"Leave The World Behind" teases us with a mysterious story, but it leaves us hanging by not diving deep.
Director: Sam Esmail
Rating: 4.5/10
"Leave The World Behind" (2023) might have been one of the year's most anticipated films, especially with a name like Obama attached to its production, but the film fails to deliver on multiple fronts. It's another dystopian end-of-the-world tale, but it feels half-baked, leaving audiences in the dark about what's truly happening and why.
The movie attempts to follow in the footsteps of its apocalyptic predecessors but falls short of the mark. The disappointment is visible, considering the buzz surrounding it—buzz that might have set expectations unreasonably high for a film that ultimately settles into mediocrity with pedestrian storytelling.
From the start, there are glimmers of potential. The film begins with tension and an air of mystery, but it quickly loses its way. The storytelling feels sacrificed; camera work is shaky and the script makes poor use of the material at hand. For example, there's a scene where the characters are awkwardly introduced to a sense of looming disaster, but the dialogue is so contrived that it pulls you right out of the experience.
The cast, brimming with talent, ends up wandering through a maze of underdeveloped plot points and unbelievable character arcs. Instead of a gripping tale of survival and human nature, we're given a series of unlikeable characters spouting dialogue that ranges from pretentiously pseudo-intellectual to bafflingly simplistic. Take, for instance, a scene where Ethan Hawke's character jumps from discussing Mesoamerican mythology to lamenting his own uselessness—two statements that feel disconnected from each other and from the character himself.
As the movie progresses, it becomes clear that it's neither the sharp societal critique nor the profound commentary on human behavior that it tries to be. It mirrors the sense of calamity and chaos we know from the world around us, and yet, it manages to dilute these themes, watering them down to a point where any potential impact is lost. Even the hints of M. Night Shyamalan's influence do little to save the film; it's a hit-or-miss affair that, sadly, ends up being a miss.
"Leave The World Behind" might disguise itself as a smart, critical take on societal collapse, but in truth, it's a dumb film. The ending, in particular, is a source of frustration. It's abrupt and unsatisfying, leaving viewers with more questions than answers—a move that might work for some stories, but here it feels like a cop-out. It's as if the filmmakers decided to end on a note of ambiguity not to provoke thought but to hide the absence of a coherent conclusion. Well, it's what Director Sam Esmail is known for.
In the end, despite the talent involved and the relevance of its themes, "Leave The World Behind" is a film that leaves us feeling empty, as though we've been running in circles. It's a stark reminder that not all movies with high-profile backing and a capable cast can hit the mark, and sometimes, the result is just an incoherent and unrealized potential. I guess no one told them that life was gonna be this way--cue FRIENDS theme song.
