Sam Esmail’s latest featureLeave the World Behindwill examine human nature and the extent that it can go to survive. Set in an end-of-the-world scenario, the movie adapted from the 2020 novel byRumaan Alam, focuses on its lead characters played byJulia Roberts,Ethan Hawke,andMahershala Ali. As the release date nears the makers are peeling back the layers of this drama with new images.
Vanity Fairput out new images from the psychological thriller, and they are thrilling and gloomy at the same time. In one image we see Roberts screaming her heart out in the forest. Another interesting image sees Roberts and Hawke, who plays a couple renting a cabin in the woods standing on the door, and across them are Ali and his young daughter played byMyha’la Herrold, who owns the place and seek shelter while the uncertainties plunge the world into darkness. Perhaps the most interesting image is the one with a mysterious shipping tanker in the ocean, which isthe first indication that something is wrong, in another image from the beach Ali stands on the beach amid the wreckage of fallen planes on the shoreline.
Expect the Unexpected From ‘Leave the World Behind’
While mostworld-ending disaster filmsfocus on the event itself, Esmail wanted to look the other way and do a character study. The director loves the disaster genre and notes that in most disaster films “the focus—the priority of the storytelling—is onthe set pieces,” Esmail says. Adding, “It’s on the spectacle of whatever the disaster might be for that story, and the characters were secondary to that. They’re more there to react and become the audience avatar.” But to differentiate his upcoming feature, he kept the focus on the characters revealing, “The spectacle of the disaster is secondary and off in the distance.”
He further promises, “You don’t know the culmination, you don’t know where this goes. Even as the film ends, we’re left wondering, where are we going to go from here?”Leave the World Behindseems like a compelling feature with its thrilling setup and character-driven story. The movie features Roberts as Amanda, Ali as George “G.H.” Washington, Hawke as Clay, Herrold as Ruth,Farrah Mackenzieas Rosie,Charlie Evansas Archie, andKevin Baconas Danny.
Leave the World Behindbows in theatres on October 25. Check out the new images onVanity Fair.
