Leave the World Behind 2023

Misanthropic Amanda Sandford (Julia Roberts) organizes an unplanned weekend escape to a coastal vacation rental, hoping to bond with her husband Clay (Ethan Hawke) and their children, Archie (Charlie Evans) and Rose (Farrah Mackenzie). As Amanda anticipates this much-needed getaway from her bustling New York life, she notices a suspicious man buying an overwhelming amount of canned goods and water while grocery shopping.

During their trip to the beach, the family narrowly escapes an oil tanker that runs aground. Authorities later explain that a navigational system malfunction has caused multiple such incidents along the coast. Upon returning to the rental, they find that the TV and Wi-Fi are out of order and are startled when a pair of deer gaze at them.

That evening, George H. “G.H.” Scott (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter, Ruth (Myha’la Herrold), appear unexpectedly at their door, seeking refuge from the blackout. G.H. mentions that climbing the 14 floors to their apartment in the city is impossible due to his bad knee, while Ruth emphasizes that they belong there. Yet, Amanda remains doubtful about their story—prompting her to want proof of their identities, which G.H. struggles to provide.

The next day, the power outage continues to frustrate Rose, who is missing the finale of Friends. Amanda notices troubling news alerts on her phone regarding the blackout, including one that hints at a cyber attack. While Clay attempts to drive into town for repairs, he encounters reports of national chaos, including the discovery of a plane crash nearby.

Throughout the ensuing chaos, G.H. secretly retrieves a gun, revealing an unsettling tension beneath the surface. As the situation escalates, the family tries to escape this beach rental, only to find themselves trapped by a pile-up of self-driving cars, forcing them to seek solace back at G.H.’s home.

Amid these developments, familial bonds and surprising tensions surface. Rose’s desire to watch Friends continues to clash with the urgent realities around them, and the children experience unsettling encounters—like Archie stumbling upon a tick. In search of answers, G.H. and Clay reach out to a local contractor, Danny (Kevin Bacon), leading to a dramatic armed standoff that hints at a much larger conspiracy at hand.

As Amanda and Ruth try to reconcile their fears, they stumble upon a dire warning of impending chaos ahead—a spiraling narrative involving military strategies for societal destabilization that G.H. believes could lead to a coup d’état. Meanwhile, Rose discovers a neighbor’s bunker filled with ominous insights on radiation levels, sealing their fate in a world growing ever more perilous.

Throughout this gripping tale, haunting memories entwine with the strange happenings at the beach, illustrating how quickly a peaceful getaway can unravel into a night’s terror and chaos, leading to a shocking series of horrific events.