Given how many films Netflix releases per year, for every May December, there is a Leave the World Behind, a movie with award-winning ingredients that ultimately does not quite match up to the future Oscar winners of the year. Luckily, there is still enough craftsmanship in this book adaptation to warrant a watch.
Premise of ‘Leave the World Behind’
Leave the World Behind finds two families on the outskirts of a sudden and complete internet shutdown, perhaps across the globe. Amanda and Clay continue their vacation at a luxurious rental house until the alleged owner and his daughter appear, seeking haven from the blackout they claim to have seen. With no official proof of ownership, the families instantly distrust one another, and apocalypse panic ensues.
Roberts, Ali, and Hawke Lead a Brilliant Cast in a Decent Movie
For all of the critical world’s focus on writers and directors, cinema and television have built their empires on actors, the faces at the fore of visual media. Perhaps that is why the industry undervalues the creatives behind the camera since even the best of the best remain overlooked. Mr. Robot writer/director/creator Sam Esmail’s new book adaptation for Netflix proves he has not earned the elite status beyond his great show. Though Leave the World Behind has an appealing premise and recognizable actors, all his efforts do not quite elevate the source material beyond its base appeal.
Mahershala Ali, Myha’la, Julia Roberts, and Ethan Hawke in ‘Leave the World Behind’
Seeing this cast in a thriller is easily the main draw of Leave the World Behind. Ethan Hawke, Julia Roberts, and Mahershala Ali have not seen these intense roles in at least a few years, and each gives their character enough individuality beyond the page. The younger star Myha’la, taking another glowering role following Black Mirror and Bodies Bodies Bodies, shines in a capacity balanced with the more well-known players, but the unnecessary length and ending of this apocalyptic mystery disservices the work these actors put in both separately and as an ensemble.
Squandering the chance to make Rumaan Alam’s novel even more cutting, Esmail’s vision for Leave the World Behind relies almost entirely on stuff we have seen before. About equal in feel to M. Night Shyamalan’s similarly apocalyptic book adaptation Knock at the Cabin but not nearly as ambitious as last year’s Barbarian, fans of these types of genre films might get a superficial kick out of Leave the World Behind and potential naysayers should have no trouble avoiding it.
Leave the World Behind is streaming now on Netflix.
