The Last House Ending Explained: Directed by Louis Leterrier, Netflix’s latest horror-drama stars Wagner Moura as Jason Delgado, Greta Lee as Ann Delgado, alongside Gabriel Barbosa, Emma Ho, Riley Chung, Noah Alexander Sosnowski and others. Written by Matthew Robinson, the movie has a run time of around 110 minutes.
The Last House Ending Explained
How Did the Delgado Family Become Trapped Inside the House?
In Netflix’s The Last House, it all starts during what would seem to be a regular rainy day for the Delgado family. Unexpectedly, unknown creatures come along with the rain, causing a catastrophic event across the world. Those unfortunate souls who happen to be outside are killed immediately, while the people indoors figure out that they cannot get out of their homes. Jason and Ann Delgado realise soon enough that all of the doors and windows are sealed off by some unknown force.
Regardless of whether they try to open the doors or windows forcefully, break through them, or even find another way out, there is an invisible barrier preventing them from leaving. Seeing the people around them outside of their houses and realising that people going out of doors are being killed by the unknown creatures coming with the rain, the Delgado family realises that their house is now their prison as well as their shelter. The reason why they were selected or what those creatures wanted from them remains a mystery.
How Did the Delgado Family Survive Inside the House for So Many Years?
However, the key reason why the Delgados stay alive is the fact that they do not submit to despair, even when they come to realise that they cannot get out of their house anymore. Whereas many of their neighbours die from starvation as basic supplies run out one by one, Jason and Ann constantly adapt themselves to the situation.
Once they have come to realise that electricity, running water, and gas stop working, Jason makes homemade traps that can be fixed in the chimney so that he can hunt for little animals. At the same time, Ann makes their home into a greenhouse so that she can grow edible plants instead of those food supplies that start running out one after another. Moreover, they gather rainwater and dew so that they could have drinking water all the time. It is obvious that the combination of practical abilities and hope is what distinguishes them from others and ensures their survival.
How Did the Delgado Family Help Ruth?
After years of confinement within the house, the Delgados encounter one of their most terrifying experiences when Ruth is attacked by an animal and suffers a serious infection. With the absence of any hospitals, doctors, or emergency services, the family realises that if they do nothing about the situation, she will most likely die. In their search for an alternative, they find out that the underground sewage system is not obstructed by the invisible barriers that surround each and every house. With the use of the underground sewage system, the family gets a way to access another house without having to step out into the fatal rain.
Understanding the dangers that lie ahead, Ann crawls through the sewage system to get into the adjacent house that used to belong to a dentist and manages to find the medicine. The rescue mission is dangerous in its own way as well, because Ann’s presence in the neighbouring house draws the creature assigned to protect that house, and she finds herself having to struggle desperately against it. She successfully defends herself against it by shooting, while Jason manages to help scare it away afterwards.
They manage to bring the medicine back home and save Ruth, but the entire situation is going to change dramatically from now on. Before that, the Delgados’ visitor was leaving them alone and even acted unusually, but they have attacked a fellow creature, and this seems to have caused a reaction.
How Did the Delgado Family Finally Escape the House?
The fight of the Delgado family starts when they come to the realisation that hiding in the house is no longer going to save their lives. After the attack on one of their visitors during the acquisition of medicine for Ruth, their very own monster starts behaving in a more aggressive manner. The monster floods the house and attacks, showing them that the safety they had been enjoying for many years at their home is no longer there. As the house starts sinking and all their supplies are being destroyed by the monster, Jason and his family come to the understanding that hiding in the house is not going to be helpful.
In the course of the fight, the family is able to trap the visitor using a harpoon tied to their car, which gives Jason the advantage over it. Thinking that this is their one shot at freedom, he warns that he would kill it if it does not do away with the invisible barrier around their house. Right before doing so, however, Ruth reminds him that this particular visitor had been kind to them in the past and had never meant them any harm.
He shows mercy instead of vengeance and sets the visitor free. This single act changes everything. The visitor does not attack them but instead opens up the barrier to let them walk outside freely. Other visitors are quick to surround them, but the visitor orders them not to take action. It starts to rain no more, the visitors leave, and the Delgados leave their prison behind for good by taking a neighbour’s yacht out looking for survivors.
Why Didn’t the Creature Kill the Delgado Family?
One of the most perplexing aspects of the movie is the reason for the peculiar behaviour of the visitor in the Delgado house compared to other creatures. Whereas people found outside are killed instantly and others are ultimately found and killed later, this particular visitor seems to display remarkable restraint towards the Delgado family at various times throughout the years.
At no time does it try to forcefully enter the Delgado family compound despite having numerous opportunities to do so; rather, it appears to watch the family from afar and even play with Ruth by creating patterns in the raindrops. Even when it gets into the house, it is preoccupied more with contaminating the plants, soil, and water in the house than with killing the family members.
However, the behaviours of the creature can be understood when the film gets into its climax. Despite all efforts put into capturing the creature and having all reasons to eliminate the creature, Ruth makes Jason realise that this guest has done them favours in ways too many for years. Instead of executing the creature as revenge, Jason decides to forgive and let the creature live. This is one decision that alters everything. In return, the guest takes down the invisible barrier, convinces the other creatures to do no harm and lets the family get out safely.
Despite the fact that the motives of the guest have never been told in the movie, the film indicates that the guest knew of the humanity of the Delgados even before the confrontation. Instead of being violent against the Delgados, it chooses not to be violent. It creates a unique opportunity for trust between two species.
What Does The Last House Ending Really Mean?
At the end of The Last House, it becomes evident that the plot is not only about survival against an alien invasion. Throughout the entire movie, the Delgado family home is shown as a shelter from the dangerous environment, as well as a prison in which the characters are isolated from other people for many years and forced to face grief, fear, and hopelessness. With the passing of time, the family members are losing their neighbours, exhausting all their supplies, and seeing their shelter falling into pieces, but still they keep adapting and helping each other.
In the end, it becomes clear to them that simple survival within these four walls does not suit them anymore, and in order to have the right to call themselves living beings, they have to do something radical. The ending of The Last House movie also brings out the theme of the supremacy of compassion over violence. Jason has all opportunities to take revenge and end the life of this visitor who held his family captive for all those years. However, he decides to be merciful since this visitor was one of those beings that had spared him many times in the past.
As a result of this display of compassion, this visitor repays this good deed by letting Jason’s family go as well as making others release them. This mutual act of trust indicates that it is only through understanding and empathy that people can succeed and survive, while there is no chance of success in cases of fear and violence. At the end of the movie, when the family sets sail and Ruth succeeds in getting into radio contact with some other human survivors, she proves that even after all these dark years, people can find hope. The director leaves some questions regarding the mission and identity of the visitors unanswered.
Also Read: The Last House Review: Brilliant and Emotional Survival Tale That Gets Lost in Its Own Mystery
