenes where the family are snapping creature’s necks and being jump scared by heavily decayed corpses. It’s likely too saccharine and infantile for proper horror fans so won’t land with them. That leaves thriller fans who will probably find it too lethargic, boring, and slow paced.

There’s a small middle-ground occupied by the easily pleased that may have a good time but this is not a film made for genre fans.

Scripting is a big problem, too. The typically fantastic Wagner Moura, as the family’s patriarch, struggles mightily to elevate the terrible dialogue. He seems to become a bit checked out as the movie goes on which is reflected in an often monotone, mumbling delivery.

Greta Lee has some seriously awful moments, too. Lee’s line delivery only seems to make the scripting issues worse. A scene where she wistfully stares outside the window to remark on how humans are no longer “steering the ship” had my fiancee and I laughing our asses off. Her emotional affect often conflicts with the words she is saying, too.

Incidentally, young Riley Chung, as Ruth, is probably the star of the show and does a great job throughout.

An interesting production choice with mixed results

Honestly, I am pounding this movie pretty badly but I can’t find much to praise. Even camera work is frequently terrible. I counted over 8 cuts in one ten second scene early on in the film. I can’t imagine for one second what prompts an experienced director to frame something so simple in such a spasmodic way.

Interestingly, Leterrier has made the really bizarre choice to illustrate the passing of time here by filming the first half of the movie in 35mm film and the second half in digital on ARRI Alexa 35 with Panavision H-series lenses.

What this means for you, the viewer, is that the first half of the film is going to have a shocking amount of grain if you watch in 4K on a decent television with Dolby Vision, only to suddenly sharpen up dramatically later on and look a lot more modern.

I appreciate the attempt to do something different but it is really quite jarring. I found myself dropping the resolution to 1080P in the first half and then back to 4K in the second because the grain just looked far too defined. This was without noise reduction or extra sharpening.

If you are a fan of survival movies, you might find something to enjoy here. Teens might be able to get past the boring plot and the saccharine familial shit to find an entry point horror. Everyone else should just steer well clear.

Our Scoring Philosophy: A Fair Fight

Horror is a genre that thrives thanks to indie film makers and low budget creators. At Knockout Horror, we firmly believe that every movie that we review deserves a fair fight. That's why we grade on a curve. Our star ratings are all about context, judging a film on what it achieves with the resources it has.

A 4-star rating for a scrappy indie horror made for $10,000 is a testament to its ingenuity and raw power. A 4-star rating for a $100 million blockbuster means it delivered on its epic promises. We don't compare them side-by-side; we celebrate success in every weight class, from the back-alley brawler to the heavyweight champion. Please keep this in mind when considering star ratings.