Leave the World Behind

Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke's holiday rental turns into terror in this fitfully engaging apocalyptic drama. Deciding on a whim to leave the city, Amanda (Roberts) packs up sleepy husband Clay (Hawkes) and their two teens (Farrah Mackenzie and Charlie Evans) and heads to a luxury rental home. In the middle of the night, though, the owner (Mahershala Ali) and his snarky daughter (Myha'la) turn up, seeking shelter after a mysterious blackout. Trust issues are soon superseded as writer/director Sam Esmail chronicles how a society might swiftly come under attack in the modern age. Some of it is spectacular, like the sequence that sees an oil tanker run aground. Other parts, such as a herd of deer gathering close by, don't quite come off. While the story might be better suited to serial TV, Roberts's spiky turn will keep you watching, and the subplot involving one of the teens' attempts to watch the final episode of Friends is very, very funny.