Should you Leave the World Behind
Leave the World Behind: Movie Reivew
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Sigh … is a review ever good when it starts with a sigh? Well according to the critics and movie watchers, we probably should leave behind Leave the World Behind. As of the writing of this post, It has received a 6.7 from IMDb, 75% from Rotten Tomatoes, 67% from Metacritic, and 54% of Google users gave it a thumbs up. This time I tend to agree. The sigh is because I really hate when a movie has all the elements for the making of a great experience and it turns out not to meet the mark.
Leave the World Behind follows a family that booked a vacation home away from the city for a little rest and relaxation when an unexplained blackout happens and they along with the vacation homeowner have to figure out what the heck is going on.
Off rip, I am watching this because the cast is amazing. Kevin Bacon plays the conspiracy theorist neighbor, Julia Roberts plays the mother, Amanda, Ethan Hawke plays Clay and Mahershala Ali plays, George aka GH, the homeowner. Rounding out the cast are the children played by Farrah Mackenzi, Charlie Evans, and Myha’la Herrold who all held their own acting-wise.
Needless to say, the acting was on point. Actually, the acting was above point as one would expect it to be and it should be. The scenery was lovely. I always appreciate a pretty modern-styled home plopped in the middle of a very scenic woods. What could possibly go wrong? The music and sound effects are worth mentioning because along with the pacing they complimented each other and kept me pulled in and on my toes. The suspense and anticipation created were well done and probably why I kept on watching. There were so many aspects that I enjoyed about the film. Although some of the characters annoyed me to no end, overall I found it was well put together. Where the film missed the mark was everything else.
The plot and the storyline should have been a slam dunk but it did not do it for me. I feel like it was a cross between social commentary and poor attemtp at explaining some political aspect. What were they trying to say? There were so many things that they tried to explain that did not work and things that they did not explain at all. They also left things open for the viewer to draw their own conclusion about which sometimes would work in other movies, but because I thought there were so many holes already, it did not work here. Leave the World Behind did tackle common apocalyptic movie themes such as man versus man, man versus nature, and obviously man versus machine.
I really wanted this to be an alien invasion or at the very least give us more than someone speculating on what they think might have been the cause of the mayhem. I think it would have been a better outcome. Oh ya'll remember the television show Revolution? It had a similiar concept about a technology blackout including electiricity which would have probably followed had this movie not ended. Now keep in mind this was adapted from a book. I don't think I am curious enough to read the book, but I am sure it is better than the movie or at least should be.
I should give it a 6 but I give it a 7 because of the solid acting and decent work on keeping the suspense.
Spoilers
I did not particularly care of the scene when Amanda was having drinks with GH and they started dancing. How are you going to get uncomfortably close with someone who was just practically shitting on you and you do not even know if your wife is alive. It gave me the icks. Which then turned to the scene with Clay and Ruth. It did not give me the ick but I did not like that it was happening at all. Why the hell did you go and vape with this chick and not talk about the crazy mess you saw with your wife?
Ruth- GH’s daughter was equally annoying although she too was on point because you know Amanda was sizing them up big time because they were black especially when she was making slick comments about what they do and their fancy car. Again, both had a healthy skepticism. Ruth though was just unlikable for a time. But I can see how her character was set up to shake things up and be a point of challenging the norm.
The kids- Archie who was the son was a shit kid. I feel like his teeth falling out was payback for him being a jerk to his little sister. He was just a space holder to move the plot along but I do not feel he even did that. Rosie, the sister, at first was cool then she started going on and on about the TV show Freinds and doing stupid kid shit. I was hoping they were going to do more with her, especially after her interaction with the deers but she was a dud in a sense. That whole running-off thing really made me mad. I see in the end she found the house with the nice bunker and a mess load of DVDs to keep the family entertained. She finally got her wish to watch Friends. And we can assume that both families will end up there with enough food and supplies to last through this horror.
Consipracy theorist- Danny was ready for whatever. He had his supplies and his gun and his medicine and his only concern was keeping his family safe. He did not care if he knew GH, we are not freinds at this time. This was a wake up call for GH who realized that it's about to be a serious problem because people are going to care even less about others. This goes side by side with Amanda's view on how people really are when she is explaining her miserable self to Ruth. At the end, Danny ended up taking the money for the medicine to save Archie but who knows if he will really need it at the end of the day. But cash may be king since the world has fallen apart.
Questions
Where did the Thorns go? Did they die? Will they make it back to claim their home and beautiful bunker?
What the heck is up with the animals? No explanation.
What was up with the lady on the road? Why was she carrying on?
Is it a war? What is the US government doing? Are they the ones that left the world behind?
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