Leave the World Behind
NETFLIXSam Esmail is on quite the ride, with the meteoric rise of his critically and commercially successful Rami Malek-starring Mr Robot and his well-received Homecoming anthology, he moves his sights back on film after his under-seen albeit well-regarded directorial debut Comet with his sophomore and exclusive to NETFLIX feature titled Leave the World Behind. An adaption of the book of the same name from Rumaan Alam, while Esmail has set the light on fire within the television world, his latest cinematic venture is a misguided, often egotistical and flat foray into the disaster market with a pretentious art house twist.
Leave the World Behind is a film that constantly convinces and leads itself to think something bigger is on the horizon. Like the audience, it doesn’t know what’s coming next and, while for the most part, it gets away with tension and atmosphere. But before long, at almost 150 minutes, it becomes a desperate and tedious examination of the Hollywood ego. Esmail has watched The Happening (more on that specific later), Signs and Knock at the Door – it would seem he’s a Shamylan Stan – and, to be honest, who isn’t – but thought “I can do that but better.” The answer is no, no he can’t. This is a venture that feels purposely and unfortunately a meandering set of events that unfold with very little purpose and flair, and quite frankly comes to define modern Hollywood that encapsulates the sentiments of style and no substance. Within the first act, the audience will think Esmail has a point to prove here, be it a dependency on electronic infrastructure, racial prejudice or a comment on how the rich live. Yet, before long it becomes quite apparent that it’s all these elements but none of them at the same time. Granted, that is an oxymoron but so is this feature. It is a purposely built fever pitch of tension that leads nowhere; by definition, it becomes redundant by that very nature. Its themes that are coaxed out of great difficulty are ever so unsubtle and clear they don’t need any further depth aside from an on-the-nose context in which they are given. It’s a feature that thinks it’s ever so dear and smarter than it is, and writer-director Esmail hides behind this with the notion of a stylistic approach to engage his viewer, how disheartening and disappointing. It is just an often time edit or flash cut, or even perhaps faux cuts that highlight the director and editorial team's talent for retaining immersion within sequences of tension but said scenes are both fleeting and uninteresting, crafting a tone for a film that Leave the Wolrd Behind tonally isn’t even trying to approach. Case in point: the sentiment of Esmail's film is a slow, methodical and tense approach. To then instigate an edit that counteracts that tone completely creates both a conscious and subconscious approach. The former infers the tone of the feature to be far more action-oriented than it is. The latter is far deeper to know that Esmail and co haven’t got a handle on how to approach this material at all aside from being stylistic without an ounce of reason that reassures and elevates the material. Granted, the film crafts one rather terrific set piece of action with a group of Tesla cars – could the film and writing be any more obvious and patronising? – that does inject a notion of terror and fleeting worry but it's five minutes out of another one hundred and forty. That being said, there is one key sequence here, which for any film aficionado, will see through and understand that Esmail and Co haven’t quite got the grasp of the power of tension. Said scene involves an oil tanker, which off the coast is alluded to be getting closer. Now, instead of keeping said subject in a wide shot of which the audience can see the bumbling family meeting closing terror and the combination of ignorant bliss which in turn crafts tremendous flair of atmospheric tension that slowly but surely engulfs the screen, Esmail and editor decide to completely cutaway from the impending terror and focus purely on the bumbling family in close-ups, only then to cut to the ship a few minutes later with so little impact it’s genuinely perplexing what his intentions are but sooner rather than later this is the exact feeling audiences are left with.
The same can be said for the material as a whole, it is ever so meandering and relentlessly obtuse with very little evolution and a feeling of constant repetition which becomes suffocating. This is undeniably fair in the case of the approach of claustrophobic intention but with the ridiculously gargantuan running time, it becomes very difficult to engage or feel compelled to find emotional engagement. The same scene feels to be played over and over, with Esmail longing for the effect of tension but in doing so contradicts the atmosphere. A better example and greater film within the same attempt of merit is Jordan Peele’s US, which is a film that engages with disaster but constantly moves and evolves at a rate of suspense and chaos. Esmail's film gives the strong impression of repeating itself due to the fact the director doesn’t think he’s got his point across which in turn is a testament to the poor writing and vision of the creator himself.
Made even more frustrating is the cast list that Esmail does so little with in terms of Ethan Hawke, Julia Roberts and Marshala Ali. Academy Award-nominated and winning performers who aren’t able to get out of first gear and are left to rot with internal precedent, never at any stage allowed to let loose with external emotive prowess. It perfectly sets the precedent for the film all bark and absolutely no bite with such a passive approach. Esmail strangely tries to embark on subplots of race, pretentiousness and bizarrely even a blink-and-missed romance. Every plot aforementioned is implanted within seconds and is over even quicker. All leading to a meandering and flat experience that genuinely robs the viewer of their time.
Now, last but certainly not least, what genuinely upsets here is that Esmail – an auteur? – has made a film that is seemingly getting fair traction and little pushback from presumably his Mr Robot fans as well as the Twittersphere, that is eerily similar to a film that M Night Shyamalan created in 2008 titled The Happening, now this review isn’t going to defend said film but what must be mentioned is that for almost a decade it destroyed the Indian American director’s career which only got back on track with Split. How is it that one director is seemingly untouchable with one horrible effort yet the other has an almost ten-year gap of utter ridicule? If seen both films, they share incredibly similar traits, plots and quite frankly execution but can’t be missed that one director has been led to the wolves because they don’t cater to a certain crowd, or perhaps he’s Indian American? Food for thought. Ten years ago this would have ruined Esmail's career. Coming off commercial and critical glory to craft a dud would seemingly have the plug pulled, but if anything it goes to show how ignorant and vitriolic audiences are to lap this redundant mess up and deride on for making a conscious b-picture with that approach in mind. Make it make sense.
Esmail thinks he’s made a smart film in Leave the World Behind, but it is a vehicle that severely lacks nuance and depth and is far too silly to try and act ever so straight and poignant. Made even more apathetic and laughable in the irony of creating a theme of internet connection-based dependency and then realising said film through online streaming service NETFLIX without physical media releases which is the classic performance activist Hollywood atrocity.
