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With: Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha'la, Farrah Mackenzie, Charlie Evans, Kevin Bacon, Alexis Rae Forlenza, Vanessa Aspillaga
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Written by: Sam Esmail, based on a novel by Rumaan Alam
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Directed by: Sam Esmail
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MPAA Rating: R for language, some sexual content, drug use and brief bloody images
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Running Time: 141
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Date: 11/22/2023
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Leave the World Behind (2023)
Cyber Bites
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
Making crafty use of editing, music, and composition, this pessimistic thriller is more about human foibles than anything thrilling, but it's so well made that it easily catches us in its grip.
Amanda (Julia Roberts) and Clay Sandford (Ethan Hawke) decide to take their teen children Archie (Charlie Evans) and Rose (Farrah Mackenzie) for a getaway at a luxurious rental house. Their relaxing time takes a turn when the internet goes down and their devices stop working. Then, G. H. Scott (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha'la), the owners of the house, arrive. They are apologetic, but also in need of a place to stay. Clay welcomes them, but Amanda doesn't trust them.
Even stranger things continue to occur, including a random screeching noise, weird animal behavior, mysterious fliers dropped from a drone, and self-driving cars causing pileups. Things become serious when the words "cyber attack" come fleetingly across a fuzzy radio broadcast, and when Archie comes down with a frightening illness. Thus, they have no choice but to go to survivalist Billy (Kevin Bacon) for help.
Adapted from a novel by Rumaan Alam and written and directed by Sam Esmail — creator of the TV programs Homecoming and Mr. Robot — Leave the World Behind feels lean and taut, even at an ample 141 minutes. It doesn't waste time over-explaining or showing anything that doesn't need to be shown.
Many moments — including an early one in which an oil tanker slowly, slowly heads toward a populated beach — feel startlingly fresh. Another sequence expertly cuts back and forth between three events, as characters explore their surroundings and each tries to figure out what's going on. The tension mounts so perfectly that it's exciting.
The performances by all involved are superb, sharp without being hysterical. The dialogue is equally strong, as it unpacks the meaning of all this harrowing mystery. It essentially boils down to human beings' relationships with technology and with other human beings, and the conclusion is that we can be rather awful to each other. But Leave the World Behind knocks us for a loop with its just-right ending scene, ironically both brutal in its commentary and a bit comforting as well.
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