Leave the World Behind
★★ 1/2
The biggest question that I had after this film: Did Rose recognize her mom when she watched, "The One After the Superbowl?"
Despite an all-star cast, Leave the World Behind drops the ball on a tremendous premise. Post apocalyptic films such as this always have resonate themes that they are going for. As this white and black family are forced to understand the destruction of America within the confounds of an isolated, fancy vacation home, at some point I knew that this story had the answer the question, "Why?" I can see how the answer will be a big payoff for some, but I was more-so left with the feeling of, "Meh."
I have to admit, I was drawn into the film and the suspense built up by director Sam Esmail kept me invested, it's just that there are character decisions that just didn't make sense to me. There are many emotional bridges that are built that just wouldn't hold up to an inspection. It's fun to see this cast come together (Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha’la Herrold, Kevin Bacon) and you can tell that they are enjoying playing off one another. Leave the World Behind is just a tad too much. Too many camera tilts. Too many deer. Too many teeth.
