By Francesca Halliwell
LONDON, Aug 5 (Reuters) – Greta Lee and Wagner Moura channel their inner survivalists to play a married couple trapped inside their home in “The Last House”, Netflix’s new psychological thriller.
Speaking to Reuters, “Past Lives” actress Lee said portraying her character’s emotional breakdown, and how it affects the bonds between spouses, parents and children, was among the biggest challenges she encountered during filming.
“We were lucky enough to work with an actual survivalist,” she said. “It’s incredibly inspiring to understand the real physiology of what happens to you.”
Directed by “Now You See Me” and “Fast X” filmmaker Louis Leterrier, the movie follows a family of four suddenly trapped inside their house with no way out. They must work together as supplies dwindle and a mysterious external threat keeps them confined.
The production was shot entirely inside a single house that deteriorates over time, mirroring the characters’ unravelling. “The Secret Agent” star Moura called the set an engineering feat: “For the second part of the film, the way they managed to transform the house into sort of like an aquarium… I had never seen anything like that before.”
Leterrier, who said he has worked on movies with budgets costing $400 million, admitted this was the most difficult film of his career. “I’ve done movies where literally I was jumping from a plane to another plane,” he said. “(The Last House) was so, so difficult for everyone involved.”
Beyond the suspense, Leterrier said he wanted audiences to reflect on themes of consumerism and greed: “I like that people will be experiencing this movie at home…and then looking at their fridge…at their family, and be like, how long would we survive if this happened now?” He added that he and screenwriter Matthew Robinson drew on lessons from lockdown about how to “survive mentally, emotionally, and grow with your family.”
Asked how he would fare if he were trapped at home, Moura joked, “That would be a disaster, really — I cannot fix anything.” Lee seemed to agree, quipping that the “Narcos” star would be best off sticking to his day job.
“The Last House” will be released on Netflix on Friday (August 7).
(Reporting by Francesca Halliwell; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
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