Leave the World Behind (film)

Last updated

Leave the World Behind
Leave the World Behind film poster.png
Release poster
Directed by Sam Esmail
Screenplay bySam Esmail
Based on Leave the World Behind
by Rumaan Alam
Produced by
  • Julia Roberts
  • Marisa Yeres Gill
  • Lisa Gillan
  • Sam Esmail
  • Chad Hamilton
Starring
CinematographyTod Campbell
Edited by Lisa Lassek
Music by Mac Quayle
Production
companies
Distributed by Netflix
Release dates
  • October 25, 2023 (2023-10-25)(AFI)
  • November 22, 2023 (2023-11-22)
Running time
140 minutes [2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Leave the World Behind is a 2023 American apocalyptic psychological thriller film written and directed by Sam Esmail. It is based on the 2020 novel by Rumaan Alam. The film stars Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha'la Herrold, and Kevin Bacon as they attempt to make sense of the sequential rapid breakdown in phones, television, and other regularly used technology which points to a potential cataclysm.

Contents

Leave the World Behind had its world premiere at the AFI Fest on October 25, 2023. It was released in select theaters on November 22, 2023, before its streaming release by Netflix on December 8, 2023. It received positive reviews from critics.

Plot

Misanthrope Amanda Sandford arranges an impromptu weekend getaway at a vacation rental to spend quality time together with her husband Clay and their kids, Archie and Rose. While shopping for groceries, Amanda sees a man stocking up on large quantities of canned food and water. Later, while the family relaxes at a nearby beach, they evade an oil tanker that runs ashore. When they return to the house, they notice the TV and Wi-Fi are not working and a pair of deer stare at them.

That night, the owner, George H. ("G.H.") Scott, and his daughter, Ruth, arrive at the house. Seeking shelter, G.H. explains that a blackout caused their return. Amanda is suspicious and doesn't want them to stay. Clay however trusts them and lets them stay the night. Later in the night, television switches to displaying an emergency warning from Emergency Broadcast System on all channels.

The next morning, Rose is frustrated that the Wi-Fi and TV are still down, which has prevented her from watching the series finale of Friends. Amanda notices four news alerts on her phone, two of which are about the blackout affecting the entire East Coast, the third alert about a hacker attack being behind the power outage, and the final one beginning with the word "Breaking" and containing corrupted or encrypted text. Rose sees a larger herd of deer motionless in the backyard.

Attempting to learn about the disruptions and fix the Wi-Fi, Clay drives to town while G.H. heads to his neighbor's house. Clay abandons a Spanish-speaking woman seeking help and drives from a drone dropping leaflets written in Arabic; during a few seconds of clear reception on his car radio he hears the news of the cyber attack having catastrophic environmental effects in the South. Meanwhile G.H. searches the neighbor's home, finds a satellite phone inside and determines that there's no signal from the satellites; on the beach nearby he discovers the wreckage of a plane crash, just as another airliner crashes on the beach and narrowly misses him.

Elsewhere, Rose walks along with Archie in the nearby woods, where they come across an empty shed, and Archie removes a tick from his ankle on the way back. Returning to the house, G.H. confides to Amanda the events he has witnessed. He theorizes that satellite connectivity has been disrupted, but he is cut off by a loud, shrill noise that lasts several seconds. Amanda recalls the man stockpiling supplies, whom G.H. assumes to be Danny, his contractor. Clay returns shaken with the leaflet, which Archie partially translates as "Death to America". The Sandfords decide to drive to Amanda's sister in New Jersey, but find the expressway jammed with collided brand-new self-driving Teslas; they narrowly avoid more incoming Tesla cars continuing to drive into the pile-up, and are forced to return to G.H.'s house.

Throughout the night, Ruth asks Clay provocative questions and they later discover flamingos in the pool. Amanda and G.H. establish a friendly bond but they are cut off by a second shrill noise, and the power fails. Later, Rose tells Amanda a version of the parable of the drowning man from an episode of The West Wing.

