When Andy Burns asked me to watch Leave the World Behind, he insisted that I do so without doing any prepping. “Just watch!” And watch I did…and…I will never be the same.
Leave The World Behind
The film, which is based on Rumaan Alam’s novel, is an apocalyptic thriller. The funny part is that you don’t realize just how frightening this film is until towards the very end. Leave The World Behind was written, produced and directed by Sam Esmail, and stars Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha’la, Kevin Bacon, Farrah Mackenzie, and Charlie Evans. The story begins with Amanda Sanford (Julia Roberts) dragging her family on an unplanned vacation.
Amanda is not a people person, but her professor husband, Clay (Ethan Hawke) makes up for any civility his wife lacks. Their teenage son, Archie (Charlie Evans) and pre-teen daughter, Rose (Farrah Mackenzie) are tech-obsessed and bored before even arriving at the rented home in the woods. Rose is especially stressed out because her tablet stopped working and she is unable to watch the final season of Friends. At the rental, they have no cell service, but no worries, they head over to the nearby beach to enjoy the sun and surf. Nothing seems out of place until a huge oil tanker runs ashore. Frightened, they rush home and realize that their tv and wi-fi is not operable. Rose notices a large herd of deer gathered on the edge of the property, but no one seems to pay attention to her observation.
At this point in the film, I’m getting Knock At The Cabin vibes, and sure enough…late at night there is a knock on the door. The owner of the house, George H. Scott (Mahershala Ali) and his college aged daughter, Ruth (Myha’la), arrive with a story about New York being in total blackout. Amanda doesn’t trust them, but Clay allows them to stay and that is when this film takes us head on into a nightmare.
Conclusion with Spoilers
Leave the World Behind is a character study on humanity and how we deal with a technological apocalypse that is not only possible but has already happened in real life. Have we already forgotten about the Russian cyberattack on the United States power grid and nuclear power plants in May of 2018?
Amanda and Clay are good people and so are George and Ruth. They are isolated from the rest of the world because there is no cell service, wi-fi, or GPS…nothing to tell them what is happening. George’s neighbor, Danny (Kevin Bacon) has a pretty good idea. He has been preparing all his life for the “shit to hit the fan.” When you hear his explanation of what is happening, your stomach is going to drop…just like mine did. You will never think of the apocalypse in the same way, again. Zombies would be a walk in the park compared to what really can happen.
Did you know that Michelle and Barack Obama were executive producers of this film. Here is a video with director Sam Esmail talking about the film.
