Leave the World Behind

AMKC · 03-12-2023 01:13PM #1

https://youtu.be/cMVBi_e8o-Y?si=HzDUnUK9Hku5MR3U

This looks like it could be good. Drops this week sometime.

Edit: could a mod move this to films. I just realised it's a film lol not a series.

~Rebel~ · 04-12-2023 05:51AM

One of my favorite books of the past few years - really hoping the movie doesn’t overdramatize the quiet understated dread of the story, as that’s what makes it so good.

pixelburp · 04-12-2023 09:33AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121451327#Comment_121451327

A difficult thing to translate from the subtly of text to the visual emphaiss of film- and the trailer does seem to lean into the idea of these folk experiencing the apocalypse as it's happening.

I do like Sam Esmail though; I checked out of Mr. Robot at season 2 TBH but I do like the guy's slightly off-kilter style; and this is a reminder that somewhere in his slush pile of apparently active projects sits a sequel/reboot/nobody's-quite-sure of Battlestar Galactica!

Ryaller · 04-12-2023 11:26AM

It is shockingly bad, even by Netflix standards. So many plot points are introduced that go absolutely nowhere. I thought M Night Shyamalan's The Happening was donkey-brained codswallop, but this gives it a run for it's money.

flasher0030 · 04-12-2023 11:13PM

Seems to have generally got very good reviews. I think that will be my Friday night treat.

aidanodr · 08-12-2023 05:43PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121455416#Comment_121455416

RTE review is good

https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2023/1207/1420428-leave-the-world-behind-is-catnip-for-doomsday-preppers/

Electric Nitwit · 08-12-2023 05:57PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121471964#Comment_121471964

That's interesting. I saw Julia Roberts on Graham Norton and she sold the film well, but I read the empire review and, ummm...

"Leave The World Behind feels like a bad concatenation of Shyamalan’s last two features processed through ChatGPT."

https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/leave-the-world-behind/

Dial Hard · 08-12-2023 08:29PM

The book left an awful lot unsaid and unresolved and that tends not to translate particularly well to film, which may explain why this doesn't quite seem to be working for people. I will give it a go tonight, though.

Dial Hard · 09-12-2023 01:11PM

Yeah this was like Jordan Peele on steroids compared to the book. Not an ounce of subtlety, really. Julia Roberts' character isn't nearly such an obviously hostile geebag in the book. The dread and second-guessing everything builds much more slowly. You never actually find out what's happening, there's no real conclusion or ending to speak of.

That said, this was perfectly enjoyable Friday night fodder, if nowhere near as clever as it would like to think.

Akrasia · 10-12-2023 10:40AM

I think I get what they were trying to do, but so ham fisted at times

I actually prefer 'the happening' because at least that was funny

pixelburp · 10-12-2023 10:37PM

Man this was a good example of how the craft of good, creeping tension can be undercut by eventual, underwhelming release.

The first hour was fantastic: the visuals really tight and formal (jesus Esmail likes the slow zooms in), the aural landscape constantly dissonant and unsettling, and the human aspect a naturally broiling oven of paranoia and suspicion. Little moments of the uncanny like with the deer were a touch cliché but I think they worked, just about.

Then when the wheels came off as more and more "things" happened and by the end I was just a bit underwhelmed by what was perhaps an excessive reveal of what was happening. Add to that the fact the script lost its nerve and proceeded to lampshade every single previously unsaid character trait, complete with clumsy exposition. The most glaring being how Julie Roberts' obvious prejudice was a nicely simmering bit of subtext til the last act bludgeoning of the audience.

Atlantic Dawn · 11-12-2023 02:54AM

Moral of the story is keep your hard copies of dvds and Blu-ray's 😁.

pixelburp · 11-12-2023 10:01AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121481445#Comment_121481445

It was also ... amusing that Netflix produced a film that essentially warned of total reliance on a digital, online landscape.

Can't see Tesla happy either with their cars used in a set-piece to demonstrate the same.

Buddy Bubs · 11-12-2023 11:24PM

Was off sick from work today and watched this. I was hoping my own internet went down after about 30 mins. Just so dull and uneventful.

yerwanthere123 · 14-12-2023 01:47PM

Watched this last night. A lot of build up for.... absolutely nothing. Imagine how bad this would've been without such a strong cast!

5/10.

yerwanthere123 · 14-12-2023 05:48PM

Really annoyed annoyed me how they tried portraying Julia Roberts character as racist for her scepticism/distrust of two people who came knocking on their door in the middle of the night. Her reaction was a perfectly reasonable one, and particularly when the daughter had such a massive chip on her shoulder from the very outset.

Mundo7976 · 14-12-2023 05:51PM

Much like their film, how it ends. 2 hours of complete bo!!ox wasted. Don't care what intentions the ending had.

AndrewJRenko · 14-12-2023 05:51PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121495667#Comment_121495667

They didn't portray her as racist. They portrayed her as being perceived as racist, which is a bit different.

pixelburp · 14-12-2023 05:55PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121495683#Comment_121495683

They kept it up to the audience to decide, which was a neat way of stirring the pot - til like everything else in the last act they spelled it out to the hard of thinking.

The daughter was way over-written and antagonistic. Her commentary on everything with unearned confidence got irritating.

AndrewJRenko · 14-12-2023 05:58PM

Not quite sure how letting the audience decide equates to stirring the pot?