The next morning, Archie's teeth inexplicably fall out. Believing it is related to the tick bite, G.H. suggests visiting Danny for medicine. Rose is now missing, and G.H. and Clay take Archie to visit Danny, while Amanda and Ruth search for Rose. At the shed, the two are confronted by an even larger herd of deer, which they scare away. Meanwhile, G.H. and Clay attempt to convince Danny to help Archie, which results in an armed standoff between G.H. and Danny. Clay intervenes, convincing Danny to help Archie. Danny informs them that another neighbor may be equipped with an underground bunker and suggests that the shrill noises which have most likely led to Archie's teeth falling out result from use of microwave weapons.

Shaken, G.H. hypothesizes to Clay and Archie on the basis of his work with military contractors that the country is in a three-stage campaign leading first to progressive breakdown of social order and resulting in coup d'état or civil war. At the same time, Amanda and Ruth watch New York City being bombed. Rose then finds the neighbor's house with the bunker. Inside, a computer message warns of attacks by rogue military elements and elevated radiation levels across multiple U.S. cities. She finds a DVD of Friends, and watches the series finale.

Cast

Julia Roberts 2011 Shankbone 3.JPG
Mahershala Ali by Gage Skidmore (cropped).jpg
Ethan Hawke 2018.jpg
Kevin Bacon SDCC 2014.jpg
The film stars Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke and Kevin Bacon.

Production

Writer/director Sam Esmail Sam Esmail at SXSW 2016.jpg
Writer/director Sam Esmail

Netflix won a bidding war for the rights to the novel by Rumaan Alam in July 2020, with Sam Esmail attached to write and direct. Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington were set to star in and produce the film. [3]

Former U.S. President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama executive-produced the film through their Higher Ground Productions banner. Obama included the novel on his 2021 summer reading list. [4]

Writing

Obama offered Esmail his thoughts on the screenplay during the writing process. Esmail said, "He had a lot notes [sic] about the characters and the empathy we would have for them. I have to say he is a big movie lover, and he wasn't just giving notes about things that were from his background. He was giving notes as a fan of the book, and he wanted to see a really good film." [4]

Casting and filming

In September 2021, Mahershala Ali had been cast in the film, replacing Washington, who had left the project. [5] Ethan Hawke and Myha'la Herrold joined in January 2022. [6] [7]

Filming began in April 2022 on Long Island, [8] in a home designed by The Up Studio. [9] Additional filming took place in Katonah, New York, in May 2022. [10]

Soundtrack

Mac Quayle composed an original score for the film which consisted of nine notes and was inspired by French composer Olivier Messiaen and his Messiaen modes, namely Mode 3. Quayle said, "I started playing around with them and I found that Mode 3, which is essentially a scale, was producing a really interesting harmonic feeling," going on to say "And I got this idea that I might do the entire film in this one mode... I didn't know if it would carry me through the entire film, but it did." [11]

Esmail tried to pick songs that had not been used on TV or film before as he was worried viewers would have associations with those songs that would "interfere or complicate what the scene's about or what the viewer is feeling as they're watching the scene". For example, Esmail chose "Too Close" by Next, a song that he felt was "really funny and sweet at the same time" and had not been overused in film, for a scene that "goes from lighthearted and playful to sad and dark within a matter of a minute". [11]

Release

Leave the World Behind had its world premiere as the opening film of the AFI Fest on October 25, 2023, with the cast not attending due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. [12] It was released in limited theaters on November 22, before streaming Netflix on December 8, 2023. [13]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 75% of 155 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.8/10.The website's consensus reads: "An exceptionally well-acted apocalyptic thriller, Leave the World Behind steadily draws the viewer in despite its leisurely pace and somewhat simplistic messaging." [14] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 68 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [15]

In a positive review for The Washington Post , Michael O'Sullivan wrote, "It plays like an M. Night Shyamalan movie, but without the supernatural element and with a thick vein of social critique running throughout. What happens may be extreme, but it feels based on mundane reality." [16] Wenlei Ma writing for The Sunday Times called the film "jittery and suspenseful", and that some overhead cinematography "emphasises that we're all puppets in someone's else [ sic ] marionette theatre ... we're not in control, but Esmail is of his startling, character-driven doomsday story". [17]

