Director: Sam Esmail
Writers: Rumaan Alam, Sam Esmail
Stars: Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke
Synopsis: A family’s getaway to a luxurious rental home takes an ominous turn when a cyberattack knocks out their devices, and two strangers appear at their door.
In film criticism, there are many overused phrases. Let’s take a look at one of them: Style over substance. Many critics, amateur and professional, overuse this term, usually when they fail to understand a film and feel like it is all for looks. But, of course, style is important! Film is a visual medium, after all. One director who I have seen attacked for this is Guillermo del Toro, most notably during the aftermath of the release of Crimson Peak, a film with plenty of substance. But we are not here to talk about GDT, unfortunately. We are here to discuss the work of Sam Esmail, Leave the World Behind. And to put it succinctly, you, Sam Esmail are no Guillermo del Toro.
Leave the World Behind follows a near-unlikeable family, the Sandfords, on their impromptu vacation to a beach house. Amanda (Julia Roberts) wakes up her husband, Clay (Ethan Hawke), telling him that they are packed and ready to go, once the kids wake up. She also spouts a detailed, wordy monologue about how much she despises humanity, because of course she does. The family arrives at a gaudy, ostentatious house and makes themselves comfortable. This is all fine and good until the owner (or is he?), G.H. (Mahershala Ali) arrives with his daughter Ruth (Myha’la) asking to stay because a blackout happened in the city.
So back to style. Esmail, along with cinematographer Tod Campbell, seriously need to calm down. Esmail seems quite aware that he is working with a beautiful set, but not every camera motion needs to be kinetic and swinging across or through floors, ceilings, and staircases. Speaking of things that are extra, the score from Mac Quayle is obvious to the point of annoyance. In case you were wondering if this was a thriller, this Us wannabe makes that perfectly clear. Esmail is fortunate that he has been able to attract top level talented actors, it’s just a shame about the lines that his and Rumaan Alam’s script forces upon them.
Almost none of the plot, focused on cyberattacks from an unknown entity, works in the least, except for when it allows for private moments between actors, particularly Roberts and Ali. G.H. solemnly discussing the possibilities of the end of life as we know it, his private focus on protecting his family, all while coming to grips with the likelihood of his wife dying, is certainly the high point of the film. Unfortunately, those high points are few and far between. Roberts overacts her way through numerous nonsensical moments, while Hawke is his slacker dad self. The kids aren’t given much to do. Rose (Farrah Mackenzie) apparently loves Friends and “the Sorkin Years” of The West Wing. How old is this kid? And her older brother Archie (Charlie Evans) is apparently only present to be petulant and have bad things happen to him. It’s all just seriously exhausting and not in any kind of thought provoking way.
When news of this film broke, I found myself surprised that this gathering of Oscar Winners (Roberts, Ali) and nominees (Hawke) were involved in a movie that was not getting any kind of theatrical window. Well, that will show me. A spectacular cadre of performers does not necessarily lead to a good, or even watchable movie. I would say that the script needed another pass, but in terms of pseudo-apocalyptic movies, Leave the World Behind is barely a blip. There are only mildly interesting ideas, but they have all been done better previously and likely will be done better in the future. Esmail’s film is all style, no substance, and a waste of talent.
