Leave the World Behind
December 6th, 2023
MOVIE: LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND
STARRING: JULIA ROBERTS, MAHERSHALA ALI, ETHAN HAWKE, MYHA’LA, KEVIN BACON
DIRECTED BY: SAM ESMAIL
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 2 STARS (Out of 4)
There is a point in Leave the World Behind where the characters do things but the story goes nowhere. Like the color wheel when your computer freezes, or tires stuck in the mud, it hits a point where the suspense leads to nothing. That’s not to say there isn’t an intriguing concept at hand, where the world shuts down, satellites go out, the internet crashes and airplanes fall from the sky, resulting in mass panic from people. It’s a premise that is not too far from our current reality. But what writer/director Sam Esmail and an all-star cast can’t answer is what the point of it all was. It’s for that reason and more that Leave the World Behind can be forgotten instead of remembered.
It’s a new day for Amanda Sandford (Julia Roberts), the sun is shining in her New York City home, and she wakes her husband Clay (Ethan Hawke). She surprises him with an impromptu family getaway. She rents an AirBnB upstate, gets kids Rose (Farrah Mackenzie) and Archie (Charlie Evans) in the car, and hopes to escape all her cares. That is, until while at the beach a massive oil tanker washes up on the shore, the internet goes out, the TV won’t work, and then the owners of the house G.H. Scott (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la) arrive at the front door because there is a blackout in all of New York. Something is going on but what exactly these two families do not know?
Initially the premise of Leave the World Behind captures our curiosity. We live in times where mass chaos is a constant, with stock market crashes, oil shortages, war in Ukraine, and constant discourse. The style from Esmail is intriguing as well, where he gathers his characters into a mansion, splits the story into chapters, and allows the score and cinematography to build the tension, while the ugly sides of characters erupt in a time of despair. It’s also refreshing to see a superstar like Julia Roberts playing a flawed and imperfect character. Her performance is the lone highlight and sadly the only character that feels real.
Even with Esmail’s attempts, what hinders the rest is a story that can set up the premise of world collapse, with loud sounds bursting from the sky, animals acting incredibly strange, and infighting between the families. But what can’t be avoided is that it’s been done. This is Knock at the Cabin, only not as good. All of Esmail’s efforts have been done in every M. Night Shyamalan film already and share the same problems of not knowing how to end. On top of that, the underlying message isn’t a warning about believing in conspiracy theories or being a doomsday pusher, but will only fuel the fire of those she perpetrates in those circles. Leave the World Behind is catnip for QAnon.
The ultimate problem with Leave the World Behind is that a story of this magnitude is believable, to a point, and still succumbs to feeling contrived. Outside of Roberts, supporting characters do a lot of standing around, or are misused to their abilities. Ali’s character witnesses a massive airplane explode mere feet away and forgets it happens soon after. Hawke stands around as a concerned parent but has zero impact on anything. In theory, Leave the World Behind could be a better film. It just lacks the courage to go even further than its premise or give an answer we can think deeply about. I say leave this one far behind.
LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND IS PLAYING IN SELECT THEATERS AND ARRIVES ON NETFLIX THIS FRIDAY DECEMBER 8TH, 2023.
2 STARS
Written by: Leo Brady
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