Bilge Ebiri for Vulture compared the film unfavorably to Alam's book: "every change made for the adaptation happens to be for the worse. ... the film doesn't demonstrate any kind of interest in, or affection for, its characters. ... This feels more like a collection of cool ideas than scenes that belong to the same emotional and consequential continuum." [18] Alissa Wilkinson for The New York Times wrote, "After a while, the movie plays like a bulleted list of everything wrong with America ... the narrative tension dulls into passivity, both for us and for the characters", and that the "ending seems like a punchline." [19]

Esmail said he hoped the film's ending would provoke conversation: "...the expectation is at the end of [traditional disaster] films, your cast of characters overcomes the disaster and the world reverts back to some sane semblance of normalcy. I knew that I wasn't going to do that." [20]

Audience viewership

From December 4 to December 10, 2023, the film topped the streaming charts and was the number one film on Netflix, with 41.7 million views. [21] In January 2024, the film entered Netflix’s most popular films of all-time list at eighth place, scoring 136.3 million views in its first 52 days. [22] As of February 2024, it's placed as the fifth most popular film in English of all time, with 141.3 million views. [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Roberts</span> American actress (born 1967)

Julia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. Known for her leading roles in films encompassing a variety of genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and three Golden Globe Awards. The films in which she has starred have collectively grossed over $3.9 billion globally, making her one of Hollywood's most bankable stars. After an early breakthrough with appearances in Mystic Pizza (1988) and Steel Magnolias (1989), Roberts established herself as a leading actress when she headlined the top-grossing romantic comedy Pretty Woman (1990).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethan Hawke</span> American actor and film director (born 1970)

Ethan Green Hawke is an American actor, author and film director. He made his film debut in Explorers (1985), before making a breakthrough performance in Dead Poets Society (1989). Hawke starred alongside Julie Delpy in Richard Linklater's Before trilogy from 1995 to 2013. Hawke received two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Training Day (2001) and Boyhood (2014) and two for Best Adapted Screenplay for co-writing Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013). Other notable roles include in Reality Bites (1994), Gattaca (1997), Great Expectations (1998), Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), Maggie's Plan (2015), First Reformed (2017), The Black Phone (2021) and The Northman (2022).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahershala Ali</span> American actor

Mahershala Ali is an American actor. He has received multiple accolades, including two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019, and in 2020, The New York Times ranked him among the 25 greatest actors of the 21st century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actor</span> Award given by the Broadcast Film Critics Association

The Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of the awards given by the Broadcast Film Critics Association at their annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards for a performance in a motion picture. It was first presented in 1995 with the winners being a tie between Ed Harris for Apollo 13 and Kevin Spacey for The Usual Suspects. There were no official nominees until 2001, currently six nominees are usually presented.

The Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cast is one of the annual film awards given by the Boston Society of Film Critics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dale Dickey</span> American actress

Diana Dale Dickey is an American character actress who has worked in theater, film, and television. She began her career on stage, performing in the 1989 Broadway version of The Merchant of Venice, before appearing in popular revivals of A Streetcar Named Desire, Sweeney Todd and more off-Broadway and in regional theaters. She's the recipient of two Ovation Awards for her stage work in Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Hechinger</span> American actor (born 1999)

Fred Hechinger is an American actor. He began his career with supporting roles in such films as the coming-of-age film Eighth Grade (2018), the period drama News of the World (2020), and the psychological thriller The Woman in the Window (2021). Also in 2021, he starred in the Netflix horror The Fear Street Trilogy (2021) and the first season of the HBO anthology series The White Lotus (2021). He has since portrayed Seth Warshavsky in the miniseries Pam & Tommy (2022).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Roberts filmography</span>

Julia Roberts is an American actress and producer who made her debut in the 1987 direct-to-video feature Firehouse. She had her breakthrough the following year by starring in the coming-of-age film Mystic Pizza (1988). For her supporting role in the comedy-drama Steel Magnolias (1989), she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. Roberts' next role was opposite Richard Gere in the highly successful romantic comedy Pretty Woman (1990), for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Musical or Comedy. In 1991, she appeared in the psychological thriller Sleeping with the Enemy, and played Tinker Bell in the Steven Spielberg-directed fantasy adventure Hook. Two years later, Roberts starred in the legal thriller The Pelican Brief, an adaptation of the John Grisham novel of the same name. During the late 1990s, she played the lead in the romantic comedies My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), Notting Hill (1999), and Runaway Bride (1999).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maya Hawke</span> American actress and singer (born 1998)

Maya Ray Thurman Hawke is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She is the daughter of Hollywood actors Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman. She began her career in modeling, and subsequently made her screen debut as Jo March in the 2017 BBC adaptation of Little Women.

