For quite some time now, it has almost been a kind of weird tradition for Netflix to release a post-apocalyptic end-of-the-world movie around Christmas time. Somehow the executives there have this strange opinion that this particular film genre would be the perfect match for the cozy and cheerful winter holidays.
You’d only have to look back over the last few years. In 2018 there was the woefully underwhelming, but very successful horror thriller Bird Box, directed by highly acclaimed Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier. Or the almost single-handedly made – and unfortunately botched – George Clooney flick The Midnight Sky from 2020. We’ve also got the biting 2021 climate change and fake news satire Don’t Look Up, directed by Adam McKay. Or the arthouse indie drama White Noise from 2022, in which writer-director Noah Baumbach portrays the anxieties and traumas of an American suburban family in the midst of a chemical disaster.
The year 2023 was no exception, of course, and with Leave the World Behind, the next Netflix-produced doomsday scenario arrived just in time for the festive season.
However, there was something different this time. This film directed by Sam Esmail – best known for his series Mr. Robot – is stricken of any of the thrill or fun of past Netflix releases. Esmail’s film is a serious and deeply unsettling nightmare that gets frighteningly close to the timeline we are currently living in.
Leave the World Behind is a cinematic stage play, mainly set in an elegant Long Island estate rented by a New York couple named Amanda and Clay Sandford (Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke), who plan to treat themselves to a leisurely weekend with their children. But the moment they arrive, the internet connection goes down, and soon after, the supposed owners of the house, G. H. Scott and his daughter Ruth (Mahershala Ali and Myha’la Herrold), show up at their door asking for refuge after an alleged cyberattack has shut down the entire island of Manhattan. It’s not long until tensions arise and mistrust spreads, fueled by racism and generational differences.
When watching the film, you can’t help but be reminded of the Corona lockdowns. The confined setting, the harrowing dread, the human conflicts. No one seems to know what exactly is going on in the world and the threat seems to be omnipresent. The few but very effective scenes set in the nearby surroundings shock with disturbing images. Added to this is a seemingly unleashed camera handled by cinematographer Tod Campbell and also a very creepy and ominous score by American composer Mac Quayle, who’s built his music on Messiaen’s “Mode 3” and only made use of nine different notes for the entirety of his score.
I’m not a music theorist, but I’ve been told that this technique was used very effectively in the soundtrack. What was also used effectively was the names of Barack and Michelle Obama in the marketing campaign. The former POTUS and his wife were the executive producers of the film and were instrumental, it is said, in bringing Rumaan Alam’s 2020 novel to life on screen. And that’s exactly what is kind of unsettling. The movie is about a nationwide cyber attack or blackout of some kind and it depicts somewhat realistically what might happen in such an event. Having a former world leader help you revise your script will inevitably make you wonder what nuggets of classified intel – to which only world leaders have access to – was potentially involved in shaping your movie. This thought gives the following quote from the final act of the film a worrisome tinge:
G. H.: A conspiracy theory about a shadowy group of people running the world is far to lazy of an explanation… especially when the truth is much scarier.
Amanda: What is the truth?
G. H.: No one is in control. No one is pulling the strings.
It’s a chilling thought when you think about it, especially in this day and age…
Thank God Netflix is having our backs! While they gave the world a much-needed breather in 2024, it seems the show must go on undeterred in 2025 as they bring us yet another slice of apocalyptic entertainment to distract our sorry little minds from the world’s calamities. This time it’s the Koreans’ turn with the recently announced The Great Flood, starring Squid Game star Park Hae-Soo. The Spice Must Flow!
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