Two families must deal with the repercussions of an apocalyptic cyber attack in Leave the World Behind. Amanda Sandford (Julia Roberts) spontaneously decides to book a weekend getaway at a Long Island beach house with her husband Clay (Ethan Hawke) and two children Rose (Farrah Mackenzie) and Archie (Charlie Evans). However, in the middle of the night, the family is surprised by the sudden arrival of the house’s owner George H. Scott (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la) seeking refuge. It soon turns out that a cyberattack has wiped out the power of the United States and the two families have to deal with their distrust of each other and the possibility that there will be no return to normal.
Leave the World Behind Synopsis
Leave the World Behind is an apocalyptic thriller written and directed by Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot), based on the
My Thoughts on Leave the World Behind
Leave the World Behind establishes its themes early on when Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke’s characters of Amanda and Clay Sandford first meet G.H. Scott and his daughter Ruth, played by Mahershala Ali (Moonlight, Green Book) and Myha’la (Bodies Bodies Bodies, Dumb Money) respectively. Despite George calmly telling Amanda and Clay that he is the owner of the house, reinforced very passive-aggressively by Ruth, Amanda reacts with much suspicion and anger, revealing herself to be quite the stereotypical “Karen.” The film also insinuates that racism might be the cause of Amanada’s reaction towards George and Ruth.
Leave the World is ultimately a film about these two families learning to co-exist during this apocalyptic event. There is a recurring thread in the film about Amanda and Clay’s daughter Rose being upset that she doesn’t have internet on her tablet, so she can watch the series finale of F.R.I.E.N.D.S.. While this may be a small worry in the scope of things, Rose explains that getting this closure would be some relief from the horrors that are happening.
Save for a single scene with Kevin Bacon as a shotgun-toting survivalist, Leave the World Behind avoids many of the stereotypical elements of these films. Instead, the film focuses solely on these two families learning to co-exist and make the best of a horrible situation. Of course, this includes a 56-year-old Julia Roberts attempting to dance to hip-hop, which I am just going to shrug off.