And yes, the black daughter was antagonistic. Have you met many rich, entitled young women?

pixelburp · 14-12-2023 07:38PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121495707#Comment_121495707

Sitting the pot of the tension of the story; nobody knowing or trusting each other, Roberts' unspoken prejudice(?) part of that, and letting the audience come to their own conclusions about who was who.

AndrewJRenko · 14-12-2023 09:51PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121496094#Comment_121496094

Fully agree

HalloweenJack · 16-12-2023 01:43AM

I really did not get this at all. I saw a lot of hype online and got sucked in.

There was some interesting camerawork and the score was great for setting the tension but it seemed to rely on a lot of cliches and the big reveal felt so simplistic that they even joked about it earlier in the film.

It promised a lot and technically it was mostly good but the plot was weak and seemed to start cranking up the odd imagery (fwiw, the CGI flamingos were painful) to compensate for what was ultimately an unoriginal conclusion.

I will admit I expected something different after the first twenty minutes and for the first hour or so, I had bought into it but it slammed on the brakes. That second hour really dragged. It seemed to overdo some points while hinting at others though never developing them in any depth. It tried to be too many different things when it probably would have done a decent job if it had just focused on one approach.

I wouldn't even say it was terribly original, like someone tried to capture the tension of Midsommar through the lens of Jordan Peele without any idea of how to do either.

Homelander · 16-12-2023 05:12PM

Honestly I thought it was really good. My only gripe is that the big "reveal" could've been far more impactful and horrifying, film kinda just dwindled to an end, but overall I thought it was very solid.

I think maybe it can be compared to something like "It Comes at Night" - another film I love but people do commonly say it's a complete nothing-burger of a movie.

I like these movies that are just a fleeting window into another reality when they're done well. Leave the World Behind is one of the better ones I've seen and I genuinely felt the runtime flew by, personally.

Not a masterpiece but I'd say a 7/10 is well deserved.

Carol25 · 17-12-2023 09:19AM

Watched this last night and really enjoyed it. Very well done, good cast. Ending frustrating but that’s part of it.

Caquas · 17-12-2023 09:55PM

A great cast, an interesting set-up, top-notch special effects and design but ultimately.... nothing.

The movie didn't just leave us in the dark about the big issues it raised (End of the world!!!), it didn't even resolve the tensions among its characters. What did G.H. actually know? Was Amanda really a misanthrope or just weary of BS? Was anyone going to stand up to Ruth? Six characters in search of an ending.

No. 1 movie on Netflix with 41.7 million views. Anyone know what this thing cost? How many views before it is deemed a success?

crushproof · 18-12-2023 12:45AM

Watched tonight without not knowing much going into it, usually enjoy these types of movies despite their plotholes. This one however was littered with them.

I'm not going to bother going through them all, but if I was down in Brittas Bay and tanker crashed into the beach I'd be a bit more concerned. Everyone seemed to just shrug it off and go back to their cars. Oh our phones and radio don't work either, OH WELL! And two planes crashing into the eactly the same spot, despite it turning out that it's not some sort of magnetic disturbance or solar flare. Why would pilots just crash their planes instead of trying to land at an airport or attempt a landing on water to save lives?

Utter tripe and disappointed that the cast would be involved in this type of Netflix rubbish. It'll be as forgettable as Birdbox.

Karlos77 · 18-12-2023 01:07AM

This film is so bad if i had 2 choices,

A watch the film

Or b

Commit suicide

I would choose b ..commit suicide

pixelburp · 18-12-2023 08:04AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121507834#Comment_121507834

No. 1 movie on Netflix with 41.7 million views. Anyone know what this thing cost? How many views before it is deemed a success

Impossible to say cos we don't know how Netflix rates success. They recently did their stats dump and they noted that raw eyeballs weren't the only measure of success; that the "virality" of the thing also counts & no doubt whether it drives new subscribers also helps?

As to the budget, not sure though I'd probably guess about 25-50 million? The stars probably got a healthy pay cheque but otherwise it was a relatively single location drama with a splash of CGI.

Zero-Cool · 18-12-2023 10:40AM

Saw the tagline on Netflix that some crowd called it the best film of the year, hhmm better than Oppenheimer?? might be worth a look. Tried watching this over 2 nights but turned it off with 30 minutes left, awful film. Not one likeable character, bad acting, a neutered Ethan Hawke was a waste of casting, stupid arty camera shots that were just annoying to look at. I don't know how it ended but I'm hoping they all got wiped out.

Caquas · 18-12-2023 02:53PM

My guess is >€50 Million but you’re right - the single location, limited cast and (impressive) CGI should have kept this closer to €20 Million

Why do big names get these parts when others could give equal or better performances for a fraction of the cost? Perhaps we need “stars” to convince us to watch. But then we see the star, not the character. Do we see Amanda the misanthrope or Julia Roberts cast against type?

Not even sure how to describe Ethan Hawke’s character. A professor of media studies but he says almost nothing original and seems weak in the face of disaster until suddenly he steps into the middle of the fight.

This kind of expensive nothingness suggests that the Hollywood strikes were not the product of hard-pressed workers demanding justice. There are a lot of very privileged people in Hollywood and the streamers are flushing money through the system so that quantity is swamping quality.

Remember when there was a big fuss because a movie that went straight to streaming was nominated for an Oscar? Oh, what a terrible blow to the artistic values of the big screen film-makers! Funny how we hear no more about this, now that the Hollywood royalty are getting lucrative gigs long after they were able to open a movie.

Leave the World Behind

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