Leave the World Behind
Director: Sam Esmail
Screenwriter: Sam Esmail
Based on: Leave the World Behind, by Rumaan Alam
Cinematographer: Tod Campbell
Production Companies: Esmail Corp, Red Om Films, Higher Ground Productions
Distributor: Netflix
Release Date: 22 November 2023
Runtime: 2 hours 20 minutes
MPA Rating: R
Availability: Netflix
Synopsis
The survival of two families depends on whether they can get along with one another in Leave the World Behind. In an attempt to “get away from it all”, ad executive Amanda Sandford (Julia Roberts) decides to book a weekend stay at a house in a New York hamlet for her, her college professor husband Clay (Ethan Hawke), and their daughter (Farrah Mackenzie) and son (Charlie Evans). However, strange electronic malfunctions (including the unintended beaching of an oil tanker) start to happen. And on the first night of their stay, the Sandfords are greeted by the self-identified owner of the house, G.H. Scott (Mahershala Ali), and his supposed daughter, Ruth (Myha’la), who are requesting to stay at their residence due to a blackout that occurred in the city. Despite the apparent lack of trust between the two families – did I mention the Sandfords are white and the Scotts are black? – they agree to share the house for the time being, but they must soon come to trust and depend on each other as what starts off as a series of electronic disruptions evolves into a large-scale campaign of chaos.
Analysis
The movie is great at putting its audience into a perpetual state of unease. The film maintains an atmosphere of suspense through the combination of camerawork, color palette, and score. Scenes shot at odd angles and scenes captured in dizzying fashion are some of the many ways the movie tries to disorient you visually. The film’s milky-blue hue makes everything feel surreal and dreamlike. And the unnerving score will make you more anxious as it leads you to constantly think that something bad is about to happen. The movie puts its suspenseful atmosphere to good use by having you, like the film’s protagonists, questioning everything. You therefore watch the movie with as much confusion and paranoia as the characters on screen.
[***SPOILER WARNING: I can’t see any way of talking about the remaining aspects of this movie without discussing major plot details. If you don’t want to be spoiled, make sure to skip ahead to my conclusion.***]
If it’s the movie’s atmosphere that makes everything feel off, the character interactions make everything feel real. There are numerous character pairings throughout the film that help paint a picture of how regular people would react to the conflict the movie presents. Three relationships that stood out to me in particular – all involving Amanda (Julia Roberts) – were Amanda’s marriage with Clay, Amanda’s relationship with Ruth, and Amanda’s relationship with G.H.. Amanda’s marriage with Clay feels authentic in how strained it is, given the contrast between Clay’s aloof nature and Amanda’s more analytical and skeptical mind. Her interactions with Ruth are deliciously hostile because of the generational and racial divide between the two, exacerbated by each person’s passive aggressiveness and perceived “understanding” of the other’s malicious intent. Last but not least is Amanda’s relationship with G.H., which stands out because of how much tension (both racial and intellectual in nature), shared understanding, and possible romantic chemistry there is between the two of them. Not only are all of these relationships well-defined, but they also evolve in a convincing and encouraging way. As a result, these relationships and the remaining character interactions make the film resonate more personally with the audience: they make the movie act as a mirror to both ourselves and the social divisions that we’re dealing with in this country.
And staying true to its name, the movie demonstrates the danger of leaving the world behind. We begin with a cast of characters who demonstrate a weak attachment to the real world – all with the exception of G.H. and maybe Clay. These characters, along with the rest of the country, are then subjected to a 3-stage attack to cause societal collapse: enforced isolation, synchronized chaos, and a self-induced civil war. And as is later revealed, such an attack would be most effective in a country where there already was much division (i.e., such as one where everyone has decided to leave the world behind). However, it’s through coming together that the two families are able to survive. Being forced to live under the same roof shields the families from isolation, the mutual sharing of ideas and information serves as a strong antidote for misinformation, and the breaking down of barriers and embracement of empathy prevents the families from turning their backs on one another during the chaotic third act. Still, the final scene in my eyes serves as a warning for how we may be slow and hesitant to act during a time of such crisis if we decided to completely leave everything behind. I ended up appreciating what I perceived to be the movie’s message of “Don’t Leave the World Behind” because of how it very clearly ties to the issues we’re currently dealing with in the US, and because it paints a tangible and uplifting picture of how we may survive during a time of such crisis.
That being said, the movie unintentionally dilutes its message in two key ways. First, while you may not have a complete picture of what’s happening until the finale, the movie gives you enough hints such that you have a general idea of what’s happening going into the third act. Second, while I liked the movie’s message of “Don’t Leave the World Behind”, the message felt a bit hollow when other key drivers behind a lack of unity (e.g., wealth inequality) went unaddressed – though to be fair, such addressing might have resulted in a product that was less a movie and more an essay. The movie’s supposed solution therefore felt a bit more quaint than practical. So by the time the credits rolled, the movie’s impact on me felt somewhat muted. ( I would also accuse the movie of cheating a bit by employing suspense in such a way that you start thinking that everything is a sign of something, but since that’s also the positions the characters of the film are in I guess this is again proof that the movie does suspense well.)
Conclusion
To conclude, Leave the World Behind is a suspenseful and well-performed plea to get Americans to, well, not leave the world behind. While steps certainly could’ve been taken to make the central message resonate more, it still serves as a sound starting block for the important conversations we need to start having in this country – even though the importance of such conversations is nothing new. Mark this film as one of the few Netflix movies that’s actually worth watching!