<i>Regression</i> (film) 2015 film by Alejandro Amenábar

Regression is a 2015 psychological horror mystery film directed and written by Alejandro Amenábar. The film stars Ethan Hawke and Emma Watson, with David Thewlis, Lothaire Bluteau, Dale Dickey, David Dencik, Peter MacNeill, Devon Bostick, and Aaron Ashmore in supporting roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willa Fitzgerald</span> American actress (born 1991)

Willa Fitzgerald is an American actress. She is known for her starring role as Emma Duval in MTV's Scream. She has played cheer coach Colette French in the USA Network's television drama series Dare Me and officer Roscoe Conklin in the Amazon Prime Video television series Reacher. Her other notable roles include Amazon Studios' television series Alpha House, the USA Network's drama series Royal Pains, and Netflix's horror miniseries The Fall of the House of Usher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Esmail</span> Egyptian-American screenwriter, director, and producer

Sam Esmail is an American film and television producer, director, and screenwriter who runs the production company Esmail Corp. He is best known as the creator, writer, and director of the award-winning USA Network television series Mr. Robot (2015–2019), starring Rami Malek. He wrote and directed the feature films Comet (2014) and Leave the World Behind (2023). He produced and directed the first season of the acclaimed Amazon Prime Video psychological thriller Homecoming (2018–2020), starring Julia Roberts and Janelle Monáe, and produced USA's Briarpatch (2020), Starz's Gaslit (2022), and Peacock's Angelyne (2022) and The Resort (2022).

<i>Born to Be Blue</i> (film) 2015 drama film

Born to Be Blue is a 2015 internationally co-produced drama film directed, produced and written by Robert Budreau. The film stars Ethan Hawke and Carmen Ejogo. It was shown in the Special Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. The film is about American jazz musician Chet Baker, portrayed by Hawke.

<i>First Reformed</i> 2017 film by Paul Schrader

First Reformed is a 2017 American psychological drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader. It stars Ethan Hawke as a minister of a small congregation in upstate New York who grapples with mounting despair brought on by tragedy, worldly concerns, and a tormented past. Amanda Seyfried, Cedric Kyles, Victoria Hill, and Philip Ettinger appear in supporting roles.

<i>Homecoming</i> (TV series) American psychological thriller television series

Homecoming is an American psychological thriller television series based on the Gimlet Media podcast of the same name. Created by Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg, the series premiered November 2, 2018, on Amazon Prime Video. Horowitz and Bloomberg also serve as writers and executive producers alongside Sam Esmail, Chad Hamilton, Julia Roberts, Alex Blumberg, Matt Lieber, and Chris Giliberti. Esmail also directed every episode of the first season, which stars Roberts, Bobby Cannavale, Stephan James, Shea Whigham, Alex Karpovsky, and Sissy Spacek.

<i>The Guilty</i> (2021 film) American crime thriller by Antoine Fuqua

The Guilty is a 2021 American crime thriller film directed and produced by Antoine Fuqua, from a screenplay by Nic Pizzolatto. A remake of the 2018 Danish film of the same name, the film stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Christina Vidal, with the voices of Ethan Hawke, Riley Keough, Eli Goree, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Paul Dano, and Peter Sarsgaard.

<i>Leave the World Behind</i> (novel) 2020 novel by Rumaan Alam

Leave the World Behind is a 2020 novel by Rumaan Alam, published by Ecco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rumaan Alam</span> Bangladeshi-American writer (born 1977)

Rumaan Alam is an American writer.

