Leave the World Behind (2023)
5/10
I’ve never judged a movie based on its executive producers, but when those executive producers are Barack and Michelle Obama, it’s difficult not to. The former U.S. president and first lady are a brand unto themselves. Anything they associate their name with will reflect that brand. So it is with Leave the World Behind—produced for Netflix by the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions company, and based on the 2020 novel of the same name by Rumaan Alam. I haven’t read Alam’s book. But having a child-killing war criminal and his wife produce the film adaptation of your novel is not a good omen for that movie’s content.
Amanda (Julia Roberts) and Clay Sandford (Ethan Hawke) are wealthy professionals who take their children on an impromptu weekend vacation by renting out a house on Long Island. Strange things start happening after an oil tanker runs aground while they’re relaxing on the beach. Late that night, George H. Scott (Mahershala Ali), who prefers to be called G.H., and his daughter Ruth (Myha'la) show up on their doorstep claiming the house is theirs, and that a blackout in the city compelled them to seek shelter. While Amanda, the consummate Karen, is suspicious, Clay takes a more relaxed attitude and allows them to sleep in the house. With TV and Wi-Fi down, local wildlife exhibiting strange behaviour, planes crashing, and periodic loud shrill noises, it gradually becomes clear some cataclysmic event has taken place.
Sam Esmail, best known for the TV series Mr. Robot, directs and writes the film. He provides an engaging sense of mystery that keeps the viewer as interested as the characters in wanting to learn the truth about what’s going on. It’s impossible to discuss the answer without spoiling the ending, which is a bit of a letdown. Suffice it to say the answer very much reflects the Obama brand and that of the Democrats: nationalist bromides about the need for America to overcome its divisions, which are rooted in the same capitalist system Obama and the Democrats defend; imperialism, American exceptionalism, and xenophobic paranoia.
The characters are mostly upper class urbanites, with the exception of Danny (Kevin Bacon), G.H.’s housing contractor and a right-wing survivalist. The spectre of racism rears its head with Amanda’s kneejerk distrust of G.H. and Ruth, but they eventually accept and bond with each other. Even Danny momentarily overcomes his individualist paranoia. The moral of the story is that evil foreign enemies will try to exploit divisions within the United States to destroy it from within, so by golly, Americans need to come together. The Democrat stump speech writes itself.
So much of this film feels like it’s channeling the self-perception of the Obamas. You have characters who embody different aspects of Barack Obama, like Clay trying to quit smoking, or G.H. being an affable, polished Black man (he first shows up in a tuxedo) nevertheless greeted with suspicion by certain white people. Some dialogue has the air of a confession. “We fuck each other over all the time, without even realizing it,” Amanda says at one point. “We fuck every living thing on this planet over and think it'll be fine because we use paper straws and order free-range chicken. And the sick thing is, I think deep down we know we're not fooling anyone.” That certainly sounds like something liberal politicians such as Obama and Justin Trudeau, who pose as environmentalists while ramping up fossil fuel production and accelerating climate change, might say were they ever to reveal some internal guilt. Amanda also admits, “I fucking hate people.” No doubt.
Like the Obamas and Democrats, Leave the World Behind is a slick, well-crafted corporate product with dwindling appeal once you understand what it really stands for. I’m willing to cut the movie a bit more slack, since it’s decent entertainment for much of the running time with fewer real-world consequences. Still, if you’re looking for a passable diversion on Netflix, I’d stick with Rebel Moon.