Hey there Crowned Scientists! I hope you all are having a great weekend!

I got a chance to check out The Last House on Netflix and it didn’t disappoint. As this blogs grows, you’ll start to see my adoration for sci-fi and post apocalyptic genres. Spoiler Alert so come back after you’ve watched it before you read on….. Kraken or leviathan beings from ancient folklore have the ability to manipulate rain, which is used to trap humans indoors. The rain acts as an impenetrable wall locking all points of entry (doors/windows). Just when you think the film is just some alien home invasion thriller, you are taken beyond the rain and the big scary shadowy figures to a much deeper, quieter narrative. One that appears to delve into anthropause (e.g., 2020 lockdowns anyone) due to human retreat and nature’s swift capacity to regenerate urbanized areas with a sliver of rising sea levels. It seems as if these ancient beings are just reclaiming the spaces that have been used and at times polluted and/or overused by humans. Once human activity stops, the artificial “islands” we’ve created become overrun by nature.

The Myth of Natural Harmony

The dad views the ecosystem just like many others, through a lens of total human control. We own the resources, we own the rights, we have the final say. Humans ensure that asphalt and concrete for corridors are laid for commercial and residential real estate. Many time forests are divided leaving fragmented habitats within isolated islands of green. This creates a disharmonious connection where ecosystems suffer from not being able to regulate themselves.

Human Absence Drove Positive Change

It is a crazy but true paradox…when humans are removed from an area, the undisturbed status tends to trigger ecological restoration in 3 ways:

1. With the absence of road traffic, air traffic, continuous noises, and physical barriers, animal species can freely migrate, hunt, and reproduce, thus, helping to stitch fragmented landscapes back together.
2. Top predators and important aquatic species return to help stabilize prey populations and allow native vegetation to thrive.
3. The disappearance of manicured lawns leaves plant life to overtake asphalt and concrete, homes, buildings, etc; accelerating the natural process of secondary succession.

Coexistence Over Domination

The daughter sees nature and humanity as one, a place where we can live in this world together. Her innocent views never fade, even as the story jumps ahead by five years. Eventually, we see the family (especially the dad) come to understand her perspective as they make plans for an escape. By showing love and respect for nature and its beautiful creatures, they find the strength to leave the confines of their home (which is sinking from foundational issues) and venture out into a new world. It is a world where much of humanity did not survive, but where the environment appears to have healed. At the very end, we are shown a world that has vastly changed due to sea level rises from prolonged periods of rain.

While this movie goes to the extreme in presenting a humanless world that naturally heals, ecological balance doesn’t actually require us to vanish. Maybe our current mindsets around ownership are the main barrier between us and the living world around us. The Last House reminds us that nature does not need our “management” to thrive, but that good stewardship can be more supportive of a healthy ecosystem, even within the fragmented landscapes we inhabit.

As Always, Stay Curious