Based upon the novel Leave The World Behind by Rumaan Alam
Written For The Screen and Directed by Sam Esmail
**1/2 (two and a half stars)
RATED R
At the beginning of this year, I went to a screening of Writer/Director M. Night Shyamalan's "Knock At The Cabin," an apocalyptic thriller based upon the novel The Cabin At The End Of The World by Paul G. Tremblay. I, unfortunately, did not write a full review of that film at the time. But in short, I was deeply impressed by Shyamalan's vision, perhaps his darkest to date, as he wove the tale of a family upon a vacation in the remote titular cabin being visited, and then taken hostage, by four strangers--led by the hulking Dave Bautista, in a terrific performance--proclaiming that the end of the world is nigh and to cease the apocalypse, the captured family would have to sacrifice one of their own.
It was a wise and grim interior drama, during which we were unsure if the threat to the world's annihilation was either true or the product of insane delusions by the captors. Reminiscent of Writer/Director Jeff Nichols' grueling "Take Shelter" (2011), another, and wholly excellent, film where the lines between individual psychological breakdown and global extinction intersect and clash, Shyamalan improved upon past weaker efforts like his production of "Devil" (2010) and his previous directorial effort "Old" (2021) and created what felt to be a strong cousin to his superior "Signs" (2002) as his careful attention to character and all of their internalized nightmares threatened to make contact with existential ones.
So, I do find it telling that as we reach the end of this year, we find ourselves with another film where a a vacationing family is suddenly confronted with strangers and the potential end of the world with Writer/Director Sam Esmail's "Leave The World Behind," his adaptation of the Ramaan Aman novel. Unlike what Shyamalan presented with "Knock At The Cabin" and aside from the pedigree of talent on display, Esmail has delivered a decidedly disturbing yet peculiar film which works for sections while becoming shakier during others, ultimately growing to a climax that did leave me swinging between a sense of despair and...a dismissive "meh." It was a most as if it was afraid of it own subject matter when we really needed to take that swan dive into Hell.
"Leave The World Behind" stars Julia Roberts as the misanthropic Amanda Sandford, who impulsively arranges for a weekend getaway with her husband Clay (Ethan Hawke) and two teenaged children--Archie (Charlie Evans) and the "Friends" obsessed Rose (Farrah Mackenzie)--to a remote rental home in Long Island.
Upon arrival, all is not quiet as Amanda takes notice of a neighbor named Danny (Kevin Bacon) stocking up on supplies at a town grocery store. The TV and Wi-Fi signals are inoperable. The sudden presence of deer arrive in the backyard. And on a trip to a nearby beach, the family escapes the from the crash of an oil tanker washing ashore.
And then, late in the evening, after the kids have gone to bed, there is a knock upon the door...
Enter the elegant, tuxedo clad George H. Scott otherwise known as "G.H." (an excellent Mahershala Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha'la), proclaiming to be the owners of the house and have returned home for shelter due to a blackout in New York City. Amanda is skeptical, to say the least, while Clay is more welcoming and allows G,H, and Ruth to stay for the night.
I feel this is just enough plot description that I can reveal without inadvertently producing spoilers and of course, if you are going to see tis film, I wish for you to experience it as unencumbered as possible. That said, it is not a spoiler to reveal that the potential of the apocalypse is a more than turbulent plot point as well as discovering if the validity to the identities of G.H. and Ruth play out or not. Ultimately, Sam Esmail devises a film that is effective for many extended stretches, creating a chilling atmosphere that provides a telling reminder to a period of time and I am more than certain that we would like to forget.
In the months before the Covid-19 lockdown and the full arrival of the life altering pandemic, I vividly remember that life was feeling just as it is presented in the movies and the eerie mirroring was unsettling. I remember first hearing the news of this mysterious virus, first overseas and sooner than we could imagine, it was here in the United States. I remember taking one of my frequent trips to Walgreens to find people stocking up on paper towels and toilet paper, anchored by people's movements which were indeed more frantic and panicked in their intent. I remember being in my classroom, hearing reports about how the virus made its arrival upon the nearby college campus, notifications of school closings not far behind and Friday, March 6, 2020 serving as the last day of school before the inevitable lockdown became official.
