I try not to look at other reviews too much before I write my own. But in my world, they’re hard to avoid entirely. Leave the World Behind seems to have a large share of detractors with the usual comments along the lines of “I want my two hours back” and an audience review of 35% on Rotten Tomatoes. My guess is that many people unimpressed by the movie did not read the book by Rumaan Alam. Otherwise, they would have expected a slow, subtle episodic catastrophe instead of mass destruction and zombies. More questions than answers, as opposed to a resolution with, let’s say, the remaining survivors facing a bleak, but somewhat hopeful future. And the naysayers save their most unfavorable words for the end of the movie, “totally glib,” “shameful,” “terrible,” “woeful.” I, on the other hand, had a smile on my face.
Amanda (Julia Roberts) books a family vacation to the Hamptons upon seeing an ad – “leave the world behind” – for a luxury home rental. She’s tired of the city and “hates people.” This isn’t the “America’s Sweetheart” Julia Roberts. Her husband Clay (Ethan Hawke) and their two teenage children comprise the Sandford family. Just as they’re settling in, a knock at the door changes everything. G.H Scott (Mahershala Ali) announces that he owns the home and is escaping a blackout in New York City with his 25-year-old daughter, Ruth (Myhala). Amanda isn’t buying any of it. What follows is a clash of race, class, and family dynamics, all while trapped together in an isolated home amidst the impending chaos of a world collapsing.
First, the cell service goes down. Then, an oil tanker runs aground on the shore disrupting the Sandford’s beach day. A plane plummets from the sky. A flamboyance of flamingos crashes the pool, and a huge herd of deer gathers in the backyard. Self-driving Teslas go haywire in a demolition derby. What the hell is happening? A cyberattack? An emergency alert running on television is the only word from the outside world. An off-the-grid prepper in the vicinity (Kevin Bacon) may have some information and resources.
Leave the World Behind is an ominous, tense, and thought-provoking story of an all too real potential future. The uncertainty of the situation creates a foreboding sense of detachment among the house-bound strangers. These are fine actors playing unlikeable characters. Amanda is contemptible. Ruth brings some Gen Z snark to the house (the main change from the book where G.H. is accompanied by his wife.) The men don’t know what to do, alternating from trying to save the day one moment to withdrawing from the group the next. Thirteen-year-old Rose Sandford is the exception (Farrah Mackenzie, United States of Al). She is scared, but equally entranced by the deer, annoyed by her brother’s teasing, and frustrated that she couldn’t finish the iconic comedy TV series she was watching. With New York City exploding in the distance, in goes a DVD. Out comes a pop culture ditty of the ages. Its catchy bounce will even make you forget the apocalypse for a moment.
(Leave the World Behind is streaming on Netflix with a running time of 2:21.)
D² Rating ◼◼◼☐☐
Trivia: Director Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot) also produced and directed the first season of what psychological thriller starring Julia Roberts and Janelle Monae?
Trivia Answer: Homecoming