Breaking Down the Hopeful Ending of ‘The Last House’

This leads to another surprise. The creature appears to be speaking to the others, and suddenly, the rain stops. The house finally collapses (the foundation has been sinking since before the rain began) and the creatures jump into the hole left by the house, never to be seen again. The Delgado’s get a boat just like Jason used to have before he had family, name it after their beloved family dog, Cassidy, who passed during the lockdown, and sail away into the unknown, perhaps hoping to connect with other survivors as they send a radio message out into the world. “Day 1” appears on the screen, signalling a new chance; a new life, for the Delgado family. Someone responds to their message: we hear a “Hello?” and the film cuts to black.

Why did the creatures decide to leave? While Robinson prefers to leave things open to interpretation, he has some ideas.

“By the Delgados granting them peace and understanding, I think they wanted to reciprocate that,” he says. “It’s two afraid species thinking the other one is out to destroy them, and in a moment of empathy, they realize they aren’t that different. They can’t understand each other, but they’ve seen how hard each other has struggled to survive. They’re going to give them their lives back, in hopes that they’ll do the same for them. Maybe we do deserve a life on this planet. But the family doesn’t know that—maybe as soon as the credits roll, they wipe them out on the boat.”