Netflix’s new movie Leave the World Behind is topping the streaming charts. It’s also become a focal point in online conversations, stirring up a little “controversy.”
Leave the World Behind is based on the novel by Rumaan Alam and stars Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Mahershala Ali, Myha’la Herrold, and Kevin Bacon. The new movie from Sam Esmail, creator of Mr. Robot, hit Netflix last Friday, December 8. Since it began streaming, Leave the World Behind quickly became one of the most-watched titles on Netflix.
The story follows Amanda (Roberts) and Clay (Hawke), a couple who take an impromptu vacation with their two children Rose (Farrah Mackenzie) and Archie (Charlie Evans). Leaving the city, the family rents a beautiful remote house for the weekend. After the family witnesses an oil tanker crashing onto the shore of a nearby beach, G.H. Scott (Ali), the owner of the rental home, shows up unexpectedly with his daughter Ruth (Herrold). They explain that they had to leave the city because something odd was happening. Technology begins to go haywire, and it seems like the world is falling apart around them.
What makes Leave the World Behind controversial?
There are a few things about the apocalyptic disaster movie that have rubbed people the wrong way. Netflix posted one scene on X in which Tesla cars on autopilot crash into each other and their surroundings, and Elon Musk had to respond about how the cars would keep going in an apocalypse. This really only helped the movie’s argument that autopilot technology is more harmful than helpful.
Others have taken to social media to say how much they disliked the ending of Leave the World Behind. Although the endings of the movie and book are different, they both end ambiguously, allowing the viewers to determine what happened. Many viewers have said they wanted a more definitive ending and felt it was over too soon, but that isn’t what either the author or the director were going for. Alam told Variety it is “a film that respects you as a viewer enough to not provide that.”
But the biggest controversy surrounding Leave the World Behind comes from one line in the film. In one scene, Ruth, a young Black woman, talks to her father, G.H., about the future of the world. She tells him, “I’m asking you to remember that if the world falls apart, trust should not be doled out easily to anyone, especially white people.” Some conservative viewers on social media—mainly X—claim the line is anti-white and “racist.”
The production company for Leave the World Behind is Higher Ground, which is owned by Barack and Michelle Obama. A few users on X have made a big stink, questioning if the Obamas offered any notes on the film about the character interactions and this line in particular. Given how some of the white people act in the movie (and, you know, in most of America’s history)—such as Amanda always being suspicious about the homeowners—can’t you understand Ruth’s point of view?
Leave the World Behind is streaming exclusively on Netflix, and it’s definitely worth a watch. You can come to your own conclusions about whether these “controversies” are warranted.
(featured image: Netflix)
