Leave the World Behind?

The world has enough film reviews, and I’m not typically drawn to those discussions. I encountered a notable exception early this week when my spouse encouraged me to see a specific new release. Her father and two brothers both worked in the film industry, but she wanted my opinion on the content, and that doesn’t happen very often.

On that recommendation, I viewed the Netflix film “Leave the World Behind,” based on a 2020 book of the same name by Ramann Alam and directed by Sam Esmail. It’s a military invasion film in the tradition of “The Day After” or “Red Dawn,” but there are no depictions of American retaliation, and any post-apocalyptic imagery is limited.

Instead, the film depicts the human dramas that unfold as an attack on the U.S. progresses from an initial sequence of communication interruptions toward post-attack chaos and survival. Even then, the chaos remains minimal. The setting is a peaceful, upscale community in Long Island, where the disruption seems ominously mild compared to the mushroom clouds in New York City.

By the way, I choose to use the term “film” deliberately. I know that films aren’t made with film anymore, but I have never understood why we call them “movies.” If we use antiquated slang for what was once a new technology (moving pictures), shouldn’t we be calling them “talkies?” 

Regardless of what we call our digital cinema these days, I watched it as instructed. What I found refreshing about the storyline was that, although it included some stereotypical socio-political tropes, it did so somewhat evenly, reflecting prejudices from both sides of the aisle.

For instance, the person depicted as the only survivalist in the film is a working-class guy who is a bit rough around the edges. He is predictably reclusive but is generally consistent with the people I have known. In my experience, “preppers” tend to lean conservative and are usually somewhat disenfranchised. They are outsiders who view calamity as an equalizer. The person who is prepared when the kale hits the Cuisinart gets the last laugh. The meek inherit the earth.

The film captures as much, but not in a complimentary way. We are, after all, dealing with Hollywood, and they don’t look kindly on that culture. It should also surprise no one that a US flag is displayed prominently on the prepper’s house. I would have to watch it again to confirm, but I suspect it’s the only patriotic symbol we see in the entire film.

As a political counterpoise to our prepper, another one of the characters is a slightly militant, tattooed millennial who sees racism where it doesn’t exist. As the plot develops, the black and white families thrown together by circumstance not only grow to depend on each other, but at least one close call with interracial romance ensues. It’s not a direct attack on “woke” culture, but the prejudice perceived by the young character is shown definitively to be unsubstantiated, and in retrospect, her militancy looks like youthful posturing.

In another twist, the upper-class white and black fathers join forces to beg the shotgun-wielding prepper for medical supplies. The shift in power plays out at considerable length, but our beloved, patriotic survivalist accepts cash for goods, which was a letdown and perhaps a bit unrealistic. 


The politically hawkish among us will take interest in a few details. The origins of the attack are unknown, but leaflets dropped on the east coast appear to be the work of radical Islamist origin, while leaflets being dropped on the west coast are suspected to be North Korean. Neither is confirmed as authentic, so the specter of a false flag operation is suggested, and the mystery remains.

Fans of the military-industrial complex will be even more delighted by the depiction of sound as a weapon of mass destruction. A reference is made to the well-documented usage of weaponized sound in Cuba, sometimes known as “Havana Syndrome.” The scale and intensity depicted are greater than anything we have seen, but who knows what secret projects are being developed in the skunkworks of the American defense industry?

The answer to that question is found in the credits, where the names of Barack and Michelle Obama appear. They reportedly took an interest in the book and were instrumental in bringing it to the big (or small) screen. I’m pleased to know that a somewhat politically balanced script would be supported by a prominent political machine of the left, but I’m far more intrigued knowing that a depiction of futuristic weaponry has the blessings of someone who has first-hand knowledge of what exists in our secret arsenal.

At this point, I suppose I am expected to offer a spoiler alert, but I won’t. The ending raises more questions than answers, and the internet is rife with speculation about its meaning. My best guess is that the ending leaves room for a sequel, if not a miniseries. Should you watch it? The film won’t change your life, but there are worse ways to spend two hours.