A movie like Leave the World Behind suffers the same fate that Bird Box had that it had a great set up to a final act that feels like someone trying to rush everything. It’s like they filmed the movie in chronological order and ran out of money with 75-80 percent filmed and just decided to have a lot of nothing to happen with the actors mostly talking.
Of course, they usually don’t film movies in chronological order. And Sam Esmail, who directs and wrote the screenplay, isn’t some young up-and-comer with his first big project. He’s been working in Hollywood for years so why does this movie with its impressive cast feel like it just ran out of gas with the plot of the movie. Based on the novel of the same name by Rumaan Alam, it comes nearly three years after the winter storm of 2021 that left many people in Texas without power for about a week or so, maybe longer. The novel was also published in October of 2000 during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic. Timing is everything.
You need only to look at what’s happened with the Texas power grid these last few years to see that Leave the World Behind has a lot of topical elements to it. If you look at movies like 10 Cloverfield Lane, Bird Box or A Quiet Place, the world falls apart as people scramble around trying to make sense wondering if what’s happening and how they’ll survive. It seems that something that is on everyone’s mind as we get too used to technology, but this has been going on for years, decades.
Triangle of Sadness looked at how being on a supposed deserted island can make the “hunters and gatherers” more important, thus more powerful. But how prepared are Doomsday Preppers? What we saw when the Texas grid failed three years ago, they weren’t really too prepared because it can happen at anytime. But the forecast told people the fit was going to hit the shan and some weren’t prepared. What happens if you’re at work, out shopping halfway across town, or on vacation?
The Sandfords of Leave the World Behind are out on vacation when the world falls apart. And it happens so quick but no one really knows how bad it is until it’s too late. Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke play Amanda and Clay Sandford, your typical upper-class white family from New York City. When the movie starts, Amanda has decided to schedule an impromptu weekend getaway on the beach. It’s obvious from the start, Amanda is the one who decides a lot of things. Clay is more passive. Roberts plays up the role beautifully with just a look that says, “Don’t mess with me” or a tone that where people know to watch what they say. She’s probably one of these middle-aged white wives/moms who sets up elaborate DIY projects that her husband and kids mostly do as she supervises. She’s not really a bad person, but one of these people constantly looking for the next thing to make her happy only to realize it hasn’t worked.
Without much question, they hit the road with their kids, Rose (Tarrah MacKenzie), who is addicted to watching Friends, and Archie (Charles Evan), who’s basically your average Gen Z teenage boy. The house is great even though the nice alcohol isn’t for them. They hit the beach where Amanda comments that she’s glad it’s not crowded. She’s a misanthrope and doesn’t trust many people. This is to show she’s not really different than Danny (Kevin Bacon), a local contractor she recognizes earlier stockpiling bottled water at the local supermarket.
Soon, their day at the beach goes bad when an oil tanker runs ashore. I like how Amanda and Clay first express doubt before rushing like everyone else to safety. We usually like to think something won’t happen right before it actually does. They return back to the house but the Wi-Fi isn’t working and the satellite TV is out. Amanda says the kids aren’t phased as much as they are swimming in the pool. It’s either that kids don’t worry about major problems when their that age or this is a generation that’s lived practicing for active shooter drills and watch the Jan. 6 incidents unfold. What’s still surprising to Gen Xers is just another day to Gen Zers.
Later that night, there is a knock at the door. It’s G.H. Scott (Mahersahala Ali) and his daughter, Ruth (Myha’la). He says he’s the owner of the house but since he didn’t contact with Amanda directing by telephone, she’s cautious. As she should be. We live in a world where we teach people to be worried about someone knocking on their door late at night. It takes some convincing. Amanda is still skeptical even though G.H. and Ruth are dressed nice but Clay is more cordial inviting them in.
There’s a blackout in NYC where his condo is on the 14th floor. He can’t walk up the steps on account of bad knees. They want to stay the night and he offers to refund them half the lodging rate of $1,000, money taken from a safe hidden to prove it’s their house. Ruth, like most young college-age people, can’t believe it’s open to discussion. The house is theirs. What’s to discuss? But there’s no pictures on the walls. It’s obvious this is just a weekend/vacation getaway they rent out for extra income so why decorate it with photos.
Things go from bad to worse the next day when Amanda thinks she sees news notifications on her phone of a cyber hack. But when she shows it to Clay, he doesn’t see it as they’re gone in the few seconds as she wakes him up and shows him. This could have been a wonderful send-up. Is there something wrong with Amanda mentally? Are G.H. and Ruth really father and daughter and is it their property?
Unfortunately, Esmail doesn’t know how to handle this as well as there’s obviously tension. Yet because so much is isolated to the house and property, it can be bogged down. Also, this area of New Jersey seems mostly empty and unoccupied so there’s not many people they can turn to. When G.H. goes to check on a neighbor, he discovers something. Clay takes a drive to find someone but only finds a frantic woman who only speaks Spanish and he leaves her on the side of the road.
It harkens back to the classic Twilight Zone episode “The Monster Are Due on Maple Street” where a blackout has people of a neighborhood turning against each other. But whereas that episode was a half hour long, this is well over two hours and boring at time. It’s funny that Amanda doesn’t like being around people that she and her family find themselves trying to track down people. But since we never fully do find out what is really happening, the movie feels unfinished. Some people didn’t like the ending but 10 Cloverfield Lane actually pointed signs to what is really happening.
Maybe it’s the fact that The Walking Dead and its spinoffs have killed this format. When Clay and G.H. go to get help from Danny, he basically pulls the “Get off my lawn!” schtick complete with a shotgun. Mainly it just seems to set up some tense action scenes that actually make no sense when you think about. Was there a Tesla dealership nearby and why would they all go to one location to crash on the road? What’s going on with the deer?
This is only Esmail’s third movie as a director. He’s mostly made his mark in TV and sometimes, you have time to stretch a plot like out over several episodes. But this feels like it made for TV, which is probably why it’s on Netflix and fits the same aesthetic of smaller casts, lost of interior scenes and exterior scenes that are secluded. There was a lot of talk of this movie when it premiered came out in late November. But now, it’s died off.
It’s not a bad movie, it’s just not too good of a movie. I really like Roberts’ role and feel that a lot of people deep down would really act like her, as she errs on caution. Clay isn’t given much to do which makes Hawke the perfect casting choice as I’ve never thought of him as a good actor. Bacon seems to lift Danny up beyond the Q’Anon MAGA trope before reverting back to the stereotype. Ali is far better. Several scenes between Ali and Roberts together are the movie’s highlights which make them more three-dimensional.
Evans isn’t given much to do but react and have a crucial subplot in the final act. I got the impression that Rose might be autistic or neurodivergent which explains her love for Friends and Mackenzie is impressive by showing a person who might seem like she’s entitled by has some mental issues her parents aren’t willing to address yet. Ruth seems to function as the heel to Amanda before they bond a little and at the end, they’ve both realized they got to bond together.
But this would’ve been better if it had been leading to something. But it doesn’t. I guess the filmmakers expected the audiences to begin talking but so far, all I’ve seen is a lot of criticism for a movie that stretches a plot out and ends badly. But I had to joke at the choice of song playing over the credits.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 