Taglines: There’s no going back to normal.
Leave the World Behind movie storyline. Bearing grim news of an unknown enemy and the shocking certainty that the city succumbs to chaos, a sharp-dressed stranger and his young companion disrupt Amanda’s and Clay’s much-needed family vacation. But the information the unwanted couple brings is inconceivable. Now, a complex, multilevel mystery unfolds before everyone’s eyes, whether they like it or not.
After all, the unsuspecting tourists have already encountered a series of mysterious, logic-defying incidents during their brief stay. As a result, vague disbelief and a palpable sense of threat ratchet up the tension, rendering modern technology unreliable. And the question remains: in a rapidly disintegrating world where nothing makes sense, what can you do to protect your own and what used to be your cherished ordinary life?
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 try to make sense of a rapid breakdown in phones, television, and other common technology which points to a potential cataclysm. The subtext throughout the film intersects with racism and class bias.
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. It was released in limited theaters on November 22, before streaming Netflix on December 8, 2023.
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.”
About the Story
Misanthrope Amanda Sandford arranges an impromptu weekend getaway at a vacation rental with her husband Clay and their kids, Archie and Rose. After arriving at the rental, Amanda goes to the store. 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 running aground. 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, the television switches to displaying an emergency warning from the 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 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 much larger herd of deer standing 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 gets lost and exits his car to look around, missing a few seconds of clear reception on the radio broadcasting news of the cyber attack having catastrophic environmental effects in the South. He finds a Spanish-speaking woman seeking help, but abandons her and eventually encounters a drone dropping leaflets written in Arabic. 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 before narrowly escaping another airliner crashing.
Rose walks with Archie in the 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 thinks 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.
Leave the World Behind (2023)
Directed by: Sam Esmail
Starring: Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha’la, Farrah Mackenzie, Charlie Evans, Kevin Bacon, Vanessa Aspillaga, Alexis Rae Forlenza, Josh Drennen, Erica Cho, Jesse King
Screenplay by: Sam Esmail
Production Design by: Anastasia White
Cinematography by: Tod Campbell
Film Editing by: Lisa Lassek
Costume Design by: Catherine Marie Thomas
Set Decoration by: David Schlesinger
Art Direction by: Christine Foley
Music by: Mac Quayle
MPAA Rating: R for language, some sexual content, drug use and brief bloody images.
Distributed by: Netflix
Release Date: October 25, 2023 (AFI), November 22, 2023 (United States)
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