Look up: it’s a bird, it’s a plane — no, it’s just Netflix‘s promotional stunt for its new horror film The Last House.
To help market the apocalyptic movie, the streamer trapped a man inside a living billboard approximately 30 feet above the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Selma Avenue in Los Angeles on Aug. 6. The billboard was designed to resemble the side of a home, and the phrase “How long can you survive?” was posted below the window.
The movie was gaining buzz even before the marketing stunt made headlines, due to its subject matter and A-list stars. And now the critics have chimed in with their thoughts. Read on for everything to know about The Last House.
THE CAST
Leading the ensemble are Greta Lee as Riley Delgado and Wagner Moura as Jason Delgado, married parents who become sealed inside their home by a supernatural force during a rain storm. The cast also includes Riley Chung, Emma Ho, Noah Alexander Sosnowski, Gabriel Barbosa, Sam Lerner, Audrey Anderson, and Sid Edwards.
THE PLOT
Unemployed engineer Jason and his family are trapped inside their Seattle-area home when a mysterious, sentient sealant forms an impenetrable barrier around the property during a torrential storm. As they struggle to escape, they discover their neighbors are similarly imprisoned, leaving every household isolated.
What the critics are saying
Reviews for The Last House are mostly negative, as illustrated by its 35% score at Rotten Tomatoes and a 45 at Metacritic.
One of the harsher critiques comes from Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting, who complains the movie is “trapped by its own potential” and “never wades deeper than a puddle in plot or theme.”
Nick Schager of The Daily Beast calls it “intermittently gripping” and “a glossy B-movie that doesn’t bore but also never truly thrills.”
On the flip side, William Bibbiani of The Wrap admits that, despite its “forced” premise, the movie is still “skillfully presented and exceptionally well cast, which makes up for most of the obvious deficiencies.”
The creatives
Louis Leterrier directed The Last House from an original script by Matthew Robinson. Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, Kori Adelson, Louis Leterrier, and Oly Obst serve as producers. Artisans include cinematographer Pål Ulvik Rokseth, editor Adam Gough, and composer Yair Elazar Glotman.
The release date
The Last House arrived on Netflix on Aug. 7, one day after the billboard stunt. It has a running time of 112 minutes. Watch the trailer:
Awards prospects
Because The Last House skipped movie theaters and went straight to streaming, it is not eligible for the 2027 Oscars. Netflix now has plenty of time to decide whether it’ll stage an Emmy campaign for next year in the Best Movie race despite the poor reviews. Horror-thriller telefilms that made it into that category in recent years include Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War (2026), The Gorge (2025), Hocus Pocus 2 (2023), Prey (2023), and reigning champion Rebel Ridge (2025).
