Leave The World Behind (2023) Review

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Dir Sam Esmail

Written by Sam Esmail, Rumaan Alam

Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke,Myhal’la, Farrah Mackenzie, Charlie Evans, Kevin Bacon.

Middle aged married couple Amanda and Clay (Roberts and Hawke) take a spur of the minute holiday to a remote B&B with their teen kids Rose and Archie (Mackenzie and Evans). As they get further from civilization, they start to lose their data connection for their internet, which frustrates Rose as she has been binge watching Friends, the ‘old’ TV show.

On their first night, two strangers G.H Scott, and his daughter Ruth (Ali and Myha’la) knock at the door. The house the family is staying at belongs to them, and there is a citywide blackout so they will be unable to get to their own home.

Relunctantly, Amanda allows this, but as the days go by — they find themselves disconnected from the outside world by means of communication. Soon, they find themselves physically trapped in this once tranquil paradise — and signs begin to point to the possible end of mankind.

Very interesting, and realistic take on what could happen if the world did shut down, especially to those who are in the middle of nowhere, with no way of contacting the outside world. There a quite a few disturbing moments throughout, with one in particular that I had to turn my eyes away as it happened.

The acting by all is pretty stellar, with memorable moments from the entire main cast. They were given a pretty solid screenplay to work with, with some standout monologues given.

The camera work is sometimes a little jarring, especially as it does 360° turns — which adds to the uneasiness for the viewer, much like what the characters are feeling. The overall directing is quite crisp and clean, with mature sets, with the primary and majority of the film set in the home of Ali’s GH Scott.

While the ending might be a little controversial, I honestly feel that this was the only real way the film could have ended.

I quite enjoyed this, while some might not, I would recommend it to others.

4/5