Leave The World Behind Review – Striking, with a ‘WTF Why?’ Ending
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
“Then I remembered what the world is actually like. And I came to a more accurate realization – I fucking hate people.”
The camera pans to a close-up shot of Julia Roberts in the opening scene of the 2023 Netflix film “Leave The World Behind” as she delivers that line and you believe her. Julia is Amanda Sandford, a cynical working mom of two, who plans an impromptu family vacation at a fancy pool property on the outskirts of the city. However their stay is disrupted when two strangers show up in the middle of the night, claiming to be the homeowners & the Sandfords have no way to verify their identities because both cellular and internet networks are jammed in the region.
Based on a book by Rumaan Alam and directed by Sam Esmail, the 2023 Netflix film “Leave The World Behind” has a fantastic first-half, it’s suspenseful, slowly drumming dread into the viewer, making them anxious over what’s going to happen next. The cinematography is stunning, dominated by blue tones, the Sandfords’ bedroom is blue, their car is blue, even their rented property’s room is blue, with interiors made to look like the ocean, so when they collapse into the bed for the night, it almost feel like they are dipping into water. Some of the camera angles however made me dizzy, especially when the camera moves around in slow circles in certain scenes. The film is often shot like it’s done from the point-of-view of a predator or stalker, so, maybe the creators deliberately try to unsettle viewers with the camera work and dizzying shots.
The film brilliantly mocks people’s reliance on the internet and phones, with a cyberattack knocking off all connections and making it seem like the end of the world. Ethan Hawke plays Amanda’s laidback, friendly husband Clay Sandfords, who is more than welcoming to the strangers who come knocking at their rental in the middle of the night. Mahershala Ali is G. H. Scott, who arrives with his daughter Ruth Scott (Myha’la) at the place and they are African-American. Not only do they seem like scheming intruders to Amanda, but their presence also sets off hostile racial tension between the families. Julia Roberts’ portrayal of Amanda is full of angst and rage, almost resembling a stereotypical White Karen with prejudices against people of color as she is extremely rude to the Scotts. Myha’la is fiery as Ruth, who matches Amanda’s cynical negativity with cutting snark; she instantly hates Amanda’s condescending attitude and wonders if the Sandfords will have them do their laundry. If it weren’t for Amanda’s sweeping “I hate people” dialogue at the beginning of the film, you might think she’s a white supremacist. However, as the plot progresses, she does warm up to the mysterious G. H. Scott, who is full of conspiracy theories about a war against America. While the adults try to understand what is happening around them, Amanda’s younger daughter Rose (Farrah Mackenzie) is hilariously focused on the fact that she might never get to finish watching FRIENDS, the sitcom.
The movie gets too wordy in the second half, with long conversations between the characters that gets tedious. Even the suspense sort of slackens, even though there are some plot twists that keep the viewers confused over what exactly is happening. With a distinctly dystopian tone, “Leave The World Behind” unfolds at a pace which makes you feel like it would’ve made a great mini-series, because the climax comes too soon, and even though it’s a pretty witty-fun ending, it makes you go “WTF? Why did they end it so quickly?”. You are left with a far too simple conclusion, even though it’s only a conspiracy theory.
Rating: 7 on 10.
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