Rumaan Alam’s 2020 literary dystopian thriller impressed many, so my expectations for the movie adaptation, Leave the World Behind, were high despite the lead female role being played by Julia Roberts. The plot is highly charged and enigmatic, with a family of four suddenly seemingly stranded in a luxury rental house that also fills up with the black owner and his daughter. Some form of national calamity seems to have turned off all communications and disaster looms as the six of them variously cope and don’t cope, as they grope toward understanding and action. The novel seemed to be pitched as a literary thriller; the movie adopts mysterious, avant garde stylings. Whilst the underlying plot intrigues enough to drag the viewer through to the enigmatic climax, the execution is execrable. It is hard to choose between Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke (playing the husband) as the more wooden; not that they have much to play with, the script being burdened by terrible expository dialogue. The other actors are nearly as hapless, the only saving grace being a cameo role from Kevin Bacon. Tod Campbell’s cinematography adds a welcome note of spooky mystery but nothing can save this wreck of a film.
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