My bucket list keeps getting lower and lower as I'm just going through a list of movies I have wanted to watch for some time but for some reason I put the aside, its the case of Leave The World Behind and it's quite a ride, either you love it or hate it, I enjoy it but has some clear flaws, CGI guy should get fired. Sam Esmail’s apocalyptic thriller based on Rumaan Alam’s novel, as usual I haven't read it so my opinion is purely based on the Netflix movie release, its full 2 hours and 18 minutes, kinda of movie that makes you take a half time pit stop. It’s not perfect but it’s definitely worth a watch and especially if you are into movies that will make you think long after its over, this one the most probably since its ending is very inconclusive and ambiguous, for me it’s a solid 7.5 out of 10.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12747748/
- Platform: NETFLIX
Rottentomatoes Rating
The movie begins with Julia Roberts waking up one morning and deciding that she and her family are going to take a vacation, she plays the character of this high marketing exec just had enough of people, literally "I hate people. She packs her husband Clay played by Ethan Hawke and the two kids and heads off to this fancy rental house on Long Island. The works, all marble countertops, top shelf liquor but as expected things start going sideways pretty quick. There's the Wi Fi acting up, the TV takes a vacation too, an oil tanker crashes right on the beach in front of them. This was a vacation that went very wrong, wasn’t it?. I'm a bit sarcastic about the movie because obviously there is more than that but if we resume the movie there is all this unknown chaos and that's is the part that I love about it.
While they are at the house, two strangers show up at their door in the middle of the night, Myha’la and Mahershala Ali are G.H. Scott and his daughter Ruth, they say they own the house and that there's been a blackout in the city, Amanda isn't buying it at first. She rather think its a home invasion situation but it also meets the end of the world and you never know what is really going on, the movie can be very confusing, I had to watch it twice and look up for answers online so its not a movie that everyone is going to enjoy. Both families begin to see that whatever's going on is far bigger than some random blackout, it is a whole lot of possible cyberattacks, animals around acting weird and the world as they know it just not working anymore. Director Esmail gets the tension up there really well, not giving us too much too soon but just enough so we get hooked and keep wanting more from it.
The cast is what keeps the movie up float because the story and script not so good, Julia Roberts does a great job at playing Amand, slightly racist character you kind of want to dislike, she is just this very interesting person after all. Mahershala Ali as G.H. He has this air about him that he knows more than he is telling everyone else, but he is trying to keep everyone calm, the way he makes Amanda trust him at first is just a big achievement considering how she is. Clay Sandford is the easygoing husband, played by Ethan Hawke just wants to keep the peace, which he is doing. There is also Myha'la as Ruth, she is this angry character but also there is this deep loss for the world falling apart around her. As you can tell on both couples there is this balance and contrast that pulls the strings on every direction but still does not break apart.
I found this movie really interesting because it really explores the breakdown of society, not just the physical infrastructure falling apart, there's people turning on each other when things go south. It's a pretty clever case based on our current social situation of distrust this time between the two families, you always open your eyes trying for people not to fuck you over similar to the way they're all trying to figure out who's responsible for what's happening.
The movie handled the apocalypse theme really well, not like the most classic one been Zombies, but it is this slow burning, creeping dread that’s going to build and build and build. Also with how the director uses the camera to make you feel this unease and strange of the world in the air. Really getting you into those awkward angles and disorienting shots which makes you feel lost and confused. The one thing that didn't quite work for me and that was the CGI, especially with animals, for example there is this scene with a bunch of deer that just looked off and it sort of pulled me out of the moment and to make things worst it is a mayor deal in the movie, you see deer on every single advertisement of it.
The ending is the second aspect of the movie I didn't like as we are being tipped off what might be causing all this chaos through the movie. G.H. begins to put things together, he is this investment banker moving money for powerful people. He explains to Clay that he thinks it's a foreign attack and he lays out this three point strategy for destabilizing countries. Spread misinformation, disable information and transportation, the perfect recepy to make people turn on each other.
I can appreciate that the movie doesn't tell us that this is exactly what happened, because this opens the door for interpretation and discussion, although this time is like there is going to be a second part but so far there wont be. There is this scene close to the end with Amanda and Ruth in the forest, and they see explosions in the long distance, gunshots, screams, you just know it's bad.
We don’t know what will happen to these characters or the world they live in. Are they going to survive? Is society as it is now over? I think that it’s pretty bold to leave it open ended and probably why some people dislike it so much. It might be frustrating to some people, but I think it works, I'm more use to watch movies that are different and can take this open for interpretation ending better than others, leaving you thinking about the movie long after it’s over.
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