It’s a bright and sunny morning. Julia Roberts as a New York advertising executive named Amanda looks out the bedroom window of the Park Slope apartment and tells her husband Clay (Ethan Hawke), a laid-back college professor who is still in bed, about watching the sunrise and seeing so many people starting their day, determined to “make something of themselves, make something of our world. I felt so lucky to be a part of that. Then I remembered what the world is actually like, and I came to a more accurate realization.
“I f---ing hate people.”
This is the opening salvo in writer-producer-director Sam Esmail’s bitingly effective and impressively unnerving psychological thriller “Leave the World Behind,” which packs in sharp and accurate commentary about conspiracy theories that might not be theories, subtle and not-so-subtle racial divides, our near-total reliance on technology and the fact that we now have an entire generation of young people who don’t really understand what a “rerun” is.
Adapting the 2020 novel of the same name by Rumaan Alam, the talented Esmail, who previously worked with Roberts on the TV series “Homecoming” and “Gaslit,” has fashioned a tense, occasionally darkly funny but ultimately sobering slow-build drama with echoes of everything from a certain classic episode of “The Twilight Zone” to the 1983 film “Testament” and the 2022 films “Gone in the Night” and “Alone Together.” It’s the kind of movie where you keep thinking about what YOU would do in the situations presented to the main characters, as life as they know it seems to be unraveling in permanent fashion.
After that telling monologue, Amanda and Clay and their children Archie (Charlie Evans) and Rosie (Farrah Mackenzie) go on a spontaneous vacation to the idyllic hamlet of Point Comfort on Long Island, where they settle into a sprawling and gorgeous modern home for a much-needed getaway. At first, all seems sunny and light — but with the pounding, ominous score by Mac Quayle setting the tone, things quickly turn … unusual.
While the family is lounging on the beach, a massive oil tanker approaches, like the shark from “Jaws,” and doesn’t stop until it careens into the beach. On a run for groceries, Amanda spots an unfriendly-looking man (Kevin Bacon) who is stocking the bed of his pickup truck with survivalist staples. Wi-fi and phone service are halted, much to the dismay of young Rosie, who is obsessed with “Friends” and was about to watch the series finale and is dying to know if Ross and Rachel wind up together. (Rosie doesn’t seem to notice her mother bears a striking resemblance to the movie star Julia Roberts, who guested on the famous “Friends” episode titled “The One After the Superbowl.”)
Deep into the first night of vacation, there’s a knock at the door, and there stand one G.H. “George” Scott (Mahershala Ali) and his twentysomething daughter Ruth (Myha’la). George explains this is his house, and he and Ruth have come out here because there’s power outage in the city and they couldn’t get up to their high-rise apartment. “This is your house?” says Amanda in a way that makes it clear she finds it a bit difficult to believe this Black man could afford such a beautiful home. It’s not the last time Amanda will display some serious “Karen” tendencies, with Ruth calling her out on her B.S.
It’s decided that George and Ruth will stay in the guest quarters in the basement of their house, while Amanda and Clay and the kids will remain in the main home. (George’s wife and Ruth’s mother, an art dealer, is traveling overseas.) What else can they do? As the always optimistic Clay puts it, everything will be clearer in the light of day, and they’ll sort this whole thing out. Wi-fi and TV and phone service will surely be restored, and they’ll find out what’s happening out there in the world, and all will be well.
Except that’s not what happens. It becomes clear something cataclysmic could be taking place around the globe. Animal migration patterns are disturbed. A plane falls out of the sky. From time to time, there’s an ear-splitting noise that comes out of nowhere. Clay’s drive into town and George’s attempt to connect with neighbors go sideways. We just might be in for an M. Night Shyamalan type of twist — or maybe not. I’ll leave it for you to discover.
Writer-director Esmail has a sharp sense of pacing and makes great use of sound to heighten the sense of impending doom. The ensemble cast is a wonder to watch, particularly Roberts and Myha’la as two women who instantly loathe one another but might have to depend on each other to survive. “Leave the World Behind” is a bold and tricky endeavor that pays off in just about perfect fashion. You might never think of “Friends” in the same way again.