Constantly watching the news reports which repeatedly confirmed that no one really knew anything about the virus and how to protect oneself, or if we could protect ourselves. The anxieties growing due to the uncertainties. The odd sense of relief felt when I, an introvert, did not have to leave the house for anything or interact with anyone except until the times when I did...and the anxieties contained in survival ratcheted upwards greatly. Then, the death tolls. And more and more death tolls.
I could go on and on but I am hoping that this short recap was able to snap you back directly into your own feelings during this period, feelings I think that Sam Esmail's "Leave The World Behind" tap into with clean, dark effectiveness. That feeling of the dark unknown, that creeping doom which arrives, seemingly without warning, upending you from life as you already know it to be is firmly etched in how we are presented into the lives of Amanda, Clay and their children.
What follows throughout the remainder of the film also mirrors our time with Covid from the distrust of each other and how Science became politicized and then, weaponized to make everyone in conflict with each other against empirical truths and more urgently, basic tools (i.e. a piece of cloth to wear over our mouths and noses) needed in order to help each other stay alive. For if Covid was to be the end of us, it really wouldn't have been the pandemic to wipe us out. The pandemic would have been the catalyst. Our distrust of each other, our selfishness, our ignorance and how far we are willing to go for self preservation at the full expense of anyone who happens to disagree...that would end us all. This is an aspect to "Leave The World Behind" that succeeds and fails.
We never truly know how we would react within facing a crisis until that crisis actually happens and Esmail provides a more than perceptive take as each characters' reactions and behaviors reveals something already present within them individually, whether desirable or not. I especially enjoyed watch Ethan Hawke's performance as Clay as we see what a life of privilege, adult gadget driven, fully untested, and being an insular academic can do and mean if the world is indeed falling apart.
In some respects, he reminded me a little of Dustin Hoffman's pacifist, academic character in Director Sam Peckinpah's ruthless, rapacious "Straw Dogs" (1971), as Clay could be a study of the inattentive, ineffective, overly cerebral, so-called emasculated 21st century males as compared to the more decisive characters portrayed by Mahershala Ali and Kevin Bacon. Hawke impressed me most during his final scenes where his self-revelations arrive in a verbal wellspring of shame and sad resignation and wisely, Esmail provides no sense of omniscient judgement. Yes, I do believe that Esmail could have probed further but this was one of the areas in which the film was indeed more successful upon an internal level
One area where it fails crucially and most obviously, is at its most provocatively central relationships, notably between G.H. and Ruth against Amanda, who proclaims at the film's outset, "I fucking hate people."
Certainly, it would not be unfair of Amanda to be suspicious of G.H. and Ruth with their unexpected arrival. But, that being said, and again, as we know from the beginning, Amanda does indeed hate people. Yet, in her exchanges with G.H. and Rose, she really hates Black people, apparent from the slew of microaggressions Amanda hurls their way and that Ruth recognizes immediately. OK, all of this is fair but I felt that if Sam Esmail was going to approach this particular arena, then, go for it! Which means, do not introduce a subject that you are afraid to tackle and therefore, take to the wall explicitly.
This particular quality made "Leave The World Behind" feel to be inauthentic as it felt to be to aware of the mainstream audience watching and not wanting to really upset anyone by having Julia Roberts say truly reprehensible things...especially as we still need to be on her side throughout. Yes, Roberts gives a good performance but I know she is capable of so much more and just imagine what she could have done if the script allowed Amanda to get as ugly as she is being implied.
Additionally, there are more aesthetic qualities to "Leave The World Behind" that kept pulling me out of the film just when it needed me to plunge deeper. Poor CGI moments, unconvincing stand offs, really questionable and shoe-horned usages of profanity from the younger characters and Esmail's needlessly acrobatic camera movements that swirl, circle, turn images completely sideways and for what? There is more than enough inherent drama and tension within the story itself and dexterous cinematography hurt more than it helped, especially when quite a lot of the film carried its share of striking, disturbing imagery (including one near the film's conclusion that was truly sobering), including the ambiguous ending that kinda...sorta...lands...maybe?
Sam Esmail's "Leave The World Behind" is a well meaning effort that just never trusts itself enough to delve as deeply and as darkly as it really needs to go in order to be one for the ages. Yet, as it stands, I do have to give it credit for being more than a cautionary tale and existing more as an explicit warning to a divided world that only needs to remain together to ensure its continuity.
For 2024 is almost here...and it is going to be a rough one.
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