Spoilers ahead for Netflix's The Last House.
Horror fans with a Netflix subscription have been looking forward to the upcoming horror movie The Last House, and now it's finally streaming. Directed by Louis Leterrier (Now You See Me, Fast X), the movie follows a family as they're mysteriously trapped inside their home for years to come. That includes the Delgados' aging dog Cassidy, who unfortunately doesn't survive their time in captivity. And I asked the cast if they were prepared to hear from fans who were angry about Cass' fate.
There are plenty of cinephiles who avoid movies were dogs die. In fact, there's an entire website called DoesTheDogDie.Com, which folks can use to check before watching dog-centric projects. As you can see above, I had the chance to speak with The Last House's Wagner Moura and Greta Lee about Cassidy getting sick and dying. The latter actress is ready to hear from heartbroken fans, as she told me:
I'm prepared for anything. As a dog lover myself, I understand. I mean, those scenes were so hard to shoot. I mean, those tears. Although I have to just emphasize, and hopefully this will help, that there is a tremendous amount of movie making magic in all of this. Because maybe it's helpful to know that the actual dog, there were days when maybe she wasn't feeling it and didn't wanna play dead during very dramatic, important moments where it was crucial for her to play dead and you do the trick.
Honestly, these comments from the Morning Show star are comforting. We know that movies aren't real, but seeing Cassidy get sick without his medication and eventually be put down had me in tears when watching the new Netflix movie. So hearing that the dog actor was not only healthy but sometimes uncooperative is super heartening.
Greta Lee went on to speak more about Cassidy's death scene, and the juxtaposition between the emotions she brought as Riley and the real-life dog's behavior. She went on to say:
And I remember distinctly how absurdly funny it was for us to, like, be crying because the dog had died, but having to sort of, like, hold the dog down a little bit while it's trying to lick us and, like, play and paw. I mean, it's just, like, what a relief though. It's like, 'Okay, yeah, you're alive. You're fine. This is, we're good. We're good. This isn’t real.'
As I told Lee, anyone who has ever had a sick dog is likely going to be triggered by Cassidy's story, and watching the pooch get sick after running out of medication while trapped inside with the rest of the Delgados. Lee joking repeated my warning to "buckle up," although her stories about filming that sequence on set help to put things in perspective.
I also spoke to Wagner Maura about my emotional response to Cassidy's death in The Last House. He responded with:
You know, that I read somewhere that that dogs, animals, especially dogs suffering in films are the things that people, like, really, it moves people more than human beings suffering. And I personally have a dog, and I just love my dog. And that dog was adorable. It was a, it was a great dog. But he's alive as well. He's here in England.
Points were made. As a horror fan I've watched countless humans be maimed and killed on the big screen over the years. But seeing a sick dog eventually be put down put me through the emotional ringer. And I have to assume folks are going to sound off online once more eyes get on the new Netflix movie.
The Last House is streaming now on Netflix as part of the 2026 movie release list. Hopefully dog lovers who stream it have tissues ready.
