MUSEUM of DITHERED POSTERS

12/13/2023: LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND (2023)

This is a new movie and some elements will be spoiled here, along with Knock at the Cabin. Proceed with discretion.

That was a trip. Super weird movie, but I have to admit I was engaged and nervous for the entire duration. I put Leave the World Behind in the same ballpark as the works of Jordan Peele or even M. Night Shyamalan. Suspenseful. Full of visual spectacle and political overtones.

I’m not familiar with director Sam Esmail’s other work, but his style is interesting - perhaps even to the point of distraction. The camerawork is off the goddamned chain and I’m not sure how to feel about it. That thing flies around the house, spinning and turning upside down, gliding through glass windows, you name it. Any readers with vertigo problems, be warned. Any readers with a film degree, please explain.

This movie was the last nail in the coffin for me: Julia Roberts just doesn’t impress me as an actor. I’ve never understood the hype. I said this about Notting Hill and I’ll say it again: she defies chemistry with any of her costars. I’m always willing to update my beliefs but so far the evidence is stacked against her.

It seems like I ought to have more to say regarding the infamous Tesla scene. Self-driving cars hacked and made to crash into each other, blocking the roads and breaking down car-dependent infrastructure? It’s like they read my diary or something.

Hey, can we talk about movies this year being broken up into 5 acts that each have a title card on screen? First it was The Ballad of Songbirds and SnakesLeave the World Behind. Do filmmakers believe the average audience member won’t make it through a 2-plus-hour-long movie without some sense of progress? I don’t dislike the trend necessarily, in fact I would find it very exciting if Hollywood slid into a 5-act structure rather than 3.

As far as disaster movies go, Leave the World Behind is among the most interesting. The only sour note for me is that it was structurally very similar to Knock at the Cabin by M. Night Shyamalan, whose name I’ve now written twice. Intimate interpersonal drama in/around a vacation rental, spectacular CGI disaster, repeat. Come to think of it, The Cabin in the Woods comes pretty close as well. Is this a subgenre now?