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.
Sam Esmail (creator of the TV series ‘Mr. Robot’) makes his second foray into the world of movies with ‘Leave the World Behind’, an apocalyptic psychological thriller that has a lot going on, and when I say a lot, I mean A LOT. Taking place mostly in a large house in Long Island, it follows a vacationing family and the owners of the house who find themselves living together as the world appears to be falling apart around them, with stranger and stranger goings on occurring each day.
It begins by introducing us to the Sandford family, comprised of uptight mother Amanda (Julia Roberts), father Clay (Ethan Hawke) and their children Rose (Farrah Mackenzie) and Archie (Charlie Evans), just as they decide to go on an unplanned vacation to a fancy AirBnB in Long Island. Soon after arriving, they discover a few things are off – the internet isn’t working, the TV neither, and there seems to be an unusual amount of deer about. This, however, is only the start, and things get increasingly stranger, leading up to George (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la), the supposed homeowners, turning up and joining the family as they deal with events happening around them.
This is a strange beast of a movie that touches on a lot of different themes as it explores modern culture and how people today may react to such a significant event. It is very well acted, as you’d expect from such a stellar cast, and has an intriguing premise, but I did find my interest waning as the story progressed and I felt that it started to run out of ideas. An explanation isn’t needed for everything, but the deliberate ambiguity of ‘Leave the World Behind’ hindered it in my view, and meant it is ultimately a movie with some striking moments, good performances, but a little unsatisfying overall.
Rating: 3/5
Directed By: Sam Esmail
Starring: Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Mahershala Ali, Myha’la, Farrah Mackenzie, Charlie Evans and Kevin Bacon
'I’ve Never Felt More Scared And More Alive At The Same Time.’ Civil War (2024) 