"Leave the World Behind" is a startling, expertly acted and directed knockout

Leave the World Behind (2023)

Apocalyptic films are so common that it feels like a miracle when an exceptionally executed example of one comes along. That’s the case with “Leave the World Behind,” an adaptation of Rumaan Alam’s 2020 novel that also marks Sam Esmail’s exceedingly confident writing-directing feature debut. The film is powered by A-list talent like Julia Roberts, but it’s really a testament to every component of the bravura filmmaking on display. It’s tightly written, terrifically well-acted, genuinely nerve-shredding and startling, expertly paced, and bizarrely funny.

Roberts plays Amanda Sandford, a Brooklynite who books a luxury home in Long Island for a weekend getaway with her professor husband, Clay (Ethan Hawke), and their two kids, 16-year-old Archie (Charlie Evans) and 13-year-old Rose (Farrah Mackenzie). Amanda desperately wants to get away from people, and Clay is just going with the flow. The rental is spacious, beautiful, and just what they need, but their relaxation takes a turn when the family goes to the beach, where they witness a giant oil tanker moving closer and closer until it beaches. Back at the house, the internet goes out and their phones don’t work either. After the kids go to bed, the doorbell rings and it’s George “G.H.” Scott (Mahershala Ali), the Black owner of the house, and his snarky twentysomething daughter Ruth (Myha’la). According to them, a blackout has swept the city and they were hoping to stay the night until understanding what’s going on. Amanda is extremely suspicious, but whether it’s a cyberattack, an invasion, or the end of the world, something is happening, and this group must come to terms with it together. 

Divided into parts, “Leave the World Behind” sustains a pall of foreboding and suspense for all 141 minutes. With the source material hitting the year of the pandemic, the story almost feels prescient in how many felt — the isolation, the lack of answers, the fear of mortality, etc. A global pandemic may not be involved here, but all of those ideas are baked in, making the stakes and the feeling of unrest palpable. Writer-director Sam Esmail manages a perfect pace between the human interactions and the world-ending bombast. Having to take one’s word and setting aside preconceived notions is sharply explored through the character dynamics without being reduced to a kumbaya or turning subtext into text. And something as tranquil as seeing a herd of deer is now made unsettling when their migration pattern is off. In the end, human connection is the only tool left to survive in a crisis, and the film finds a sort of cockeyed comfort in that. Read the full review at GuyAtTheMovies.com

Grade: A -

Netflix released "Let the World Behind" (141 min.) to stream on December 8, 2023.