31 Days of Halloween: The Last House

2026, Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk) -- Netflix

There are two survival / horror movies this season that deal with families in their houses. There is The End of Oak Street, which we will get to later, and there is this one, which continues the tradition of Netflix doing an apocalyptic, family-oriented survival movie in a sub-genre I like to call "mysterious monsters end the world."

So, dad Jason Delgado (Wagner Moura, Elysium) is out fishing off a pier in Seattle when the rain begins. He makes it home just before it gets really heavy, which is a good thing, because the rain seals him, and his family, into their home. They cannot open the doors, break the windows or even get thru the walls. The rain itself has generated an unbreakable barrier. Through white and chalk boards, the Delgados and their neighbours communicate that they are all trapped inside; except the jogging lady, who says she will run and get help. The phones and Internet go out, but they have electricity and running water.

The next morning, things are still the same. And the morning after that, and... well, you get the point. They begin rationing and mom Ann (Greta Lee, Tron: Ares) even puts aside some tomato seeds. No help comes, the rains continue, and the family settles into routines to keep their two kids sane. Talk about your bottle episode / Locked in a Room trope...

Much of the movie is focused on the survival, little on the horror. Youngest child Ruth (Emma Ho, The Baker) does see something through the windows, but its not until the jogger reappears months later, looking more-than-half-mad & starved until she is taken by the something that the realize there is actually an antagonist. The family's response is to keep the windows covered whenever it rains, as they don't know that what keeps them locked inside, will also keep the creatures out -- primarily, don't antagonize the Cthulhu-like creatures.

Being focused on the family, the movie deals with their dynamics. Jason was unemployed when the movie started, the bills piling up. He suffers the need to Be In Control and to Protect His Family but as time passes, this role frays at the seams. Ann challenges his need to take all that on, while also dealing with her own fluctuations between hopelessness and ingenuity. The kids suffer their own depressions as time passes and difficulties mount. Eventually the electricity goes; they find other ways to distract themselves. And as food gets scarce, Jason engineers traps, which they can get out through a small hole in the chimney, so they can supplement Ann's garden(s) with meat. Let's not get into the family dog situation.

Years later.  

Yes, years have passed. The house has transformed. The kids have grown. The traps are more ingenious. The routines are set. The world outside, seen when the skies are bright & sunny, has changed. All the neighbours are dead, and the houses are all in various states of decay. Their own home is starting to come apart, as the constant rain has caused subsidence of the soil beneath the house. The creatures still roam outside when it rains.

Now, we have an opening dialogue, where someone tells us of life before and after The Rains. So, we know someone survives. But how do we get from trapped in the house to ... whatever comes after. The final act is a climax, an expected change. I won't go fully into it, but it involves a desperate need to get out of the house, and a confrontation with the creatures that leads to ... well, I can only pithily suggest... a prequel for Waterworld ?

I enjoyed the movie, but I enjoy the beats and tempos of these kinds of movies. I won't say it was "good", but it was more than entertaining. I like me some PA, and how people survive so I got what I wanted. Answers are few, but I am used to that.

Now to watch some people get eaten by dinosaurs.