Netflix's new film, 'The Last House,' centers on a family isolated in their home during an unexplained apocalyptic event. The narrative follows their struggle for survival against external monstrous threats while contending with internal psychological strain and the erosion of their former lives. This setup shares conceptual similarities with a range of popular films within the survival thriller genre.
One prominent example is "A Quiet Place," directed by John Krasinski. This film features a family navigating an alien invasion characterized by creatures highly sensitive to sound. Survival hinges on extreme quietude, with family members forced to communicate through sign language and minimize any noise that could attract the deadly extraterrestrials. The tension is heightened by everyday activities, such as childbirth, being performed in near silence.
Similarly, "Bird Box" presents a world where direct visual contact with an unknown entity induces immediate madness and suicide. The protagonists, including Sandra Bullock, must navigate this dangerous world with their eyes covered, relying on other senses to survive. The film's premise involves people isolating themselves and covering windows to avoid the visually triggered psychological breakdown.
"Leave the World Behind," also available on Netflix, explores a different kind of apocalyptic scenario. In this film, two families are confined to a vacation home during a mysterious global event. The focus shifts to interpersonal distrust and the psychological toll of uncertainty, with elements of bickering and suspicion mirroring the familial anxieties seen in 'The Last House.' The movie also includes a subtle nod to the DVD of 'Air Force One' being a remnant of normalcy, a detail also present in 'The Last House.'
"10 Cloverfield Lane" presents a contained thriller where a woman wakes up in a survivalist's bunker after a car accident. The bunker's occupant claims the outside air is poisoned and that an unspecified threat, possibly alien, has rendered the world uninhabitable. The film plays on the ambiguity of whether the threat is external or the captor himself.
Stephen King's "The Mist" depicts a group of townsfolk trapped in a supermarket during a mysterious fog that conceals deadly creatures. The narrative explores human reactions to extreme fear and isolation, including the descent into religious fanaticism by some characters.
M. Night Shyamalan's "Signs" features a family grappling with ambiguous omens, such as crop circles, which they interpret as signs of an alien invasion. The film, set in a rural environment, builds suspense around the unknown nature of the threat and the family's attempts to protect themselves.
"The Silence" (2019), another Netflix release, involves a world overrun by sound-sensitive flying dinosaurs. Like "A Quiet Place," survival necessitates extreme quiet. The film also highlights the common apocalyptic trope of dwindling essential supplies, such as antibiotics, requiring perilous journeys.
The surge in these types of films has been noted, with some sources drawing parallels to real-world events like the COVID-19 lockdowns, which also inspired narratives of isolation and societal disruption in films such as "In the Earth," "Locked Down," and "Songbird."