End of days
LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND
Cert 15 ★★★★ In cinemas now, on Netflix from December 8
This film’s biggest laugh arrives in its opening scene. “I f***ing hate people,” reveals Amanda Sandford ( Julia Roberts) after waxing lyrical about the secluded house in the country she’s just rented for a weekend family getaway.
Unfortunately, she, husband Clay (Ethan Hawke) and their teenage kids Rose and Archie (Farrah Mackenzie and Charlie Evans) don’t quite manage to leave the world and its annoying humans behind on their stay in upstate New York.
When their mobile phones cut out, they look for a news programme on TV, only to find an “Unrecognized Emergency Alert” on every channel. Clearly, something terrible has happened. But what? A cyber attack, a nuclear disaster, or a full-blown invasion?
Earlier that day, they were lazing about on the beach, watching the shape of an oil tanker slowly grow bigger and bigger on the horizon. It’s a smart visual metaphor for the growing sense of unease. Only when the tanker starts to plough through the sand do the bathers drop their paperbacks and run for cover.
For 14-year-old Rose, it definitely is the end of the world. She was five minutes into the final episode of Friends when all the broadband signals went dead. Will she ever find out if Rachel and Ross get back together?
The tension ratchets up another notch when a well-dressed man, GH Scott (Mahershala Ali), and his twentysomething daughter Ruth (Myha’la Herrold) show up at the front door, claiming to be the owners of the house.
Clay says they can stay the night but Amanda is suspicious.
There are some memorable set pieces in Sam Esmail’s stylish adaptation of Rumaan Alam’s best-selling novel, including two aeroplane crashes and a pile-up of selfdriving cars.
However, it’s the sharp writing and powerful acting which make the human drama so compelling.
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Is it a cyber attack, a nuclear disaster, or a full-blown invasion?