The Last House (Netflix) is ​a great concept if you like the baffingly absurd.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Netflix’s sci-fi thriller The Last House starts with a delightfully chilling hook: A family in Seattle returns indoors during a rainstorm, only to discover that the doors and windows have mysteriously become unopenable, sealed shut by malevolent, water-controlling forces.

While the film suffers from severe pacing issues and narrative whiplash, it earns an extra star for sheer audacity, strong lead performances, and a surprisingly entertaining pivot into genre chaos during its back half.

Greta Lee and Wagner Moura bring a heavy, emotional gravity to the film as parents trying to maintain routine, homeschool stir-crazy kids, and ration supplies. Their anchor keeps the movie from completely capsizing early on.

Once the reality of a multi-year lockdown sets in, the film leans heavily into DIY ingenuity. Watching Jason rig up elaborate Home Alone-style pulley systems, chimney traps, and makeshift defenses provides some of the movie's most genuinely engaging and creative sequences.

As the house's foundations finally give way and tentacled, deep-sea horrors begin encroaching on their living space, the movie delivers a genuinely tense, skin-crawling finale that finally pays off the early dread.

The whole film starts to fall apart when the narrative shifts forward half a decade rather abruptly, leaving structural gaps in how the family emotionally adapts to an eternity indoors. The logic-defying final scene pushes the bounds of credibility. By not killing one of the monsters, all is forgiven, globally? This brings us to the movie's ultimate comedic miscalculation. After spending five grueling years cooped up inside a house hiding from oceanic monsters, the family finally escapes a flooded post-apocalyptic Seattle—only to immediately choose to spend years cooped up on a small boat. It is an objectively hilarious and baffling conclusion that completely undermines the trauma of the preceding runtime.

The Last House is a messy, uneven sci-fi experiment that bites off way more than it can chew. Yet, its unique blend of COVID-era claustrophobia, creature-feature scares, and mind-boggling character choices make it a remarkably memorable watch. It's a bumpy ride, but worth streaming if you love high-concept absurdity.