Film Review: The Last House (2026)

 

There's an abundance of tropes in The Last House, and most of the time, the film doesn't seem like it has any problem with that. Instead, it is content to try its best to create what I believe is a new, hopefully sci-fi horror franchise like A Quiet Place, but with a water/sea theme in this case. In that sense, the role of The Last House is to establish the lore - one day, after a storm came, everyone was locked into their house, with no way of escape. One family is determined not just to keep their sanity through that, but to even thrive under these absurdly difficult conditions that are only deteriorating. 

However, that approach does involve a small twist there, which is the passage of time through the story. For some reason, the very first trailer immediately signals this, killing the surprise. Those who enter the film without this prior knowledge will likely have a somewhat more interesting time, even though I suspect it won't be a massive change when it comes to the overall experience. Like the tropes it uses, the plot progression of these kinds of films is not very divergent.  

Thanks to a good cast and well-written dialogue, which never stray into banal or ridiculous territory, The Last House is a modestly entertaining but very predictable film. I'm not sure if the success it generates allows for a full franchise. Yet, it will likely have a long shelf life for streaming viewers who want something not overly clever, but watchable.  

Film Review: Project Hail Mary (2026)

 

Light and optimistic is probably the best way to describe Project Hail Mary, but these adjectives are not the only things that describe this excellent science fiction film. Below the endless optimistic atmosphere lies a more complex story of perseverance and determination through collectivism, rather than individualism, regardless of the circumstances. The story of the film supports this approach through its character-centric take on the famous book by Andy Weir. 

In this case, Weir created a world where no one is stuck on Mars, but humanity is stuck with a dying Sun. The only shot to reverse this planetary calamity is Ryland Grade, played by Ryan Gosling, a middle school teacher who figures out that the solution might be in a distant star system. There, however, challenges await, but so does one unexpected extraterrestrial friendship.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller directed the film and somehow managed to blend their comedy background with this hard sci-fi story. But they also didn't turn it into a parody and instead blended both the drama and the humor into a truly unique output. I'm certain that Project Hail Mary became a hit due to its action and jokes, but I'm also sure that it will age really well because it, in the end, tells a tale about a journey and those who ended up alone in the endless dark, only to find each other. In a world where we’re getting more somber and dystopian stories like the one in Leave the World Behind, having a story about Rocky and Ryland is hugely refreshing.