Leave the World Behind is a 2023 American apocalyptic psychological thriller film written, directed and produced by Sam Esmail. It is based on the 2020 novel of the same name by Rumaan Alam. The film stars Julia Roberts (who also produced the film), Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha'la, and Kevin Bacon as they attempt to make sense of the gradual breakdown in phones, television and technology which points to a potential cataclysm.
Leave the World Behind had its world premiere at the AFI Fest on October 25, 2023. It was released in select theaters on November 22, 2023, before its streaming release by Netflix on December 8, 2023.
Plot
Amanda Sanford, a misanthrope, wakes up one day and decides to take her family for an unplanned vacation to a rented house in Long Island. Her husband Clay is a professor, and her two children, Rose and Archie, are tech-obsessed. Once they reach the house, they have no cell connectivity. Rose, who has been binging Friends is unable to watch the last episode. As they relax at a nearby beach, an oil tanker runs ashore. Disturbed, they return home, only to realize that neither their television nor wi-fi is operable.
Later that night as the kids sleep, G.H. Scott and his daughter Ruth show up at the house. They claim that the house is theirs and that a blackout in the city made them come over to Long Island. Amanda is immediately distrustful of them, but Clay allows them to spend the night. In the morning, Clay decides to drive to town to get some answers, while G.H. decides to go over to his neighbor's house. G.H. finds his neighbor's house in ruins, and watches an airplane crash into the beach. Meanwhile, Clay is unable to find his way to town, as his GPS does not work. He witnesses a woman speaking in Spanish asking for help, but he drives away. He also sees a drone drop leaflets in Arabic. Rose watches deer come over to the property. She confides her concerns to Archie, but he does not care. While exploring a nearby shed, Archie is bitten by a bug.
A sudden shrill noise overpowers them all. The Sanfords decide to drive to the city, but find the highway jammed with self-driving cars crashing into one another. They return to the property. Later that night, G.H. confides in Amanda that a government conspiracy might be at play. They grow closer, but refuse to cheat on their spouses. Meanwhile, Ruth asks Clay to vape with her and asks him provocative questions. She later claims to her father that Clay wants to have sex with her, and questions him why he let them in again. They also talk about Ruth's mother, whom they now assume to be deceased.
Rose has disappeared the next morning, and Archie's teeth start falling out. G.H. takes Clay and Archie to Danny, a survivalist, for medication. Danny suggests that Archie's teeth falling out and the painful noise that everyone has experienced is the result of a microwave weapon. While looking for Rose, Amanda saves Ruth from being attacked by a herd of deer. After a prolonged stand-off, Danny decides to help Archie in exchange for money and directs them to a nearby underground bunker prepared for doomsday. G.H. confesses to Clay that he knows what's happening – he says that a political coup d'état is afoot, which is why the people in positions of power are letting a civil war take root by disrupting technology and feeding misinformation. Amanda and Ruth see New York City being bombed and Rose has walked into the neighbouring home and found the bunker, where an EAS interceptor reveals that the U.S. is at war with rogue armed forces with the suggestion of nuclear weapons being involved. She finds a DVD of Friends, and watches the last episode.
Cast
- Julia Roberts as Amanda Sandford
- Mahershala Ali as G.H. Scott
- Ethan Hawke as Clay Sandford
- Myha'la as Ruth Scott
- Farrah Mackenzie as Rose Sandford
- Charlie Evans as Archie Sandford
- Kevin Bacon as Danny
Production
Netflix won a bidding war for the rights to the novel in July 2020, with Sam Esmail directing and writing the film. Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington were set to star in and produce the film.[2]
In September 2021, Mahershala Ali had been cast in the film, replacing Washington who had exited by that point.[3] Ethan Hawke and Myha'la Herrold joined in January 2022.[4][5]
Filming began in April 2022 on Long Island,[6] in a home designed by The Up Studio.[7] There was additional filming in Katonah, New York on May 19, 2022.[8]
Release
Leave the World Behind had its world premiere as the opening film of the AFI Fest on October 25, 2023, with the cast unable to attend due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.[9] It was released in limited theaters on November 22, before streaming Netflix on December 8, 2023.[10]
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 75% of 77 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "An exceptionally well-acted apocalyptic thriller, Leave the World Behind steadily draws the viewer in despite its leisurely pace and somewhat simplistic messaging."[11] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 70 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[12]
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