<i>The Black Phone</i> 2021 film by Scott Derrickson

The Black Phone is a 2021 American supernatural horror film directed by Scott Derrickson and written by Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, who both produced with Jason Blum. It is an adaptation of the 2004 short story of the same name by Joe Hill. The film stars Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, James Ransone, and Ethan Hawke. In the film, an abducted teenager uses a mysterious black rotary dial phone to communicate with the previous victims of his deranged captor in order to escape.

Myha'la Jael Herrold, sometimes credited mononymously as Myha'la, is an American actress. She is known for her role as Harper Stern in the British television drama Industry and her film roles in Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022), and Leave the World Behind (2023).

References

  1. ↑ Grobar, Matt (April 14, 2022). "The Obamas' Higher Ground Boards Sam Esmail's Netflix Pic Leave the World Behind". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on October 5, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Leave the World Behind (15)". BBFC . December 22, 2023. Archived from the original on December 23, 2023. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  3. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (July 20, 2020). "Netflix Wins Julia Roberts-Denzel Washington-Sam Esmail Package Leave The World Behind Based On Rumaan Alam's Upcoming Novel". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on October 7, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  4. 1 2 "'Leave the World Behind': Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, and Ethan Hawke Face the End-Times". Vanity Fair . September 27, 2023. Archived from the original on October 24, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  5. ↑ Kroll, Justin (September 14, 2021). "Mahershala Ali To Co-Star With Julia Roberts In Sam Esmail and Netflix's Leave The World Behind". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  6. ↑ Kroll, Justin (January 18, 2022). "Ethan Hawke, Industry's Myha'la Herrold & Others Join Julia Roberts In Netflix's Leave The World Behind". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on October 2, 2023. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  7. ↑ Gonzalez, Umberto (April 18, 2022). "Kevin Bacon Joins Julia Roberts' Leave the World Behind at Netflix (Exclusive)". TheWrap . Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  8. ↑ Lovece, Frank (April 5, 2022). "Julia Roberts' Netflix movie Leave the World Behind filming on Long Island". Newsday . Archived from the original on April 19, 2023. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  9. ↑ Ramirez, Jeffrey (August 10, 2023). "The House from Leave the World Behind". Archived from the original on August 11, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
  10. ↑ Croke, Karen (May 24, 2022). "Julia Roberts, Jesse Eisenberg projects filming in Katonah, Nyack". lohud. Archived from the original on October 9, 2023. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  11. 1 2 Cremona, Patrick (December 11, 2023). "Leave the World Behind soundtrack: All the songs in the Netflix thriller". Radio Times . Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  12. ↑ Rankin, Seija (October 25, 2023). "What the 'Leave the World Behind' Adaptation (and a Julia Roberts-Starring Role) Means to Rumaan Alam". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  13. ↑ Evans, Greg (October 2, 2023). "Leave The World Behind Trailer: Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali & Ethan Hawke Face Apocalypse In Netflix Film". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on October 7, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Leave the World Behind". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved December 21, 2023. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  15. ↑ "Leave the World Behind". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  16. ↑ O'Sullivan, Michael (November 20, 2023). "'Leave the World Behind': Real, and real scary". The Washington Post . Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  17. ↑ Ma, Wenlei (December 7, 2023). "Suspenseful movie taps into our anxieties". PerthNow . Archived from the original on December 30, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  18. ↑ Ebiri, Bilge (December 8, 2023). "Leave the World Behind Doesn't Know What to Do With the Apocalypse". Vulture . Archived from the original on December 30, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  19. ↑ Wilkinson, Alissa (December 7, 2023). "'Leave the World Behind' Review: It's the End of the World, I Guess". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 30, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  20. ↑ Rose, Lacey (December 20, 2023). "'Leave the World Behind' Director Sam Esmail Explains His Controversial Ending". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  21. ↑ Campione, Katie (December 12, 2023). "Leave The World Behind Dominates Netflix In Streaming Debut; Obliterated Takes No. 1 For TV". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on December 17, 2023. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  22. ↑ Seitz, Loree (January 30, 2024). "'Leave the World Behind' Enters Netflix's Most-Watched Films". TheWrap. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  23. ↑ "Top 10 Most Popular Movies on Netflix of All Time". www.netflix.com. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.