Movie Review: ‘Leave the World Behind’

Opening in select theaters on November 22nd before premiering December 8th on Netflix, ‘Leave the World Behind’ represents ‘Euphoria’ creator Sam Esmail putting his own stamp on the sort of the mystery box thriller that M. Night Shyamalan has been cranking out for years.

Featuring a starry lead cast that includes Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke and, in a small but impactful role, Kevin Bacon, the movie cranks up the tension as it throws ever more problems at the main characters, causing them to grow increasingly paranoid, desperate and swear like sailors (or the cast of ‘Succession‘).

Does ‘Leave the World Behind’ Prepare You for the Worst, or the Best?

(L to R) Ethan Hawke as Clay, Julia Roberts as Amanda and Mahershala Ali as G.H in ‘Leave the World Behind.’ Photo: JoJo Whilden/Courtesy Netflix.

Starting in unexpected fashion –– with Julia Roberts’ stressed ad exec proclaiming that she has rented an isolated luxury house outside of New York to spirit her family away on an impromptu vacation because she “f*****g hates people”. Esmail’s latest film starts to ratchet the tension slowly –– of course cell service might be spotty in a place like the woody spot that Amanda picks to stay. The story pushes ‘Leave the World Behind’ in directions that are both understandable and, in a few places, ridiculous, reaching for a dark seam of comedy it can’t quite make work, which somewhat lessens the impact.

Clearly Netflix has stumped up for a decent budget on this one (witness an early scene where an oil tanker runs aground at the beach where Amanda and co. have been sunning themselves, or a plane crash later on), but in some ways it could function as a play, the main characters spending most of their time in the spacious, luxurious main house spitting out truths about suspicion in particular and the world in general.

‘Leave the World Behind’: Script and Direction

(L to R) Mahershala Ali as G.H. and Julia Roberts as Amanda in ‘Leave the World Behind.’ Photo: JoJo Whilden/Courtesy Netflix.

Esmail is known for his slightly stylized dialogue (no one accuses ‘Euphoria’, for all of its searing portrait of teen life, of being completely naturalistic), and here he’s free to let loose, even though he’s adapting the novel by Rumaan Alam.

As mentioned above, the script can seriously start to sound, well scripted. Though Roberts and Ali’s characters in particular are accomplished with backgrounds in reading people (she works with advertising clients, he manages money for wealthy types), which offers some extra leeway, but when almost everyone has a hyper-literate way of talking, it verges into unbelievability.

How many 13-year-old daughters (Rose, played by Farrah Mackenzie), for example, are bingeing ‘The West Wing’ enough to remember a particular quote that lends itself to the situation? And given that Esmail’s current big job airs on HBO and streams on Max, you wonder at raised eyebrows from Netflix at endless references to a competing company’s series.

Which bring us to the ‘Friends’ thing. Rose is obsessed with the sitcom about the Manhattan pals and is desperate to find out how the show’s final season ends; no easy feat in a world where phones, the internet and TV aren’t working. It’s resolved in a way that is likely to divide audiences, though we found it somewhat laughable, and not perhaps in the way Esmail intended.

The look of the movie is part Hitchcockian, part David Fincher in his ‘Fight Club’/’Panic Room’ era. You’ll wonder how many times Esmail and his team can send the camera flowing through holes in windows or rise up through rooves, and the answer is: many. He’s looking to keep you off-kilter (the frame goes that way from time to time), but at times it’s more likely to make you roll your eyes rather than keep them glued to the screen.

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‘Leave the World Behind’: Performances

(L to R) Ethan Hawke as Clay and Julia Roberts as Amanda in ‘Leave the World Behind.’ Photo: JoJo Whilden/Courtesy Netflix.

If you hire Julia Roberts, you know you’re going to get good work –– Esmail, in fact, has worked with her before on Amazon’s ‘Homecoming’ series. She’s more than up to the challenge of playing Amanda, who is by turns paranoid and flinty.

You’ll absolutely buy her increasing distrust of everyone around her, and the slight thawing that happens later on.

Ali is right there on her level, his G.H. initially somewhat mysterious (though the screenplay does rather bend over backwards to keep him that way in his initial moments, since he really doesn’t bother to immediately explain why he’s at the house –– and that he’s the owner. But in Ali’s hands, it’s still a convincing, well-rounded performance.

Hawke has less to do, his initially easy-breeze Clay curdling into desperation as more and more problems present themselves, and he has a great moment between Ali and Kevin Bacon on the porch of a house.

Oh yes –– Bacon. He makes a meal of the smaller role of Danny, having him believably walk the line of crazed prepper and sense-talking human.

Myha’la, keeps Ruth sensibly snarky and mistrusting given the situation. It’s perhaps not surprising to learn that she auditioned for the role of Rue in ‘Euphoria’ that went to Zendaya, and that Esmail kept her in mind.

‘Leave the World Behind’: Final Thoughts

(L to R) Julia Roberts as Amanda in ‘Leave the World Behind.’ Photo: Courtesy Netflix.

‘Leave the World Behind’ can at times feel like a knock-off Shyamalan or Esmail’s attempt to crossbreed his ‘Euphoria’ style with ‘The Twilight Zone’. There are chunks that don’t really work (a recurring motif with deer is overegged and suffers from occasionally less-than-convincing VFX) but on the whole, it’s an effectively creepy and paranoia-inducing movie.

Just don’t blame us if you start stocking up on water and nonperishable food after watching it.

‘Leave the World Behind’ receives 7 out of 10 stars.

What’s the story of ‘Leave the World Behind’?

Amanda (Julia Roberts) and Clay’s (Ethan Hawke) aspirational vacation with their teenage children is interrupted by the arrival of a middle aged couple who own the holiday home and who have fled an unprecedented blackout in the city.

When the internet, television and radio stop working, as does the landline, they have no way of finding out what is happening. As strange sonic booms shatter the peace of the countryside, and animals start to migrate in strange ways, the physical and mental health of the families –– because the renters are joined by G. H. (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la Herrold), spooked by the unfolding chaos –– begins to disintegrate.

The renters are upscale and White; the owners are upscale and Black. The issues of race clash and become distractions to the more alarming things are happening all around them.

Who else is in ‘Leave the World Behind’?

The cast for the thriller also includes Farrah Mackenzie as Clay and Amanda’s daughter Rose, Charlie Evans as son Archie, and Kevin Bacon as G.H.’s neighbor/contractor/doomsday prepper Danny.

(L to R) Myha’la as Ruth, Mahershala Ali as G.H., Ethan Hawke as Clay and Julia Roberts as Amanda in ‘Leave the World Behind.’ Photo: Courtesy Netflix.

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