Leave the World Behind is a 2023 film written and directed by Sam Esmail. This psychological thriller came out in theaters on Nov. 22, 2023 and ran for two hours and 20 minutes. While it was a hit with the critics, scoring 75% on Rotten Tomatoes, the audience wasn’t happy, coming up with only a 35% score.
The story begins with a tired Amanda Sandford, played by Julia Roberts, deciding that her family needs a vacation. She books a modern-looking Air BnB near the ocean. However, not one day into their stay, the Air BnB’s owners arrive on the front doorstep of the house. The father, G. H. Scott (Mahershala Ali), brought his daughter, Ruth Scott (Myha’la Herrold), to the house because he felt unsafe in the city during a blackout. After some convincing from her husband, Clay Sandford (Ethan Hawke), Julia allows the two to stay in the basement of their own house. A series of events leads the adults to believe this is more than a blackout. The movie ends on a cliffhanger with the group splitting.
This movie was overwhelming to watch, and I even had a tough time completing the movie itself. The pacing of the movie changed drastically at points. Going from a slow talking scene to a panicky mess switching between three scenes.
The story had some potential however it felt like the writers did not know what to do with it. I think I would have enjoyed the movie better if it came from the perspective of Rose Sandford (Farrah Mackenzie). Her character had a lot that the story could have worked with better. One thing she said in particular stuck with me, “And so he goes up to heaven and he’s really angry at God, and he tells him, ‘I prayed to you every day. I thought you loved me. Why didn’t you save me?’ And God says, ‘I sent you a radio report, a rowboat and a helicopter. What more do you want?'”. The movie up to a point follows this quote. From the boat hitting the beach to the many deer in the front yard. It did not follow the characters into Heaven as the story ended on a cliffhanger. It would have been more interesting to watch Rose follow this quote, even to the heaven part.
The visuals were amazing, from camera angles to symbolism in the color choices, the movie did incredibly well in the visual department. The showing of everything being perfectly covered in the color blue was good symbolism, especially when it shifted to things being a mess. The Tesla scenes where ‘perfect’ self-driving cars crashed into each other were amazing.
However, I wouldn’t recommend the movie to others just based on the visuals alone. Like I said, the story fell flat and could have had more. The cliffhanger ending wasn’t required and it would have been more interesting if the story followed more closely to the quote I mentioned above. I do think it is a good movie if you want to watch a movie to criticize it but for casual watching, I would not recommend it.