Leave the world behind sweeps away Netflix. The new film from the creator of Mr. Robot bases its ability to intrigue on what it doesn’t show, rather than what it says on screen. So, what appears to be yet another recreation of a possible apocalyptic event ends up being a strange mixture of collective paranoia and prejudice. But apart from this, the director is convinced that the story, based on the novel of the same name by Rumaan Alam, is controversial in all aspects.
First, just like in the book, the plot doesn’t do a very good job of explaining what’s going on. He’s not really interested in describing an event that will obviously destroy humanity. Instead, he focuses all his energy on describing how Amanda (Julia Roberts) and Clay (Ethan Hawke) decide to leave town. This is to satisfy her need for isolation and his general feeling of despondency. The film then plays with subtext about the couple’s economic and social status. This suggests that it will be important to understand what will happen. She is an ambitious manager, and he is an English teacher. Therefore, although they have a life in which they can afford certain luxuries, they are not rich.
That’s when the script, also written by Esmail, takes its strangest turn. This is the assumption that everything that happens many miles away, like a wave, reaches the isolated place where the couple and their family are. Little by little, the feeling that horror is approaching – and sooner or later will be inevitable – fills everything. Especially when George (Mahershala Ali) and her daughter Ruth (Micha’la Herrold) suddenly appears to explain what appears to be no clear definition. The film is filled with phrases that hint that something is happening. What started out as a power outage is turning into a potentially catastrophic situation at an alarming rate. However, there is nothing to demonstrate its scope or consequences, adding to the overall sense of bewilderment.
A conflict that was never clarified
It is clear that Esmail wants to emulate the tension of the novel on which he builds the plot, with a growing sense of anxiety, without having anything clear to trigger it. But the director lacks the courage when it comes to creating real tension over an unseen fact that must be determined through the reactions of his characters. But Leave the World Behind is more interested in creating an atmosphere of disaster, and at times it succeeds. The problem is that the conflict depends too much on the fact that too little has been discovered to resolve it. function. At least the hint is that the film seems to be taking a blind turn around its premise. In other words, who to trust when the end of the world approaches.
What’s tiresome is that, at two hours and slightly longer, the story fails to delve into any of its themes. The implication is that mistrust is racial, discriminatory or class-based. But the story immediately moves to another place and hints that there is a mystery to be solved. In more capable hands, this tangle of apocalypse clichés could have been so confusing.
And again the end of the world
In Esmail, which seems to do a better job with stories that can be explored by extending the serialized format, this becomes an unnecessary buildup. The film says again and again that death is approaching, that destruction is near. He also doesn’t provide explanations and puts pressure on his characters.
But the formula doesn’t work at all. The script does not develop any intrigue, much less general melancholy. As the characters speak tirelessly and empty-handedly, it is clear that Esmail wants the audience to empathize with their fear. However, not only does this fail to be achieved, but already in the last segment – the most tedious and repetitive – it becomes obvious that the plot needs to move forward somewhere. However, Leave the world behind It becomes redundant and clumsily emphasizes its few ideas. Of half-explanations and insinuations, with the clear intention that the public fill in the gaps as best they can.
The film became a phenomenon
An interesting fact about the film is the number of conspiracy theories created around it. From mistrust among some of the public that Michelle and Barack Obama’s production company is responsible for its production, to speculation about a mysterious event. Social media has been filled with comments about the hidden allegory of destruction that appears to be at the heart of the feature film.
Without a doubt, one of the few points in Esmail’s favor, turning the plot into a space full of questions that can be interpreted in any way. But is this enough to tell a good story? That’s the big question that leaves behind a film whose final scenes have something urgent and urgent about them. Not to close his premise – which he never does – but to create an atmosphere of a half-solved mystery.
However, what’s hidden isn’t all that interesting, and Esmail doesn’t communicate it accordingly. Which makes “Leaving the World Behind” sort of like pieces of different films and plots mixed into a script that doesn’t make much sense. Of course, at the disposal of the collective imagination is perhaps its highest point. And this is the main reason why you should watch this film.
Source: Hiper Textual
