Credit: Netflix

For most of The Last House, we are basically in the exact same boat as the Delgado family, which, let’s be honest, is not a particularly lovely boat to be in. We know next to nothing and are stuck in the same claustrophobic space as they are. On top of that, the movie looks like it’s in no rush to explain what is happening outside.

By the time the family finally manages to get out, we have at least been thrown a few bones. Some of the bigger questions are answered, sort of. We know the creatures clearly aren’t the straightforward, bog-standard monsters they first seemed to be. Then you get that final “Hello” crackling over the radio, confirming that there are other survivors out there after all.

And fair enough, that does give us a bit of closure. But does it wrap everything up with a lovely little bow? Nope. There are still loads of details left hanging in the air. For starters, the film never tells us what these creatures actually are. Where have they come from? What do they want? And how in God’s name are they able to seal people inside their own homes? The film gives us just enough to get our hopes up, then leaves us hanging. Cheers for that!

The Last House would rather keep you guessing than spoon-feed you every answer, and for the most part, it works well. Even so, a few mysteries are simply too juicy to ignore. Here are five of the biggest.

Five mysterious things The Last House never explains:

1. How does the barrier around the house actually work?

Starting with the most basic and most important one: what exactly is keeping them inside? The barrier basically runs the whole film, and yet we still haven’t got a clue how it actually works. The Delgados can’t open the doors or windows, and smashing them does bugger all because the house just seals itself back up, and… that’s sort of it. We assume the creatures are doing it, obviously, but how? Is there some membrane around the house? A force field? Something else entirely? Not a clue.

Is it some sort of physical membrane around the house, or something closer to a force field? And it gets a bit dodgy once the family starts finding ways around it. This thing can keep an entire neighbourhood trapped for years, but apparently, it has got these very specific rules. You’d think The Last House might give us something to go on. Instead, it more or less just hands us over the barrier, and off we go.

2. Why do the creatures wait so long before coming inside?

Five years. Five bloody years. The creatures know humans are inside these houses. We know they can mess with the seals. And yet for years, the Delgados are basically just staring at them through the glass while the creatures go about their business outside. Then, suddenly, things change, and the question is why? Is it because the creatures realise this family has managed to survive much longer than expected and have become curious all of a sudden?

Or, and this is the less cheerful option, maybe they realise some humans are still alive and come back to deal with it. And those are two very different things, aren’t they? One makes the creatures seem almost curious about the Delgados. The other makes it sound like they have come back to finish the job. Naturally, it’s up to us to decide.

3. Why imprison humanity in the first place?

So, eventually, we realise the creatures in The Last House aren’t just your usual monsters ready to ruin everyone’s day. They are from Earth too, and humanity has apparently done a pretty decent job of making a complete dog’s dinner of the environment. So you can understand why they hate us. But then we get to their master plan: lock everyone inside their houses for years. Er… Why?

If they wanted the surface back, surely there were easier ways of going about it. And if the idea was to kill humanity, this is a ridiculously longer way of doing it. Then the film muddies the waters even more because the creatures can show curiosity, even mercy. So what were the houses meant to be? Prisons? Quarantine? We can go round and round on that one until hell freezes over, because the film certainly isn’t telling us.

4. Why doesn’t the chimney seal itself?

Right. The chimney. How can we forget this one? Jason works out that making new holes in the house is pointless because they just seal themselves up again. Then the chimney cap breaks, and suddenly there is a gap to the outside. Not enough to crawl through, obviously, but enough to start catching animals.

And why doesn’t that seal? God knows. Maybe the barrier only bothers with doors and windows. Bit picky, but all right. Maybe the creatures reckon such a tiny opening isn’t worth worrying about. The problem is that the chimney ends up being a huge reason the family survives for five years. So you can sort of roll with it in the moment, but afterwards? Yeah. You do sit there wondering, why did that work?

5. How much of humanity is actually left?

Then we get that voice on the radio, and that’s where the whole picture changes. Someone answers Ruth. Brilliant! We are not all dead. Lovely. Except… That’s literally all we know. One person saying “Hello” doesn’t mean civilisation is up and running somewhere with people happily shopping in supermarkets. It could mean there are communities out there. Or it could mean a bunch of survivors are clinging on by the skin of their teeth.

What happened to the cities? Governments? Everyone outside the neighbourhood? No idea. However, that’s also kind of the point. The Delgados can finally go and find out what’s left. We, unfortunately, cannot. That “Hello” could be coming from a safe community, or it could also be one person in a house three blocks away. Who knows?