Leave the World Behind (2023)
There’s been a lot of buzz about Leave the World Behind, and I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve been looking forward to seeing it for about six months now. Did it live up to the hype? Well…
The movie was produced by Barack and Michelle Obama, and follows the story of married Brooklynites Amanda and Clay Sanford, who decide to take their two kids, Archie and Rose, out to Long Island on a spur-of-the-moment vacation. Well, it’s mostly Amanda who’s decided, because she doesn’t like people and realizes she and her family need a change. Clay goes along because he’s an agreeable fellow.
It all kicks off nicely enough, and then weird things start happening. The wi-fi and Internet are out, the phones don’t work, and while the family picnics at the beach, an oil tanker runs aground. The Sanfords chalk these happenings up as flukes and go back to their rental to make burgers for dinner.
After the kids are in bed, Amanda and Clay are in the middle of a hot round of Jenga when G.H. Scott, the owner of the house, and his daughter, Ruth, knock on the door. Manhattan is in a blackout, so they figured they’d drive out to their second home on Long Island. Would the Sanfords mind if they stayed there?
Actually, Amanda does mind, but there’s not much she can say so everyone decides to sleep on it, with G.H. and Ruth in the basement guest quarters. As it turns out, of course, the Scotts and the Sanfords are going to have to make the best of their shared Long Island abode, because the Internet still doesn’t work, the TVs don’t get a signal, either, and no one knows what’s happening. Ergo, they have to wait out whatever it is, and they don’t have any movies or streaming services to pass the time. Funny, that.
Leave the World Behind seems to have plenty going for it. It’s a lineup of quintessential Gen-X stars. It starts out promisingly, with the ominous music and the weird happenings and the what-are-we-going-to-do looks and the unexpected alliances. There are a lot of great visuals.
Too bad the story sucks. Put it this way: It kinda brings to mind The Happening, only Leave the World Behind isn’t nearly as enjoyable or quotable as that so-bad-it’s-good classic.
Yep. It all peters out soon after the first act and there’s really no plot to the film at all. Besides a few violent happenings, such as planes falling out of the sky and that pesky rogue oil tanker, it gets pretty ludicrous. G.H. and Amanda get confessional while dancing to Blackstreet and realize their quasi-romantic moment can’t go anywhere because they’re both married. Random flamingos come out of nowhere and swim in G.H.’s pool. Poor Archie loses his teeth. Ruth and Amanda stare down a herd of seemingly murderous deer. Amanda, Clay, Archie, and Rose try to leave Long Island for New Jersey, only to be stopped cold by driverless Teslas that have smashed up on the highway. Rose just wants to watch the series finale of Friends, dangnabit, or die trying.
The movie finally fizzles out after an unnecessarily long two hours plus change, with the ending credits both a relief and a “What in the flying fish?” moment.
Beyond the haphazard story arc, Leave the World Behind is a rather heavy-handed litany of What’s Wrong With America. According to the movie, we’re all racist jerks clinging to our guns and religion and can’t be bothered to help each other. Ergo, we’re easy to manipulate, divide, and finally conquer. Oh, and Ruth wants white people to be subservient in her hypothetical new world. Rather ironic coming from a film produced by the Obamas, but I digress.
The moral of the story? Desire and prestigious names do not an M. Knight Shyamalan make. The other moral of the story? Better not chuck the physical media.
Leave the World Behind is currently streaming on Netflix. Rated R.
My grade: D
Principal Cast: Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Kevin Bacon, Mahershala Ali, Mya’la, Farrah Mackenzie, Charlie Evans, Alexis Rae Forlenza, Vanessa Aspillaga, Josh Drennan, Erica Cho, Orli Gottesman
Directed by Sam Esmail.
Written by Sam Esmail and Rumaan Alam.