Esmail delivers a believable apocalypse
Sam Esmail of Hoboken, N.J., and “Mr. Robot” fame just blew my mind with his must-see end of the world thriller “Leave the World Behind.” One of the strengths of the film, outside of a cast headed by Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Mahershala Ali and Kevin Bacon, is that it is so believable.
The bitterly cynical and admittedly misanthropic advertising analyst Amanda Sandford (Roberts) wakes up and decides that she and her family, including husband and professor of English and Media Studies Clay (Hawke) and adolescent children Archie (Charlie Evans) and younger Rose (Farrah Mackenzie) should leave their chic Park Slope, Brooklyn home and go to “the country” for a quick vacation.
The “country” is a few miles away in Long Island, where they get to stay in a beautiful home near the beach. “Leave the World Behind,” which is based on a 2020 novel by Rumaan Alam and produced by among others Barack and Michelle Obama, is nothing less than a modern-day version of Alfred Hitchcock’s unforgettable 1963 hit “The Birds.”
Strange things, to coin a phrase, begin happening.
A tanker runs aground on the beach. Deer begin to gather in the lavish backyard as if to deliver a message. An African American man in a tuxedo named George Scott (Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la Herrold), or so they say, knock on the door, claiming to be the home’s owners and ask to be given shelter. Something odd is going on. The Wi-Fi is out and New York City, which can be seen in the distance, has plunged into darkness. The TVs, computers and phones do not work. The music of Mac Quayle (“Mr. Robot”) rattles our nerves.
The suspense is intense. The words, “Especially white people,” are spoken.
Who’s responsible? Is it hackers, aliens, North Koreans, Russians? Are our enemies counting on us to turn on each other? Let me just say that the “Friends” theme song never sounded so bleak. Caution ahead.