Leave The World Behind, a thriller/drama film directed by Sam Esmail, is a film based on the fiction novel, Leave The World Behind by Rumaan Alam. Starring Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, and Mahershala Ali, this movie leaves the audience thinking about the apocalypse. With some of the producers including the Obamas, it makes the possibility of this situation even more real.
Originally released in select theaters on November 2nd, 2023, the film made its Netflix debut on December 8th, 2023. It currently holds the spot of #1 in the top ten movies in the U.S. today on Netflix. The story follows Brooklyn couple Amanda (Roberts) and Clay (Hawke) Sandford, as they take a Long Island vacation with their teenage children, Rose (Farrah Mackenzie) and Archie (Charlie Evans). The trip is interrupted by two strangers, claiming to be the owner of the house the Sandfords are renting, bearing news of a blackout. The two families are grappling with trying to figure out what is happening, all while being distrustful of each other, as a mysterious attack takes over.
Please be aware that this film is rated R and contains the following mature themes: profanity, alcohol, violence, gore, and innuendos. It is recommended for seniors 18+, or those whose parents allow them to view R-rated movies. This article will contain spoilers so proceed with caution!
The film starts slow and suspenseful with Amanda packing up for a weekend getaway with her family. Claiming that she hates people, and her husband works too much, she believes this trip will be perfect for her family. She is correct at first, as the trip seems to be exactly what they need. Her children are happy in the pool, their rental home is beautiful, and things are peaceful. Unfortunately, the trip takes a turn when an oil tanker crashes into the shore of the beach the family visits, closely missing them and many others. The shaken-up family finds the occurrence to be odd, and they return home.
I was hooked by the beginning of the movie. The music choices assist the suspenseful and eerie feeling we are supposed to feel as the Sandfords begin their trip. Though it was extremely slow in the build-up, I was intrigued and wanted to figure out what was happening. One thing I enjoyed was the camerawork. There were many scenes with full camera rotations, or when the film would pan out and become vertical. It contributed to the spiral of emotions we are supposed to feel as little bits and pieces of what is happening come to light.
That night, a mysterious pair of people knock on the door of the Sandford’s rental home and claim to be the owners of the house, G.H. Scott (Ali) and his adult daughter, Ruth (Myha’la Herrold). They bear the news of a city-wide blackout and ask if they can spend the night because they cannot make it home in the dark, as the Sandfords seem to still have power. A distrustful Amanda reluctantly lets them in when her husband insists. After making G.H. prove that he owns the house, they all try to figure out what’s happening in the city because they still have power in Long Island. Until an emergency alert goes off and declares a national emergency, the Sandfords lose power and the real mystery begins.
As the second day of the blackout goes on, peculiar things happen to the Sandfords, G.H., and Ruth. As Clay goes into town to see if anyone else knows about what is occurring, a large drone closely follows his car, and drops thousands of little papers that read, “Death to America.” As this is going on, a terrible screeching sound fills the air and makes everyone at the house drop to their knees. This sound reappears a few times in the film, and we dont know what it is until the Sandford son, Archie, wakes up and his teeth start to fall out due to extreme radiation.
What I liked in this movie was that everything that’s happening is possible in real life. The extreme dependency that we have on technology can be, and may eventually become dangerous. There is one point in the movie where the Sandfords try to escape back to the city, though there is a roadblock of crashed and abandoned cars, and they are all Teslas. After Amanda checks out the scene, she finds out that all the cars are new off of the lot. These were self-driving cars that had been affected by the attack, and they were driving rampant. Their daughter, Rose, is an extreme ipad-kid. Obsessed with the show Friends, she was starting the series finale when the blackout happened. She spends the entire time focusing on getting any type of streaming device to work and seems unconcerned with the events going on around her.
There is one character in the movie who is G.H.’s contractor, Danny (Kevin Bacon). He is a hardcore survivalist. Briefly seen by Amanda at the beginning of the movie, stocking up on water and canned goods, the men of the group decide to visit him, in hopes that he has medicine to help Archie. As the men conspire, they find out that there is a cyber security attack going on, to break down America from the inside. Cut off from everyone (the blackout), people will turn on each other, and a war will start. Launched by all the enemy countries of the United States, they have hacked into the government systems and crashed everything. Synchronized chaos will cause America to end itself. Danny then tells the group that his buddy installed a bunker in the house neighboring the Sandfords, and they need to get there to be safe.
One thing that all apocalyptic stories contain are animal instincts. The film constantly shows us ominous deer, as they stare like they know something we dont. Flamingoes can also be found in the pool at one point in the movie. Especially after the national emergency alert and there is no power, the animals in the film symbolize their new connection to the natural world as all technology is gone. I believe that this connection is important because it makes viewers realize that many could never survive in a “natural” world if any crisis happened.
Overall, I think the storyline was great. If the writers focused on more than making it suspenseful, and dove deep into the story following the novel, it would be beneficial. If we had more background of the initial plot, the story would’ve flown more smoothly. After viewing the film, I researched the book and there were a lot of key points included in the novel that would make the movie better. In my opinion, the film’s ending was weak. They went over what happened to the world so quickly, and I was just not satisfied with how it ended. I felt confused and like something was missing, even though they did include basic vital information. The movie did start strong, and I thought it was a cool concept.
Leave The World Behind is currently only streaming on Netflix. I think it’s a good watch nonetheless and you should check it out at least once. Films that make you think harder about our world are fundamental. My favorite movies are more thought-provoking ones, and it’s really interesting when these movies implement things we should seriously contemplate.
