Leave the World Behind (2023)

Streaming on Netflix Now

★★★★ (out of 5)

A Netflix movie making the pro-physical media argument is the best thing I think I’ve ever seen. Led to one of the best endings ever (exaggeration, yes, but I loved the unintended irony). It’s simply the story of a young girl who just wants to watch Friends, and when streaming fails, she must turn to DVD.

Anyways, minor details aside, Leave the World Behind is a slow-burn psychological thriller that sustains the tension through the entire runtime. I love this kind of tension—the perpetual feeling of impending doom. It takes M. Night Shyamalan’s film from earlier this year, Knock at the Cabin, and one-ups it in almost every way! (It’s strange how similar the films are.)

It's nice to have an apocalypse thriller that's actually engaging. I haven't read the original book, but I really like what the movie version presents here. It imagines a highly plausible end-of-the-world scenario while dealing with intriguing human dynamics, and a star-studded ensemble is the cherry on top. The whole premise of showing a disaster from a small group of people's perspective is not the newest cinematic trick, but it works here, much thanks to its strong textual source. The setting of two families cooped up together is a nice twist to the conventional, and it balances out the apocalyptic fear, paranoia, distrust, and other interpersonal tensions rather well. Basically, we get introduced to a series of archetypes in the first thirty minutes and watch how they react as more and more pressure is applied; it's fascinating. The actual mystery at the heart of the plot doesn't really matter, what matters is what it does to us — all world events can only be interpreted through how they affect human behaviour, and that's what this movie is illustrating and exploring.

Formally, it’s excellent. Literally every shot is fantastic and the camera is incredibly fluid. The camera work is stylish with some Fincher-esque impossible camera movements. What's impressive is director Sam Esmail's obsession with putting his shots in various angles to bring out the dread, but overall the style can get distracting at times. There’s also an interior car shot with excellent sound design that perfectly symbolizes the film’s major theme of how technology and modern conveniences have created a separation from each other. 

The all-star cast is fantastic, and Esmail mixes the pairings of cast members on screen throughout so we get different character dynamics in almost every scene.  Myha’la and Julia Roberts particularly were one of the most fun scene pairings, and Ethan Hawke and Mahershala Ali were fantastic as well!

Leave the World Behind may not be for everyone. It’s not a typical apocalyptic thriller, but I immensely enjoyed the production, the outstanding performances, and the questions it asks about our relationships with each other. 

I’m still wrestling with how it all ends. I still think it’s one of the best directed things I’ve seen all year but it’s just so abrupt in a way. I do find the way it builds to this point to be kind of beautiful. I’m just left wondering why. Makes for an interesting rewatch!

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Premise: A family's getaway to a luxurious rental home takes an ominous turn when a cyberattack knocks out their devices, and two strangers appear at their door.

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Netflix

Written for the Screen & Directed by Sam Esmail

Based on the novel by Rumaan Alam

Cast: Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Mahershala Ali, Myha’la, Farrah Mackenzie, Charlie Evans, Kevin Bacon

Runtime: 2hr 18min

Rating: 14A

Drama, Thriller

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IMDb Rating: 6.7/10

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 75%

RT Audience Score: 47%

RT Critic Average: 6.6/10

RT Audience Average: 2.8/5

Metacritic Score: 71

Letterboxd: 3.4/5

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Fun Fact: This is Sam Esmail and Julia Roberts' third collaboration after Gaslit (2022) and season one of Homecoming (2018).

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