Leave the World Behind

Synopsis

A family decides to take an impromptu vacation outside of the city and that action might just save their lives as weird and dangerous things begin to happen to them.

Review

I am doing something a little different with this review. In the front of it, I am going to put some predictions as it comes up in the movie. I won't say if any of them are true or not, but just wanted to put them out there as I was asked to watch this movie.

Predictions

1. Julia Roberts is in on the events. Something is going on where I feel this trip isn't spur of the moment.
2. The animals are behind the outages. This one isn't going to come true, but I feel the animals aren't just typical deer/birds.
3. I didn't look up what this movie was about really, I think I saw a trailer and was thought "I'd watch that" then someone asked me to watch it so I have VERY little idea of the synopsis going into it. So maybe this is a green peace movie with cyber thrown into it and the magnetism of the earth is off which is obviously affecting GPS and the animals.

Ok I finished the movie and they are all WRONG. Like way wrong so much so that even tell you that isn't spoiling the plot at all. The biggest reason they are wrong is because the movie finishes half way though. Its incomplete. In my book reviews, I typically give a "One sentence review" and this would be "A cyber/dystopian Swiss Cheese that sprinkles in steroid injected animals"

So lets talk about the players. I feel like Ethan Hawke is a consistent quality in this movie. He runs the gambit of emotions in this and does a great job. Julia Roberts though, I felt like her character was supposed to be this cold and heartless person, but it just came off as heavy handed. Someone that not even family would want to be with. All 3 of the kids in this movie are really lack luster and are highly stereotypical.

As for the plot, this is where the Swiss Cheese comes in. The story is setup in so many different places. The initial setup for some of the characters, like the home owners, is that they know something, but it never pays off. There are animals that make an important scenes, but does not further the plot, there is a mention of other people, but they are never scene. There is also a character that gets sick, with what I thought was radiation poising based on the symptoms, but they mention 2 other options and no one else is sick so radiation poising doesn't work, but is the best real answer based on symptoms. Then the ending, the ending is the dumbest ending I have ever seen as it answers the smallest plot side story, but doesn't end the story, doesn't show what happens to everyone, shows nothing. The story is incomplete.

My Rating

Sam Esmail is who made Mr. Robot, a story that was great in the beginning with lots of twist and then dies half way through the series to just feel dragged out (I am starting the last season, but it has been a drag). This movie is exactly that. A movie that doesn't have a complete ending and based on the ending, just dragged on. I can't in good conscience give this movie anything more than a 5. The acting was decent by the adult, but the story was just a failure.

Parental Rating

This movie is going to be a great litmus test. My parents have watched this movie so I asked them for their thoughts. As this movie was also requested by my physical therapist and friend, I have decided to add her input as well.

Dad: I found the movie uninteresting and just another take on the end of the world. There is a lot of language that was unneeded and I am really tired of hearing that the US/humans are destroying the world.

Mom: I didn't understand it. It was really confusing.

Physical Therapist: I thought this movie was going to be jump scares, especially with all the animal behavior. The characters were confusing for me because everyone kinda acted weird until the end. Overall, I enjoyed it as it kept me engaged, but I'd have to watch it again because I feel like I missed things.

So overall, Dad rejected and Mom rejected. The movie just doesn't make sense to them.