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Leave the World Behind (film)

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Leave the World Behind
Release poster
Directed bySam Esmail
Screenplay bySam Esmail
Based onLeave the World Behind
by Rumaan Alam
Produced by
  • Julia Roberts
  • Marisa Yeres Gill
  • Lisa Gillan
  • Sam Esmail
  • Chad Hamilton
Starring
CinematographyTod Campbell
Edited byLisa Lassek
Music byMac Quayle
Production
companies
Distributed byNetflix
Release dates
  • October 25, 2023 (2023-10-25) (AFI)
  • November 22, 2023 (2023-11-22)
Running time
141 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Leave the World Behind is a 2023 American apocalyptic psychological thriller film produced, written and directed by Sam Esmail. It is based on the 2020 novel of the same name by Rumaan Alam. The film stars Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha'la, and Kevin Bacon as they attempt to make sense of the gradual breakdown in phones, television, and other regularly used 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. It received generally positive reviews from critics who felt that the cast performances made up for the shortcomings in its story and pacing.

Plot

Amanda Sanford, a misanthrope, wakes up one day and decides to take her family for an unplanned vacation to an Airbnb house on Long Island. Her husband Clay is a professor, and her two children, Rose and Archie, are tech-obsessed. While shopping at a grocery store, Amanda sees a bearded man buying a large quantity of water and canned goods. Later on while at the house, they have no cell connectivity. Rose, who has been bingeing Friends is unable to watch the last episode. Clay and Amanda watch as a few deer enter the property. 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, George H. Scott (G.H.) and his daughter Ruth show up at the house. They explain that the house is theirs and that a blackout in the city made them come over to Long Island. Ruth's mother is in Morocco on a business trip and is due to fly back the next day. Amanda is immediately distrustful of them, but Clay allows them to spend the night after G.H. refunds them $1000 in cash.

In the morning, Amanda discovers four news alerts on her phone, two about the blackouts, one warning about hackers being responsible for what is happening, and one written in numbers and symbols. Rose watches a much larger group of deer than before come over to the property. Clay decides to drive to town to get some answers, but is unable to find his way as his GPS does not work. He drives past a distressed woman speaking in Spanish asking for help, but he drives away. He also sees a drone drop leaflets written in Arabic. G.H. decides to go over to his neighbor's house but finds the place in ruins. He finds a crash site on the nearby beach containing scattered bodies and severed body parts, and watches another airplane crash into the same spot on the beach, which soaks him in ocean water. Rose confides her concerns about the deer to Archie, stating that the deer were trying to tell her something, but he does not care as he is enamored with Ruth. Rose and Archie go to explore the deer phenomenon and come across a shed with a pile of indented leaves in the corner. Archie tries to scare Rose by talking about someone sleeping in the shed and watching Rose through the window. When walking back to the house, Archie is bitten by a tick.

G.H. returns to the house and lies to Ruth and Amanda about why he is wet, stating that he fell into the Huxleys' pool. Later G.H. informs Amanda that he was unable to use a satellite phone, theorizing that satellites must have been damaged, and he tells her about the plane crash. A sudden shrill noise overpowers them all.

G.H. informs Amanda that the bearded man she previously saw bulk buying water and canned food was a self-proclaimed survivalist and housing contractor named Danny. Clay returns and shows the leaflet that was dropped, with Archie translating part of it to mean 'Death to America'. The Sanfords decide to drive to Amanda's sister in New Jersey, but find the highway jammed with self-driving Teslas crashing into one another; they return to G.H.' house.

Later that night, he 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. They witness a flock of flamingos land in the pool. Ruth 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, the 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 chaos. Amanda and Ruth see New York City being bombed, and Rose has walked into the neighboring home and found the bunker, where an Emergency Alert System interceptor reveals that the U.S. is at war with rogue armed forces with the suggestion of radiological weapons being involved. She finds a DVD of the last season of Friends, and watches the show finale.

Cast

Production

Netflix won a bidding war for the rights to the eponymous novel by Rumaan Alam in July 2020, with Sam Esmail attached to write and direct. 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] Executive producers are Barack and Michelle Obama.

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]

Soundtrack

Mac Quayle composed an original score for the film which consisted of 9 notes and was inspired by French composer Olivier Messiaen and his Messiaen modes, namely Mode 3. Quayle said "I started playing around with them and I found that Mode 3, which is essentially a scale, was producing a really interesting harmonic feeling," going on to say "And I got this idea that I might do the entire film in this one mode… I didn’t know if it would carry me through the entire film, but it did."[9]

Esmail tried to pick songs that hadn't been used on TV or film before as he was worried viewers would have associations with those songs that would "interfere or complicate what the scene’s about or what the viewer is feeling as they’re watching the scene." For that reason he chose "Too Close" by American R&B group Next as it could be danced along with by the characters and wasn't overused.[9]

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.[10] It was released in limited theaters on November 22, before streaming Netflix on December 8, 2023.[11]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 75% of 100 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.8/10. 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."[12] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 67 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[13]

References

  1. ^ Grobar, Matt (April 14, 2022). "The Obamas' Higher Ground Boards Sam Esmail's Netflix Pic Leave The World Behind". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 5, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  2. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (July 20, 2020). "Netflix Wins Julia Roberts-Denzel Washington-Sam Esmail Package Leave The World Behind Based On Rumaan Alam's Upcoming Novel". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 7, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  3. ^ Kroll, Justin (September 14, 2021). "Mahershala Ali To Co-Star With Julia Roberts In Sam Esmail and Netflix's Leave The World Behind". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  4. ^ Kroll, Justin (January 18, 2022). "Ethan Hawke, Industry's Myha'la Herrold & Others Join Julia Roberts In Netflix's Leave The World Behind". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  5. ^ Gonzalez, Umberto (April 18, 2022). "Kevin Bacon Joins Julia Roberts' Leave the World Behind at Netflix (Exclusive)". TheWrap. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  6. ^ Lovece, Frank (April 5, 2022). "Julia Roberts' Netflix movie Leave the World Behind filming on Long Island". Newsday. Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  7. ^ Ramirez, Jeffrey (August 10, 2023). "The House from Leave the World Behind". Archived from the original on August 11, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  8. ^ Croke, Karen (May 24, 2022). "Julia Roberts, Jesse Eisenberg projects filming in Katonah, Nyack". lohud. Archived from the original on October 9, 2023. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  9. ^ a b Cremona, Patrick (December 11, 2023). "Leave the World Behind soundtrack: All the songs in the Netflix thriller". Radio Times. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  10. ^ Rankin, Seija (October 25, 2023). "What the 'Leave the World Behind' Adaptation (and a Julia Roberts-Starring Role) Means to Rumaan Alam". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  11. ^ Evans, Greg (October 2, 2023). "Leave The World Behind Trailer: Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali & Ethan Hawke Face Apocalypse In Netflix Film". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 7, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  12. ^ "Leave the World Behind". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved December 10, 2023. Edit this at Wikidata
  13. ^ "Leave the World Behind". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
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