The holiday season is here. You pack your stuff, and make sure you and your family pack enough clothes for a short vacation. You double-check the address of the rented home you’re spending a few days in. Nothing could go wrong. Except it does. Early on, the Internet fails, and chaos ensues. No one’s able to watch their favorite show, and notifications on your cell phone are all messed up. That is, if they appear at all. It’s just a problem of bad service. But then the TV displays one of those creepy analog-style messages that say something may be happening, and you need to stay inside.
Netflix‘s new thriller by Mr. Robot‘s creator, Sam Esmail, is called Leave the World Behind, and it tells the story of a family starting what may be their last normal vacation. Or simply, vacation. The Sandfords have rented a home on Long Island, and right after everything seems to fail, there’s a knock on the door. G.H. and Ruth Scott, father and daughter, and owners of the house the Sanford family rented. They say they only need to spend a night and won’t be a bother. They just can’t head over to the city because there’s a blackout. Amanda is very skeptical at first and distrusts G.H., but her husband Clay convinces her to accept the refund offer from G.H. What follows is a series of events that we won’t reveal to you. We can only say the world outside the Scotts’ home may be… ending.
Starring Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Farrah Mackenzie, Julia Roberts, and Kevin Bacon, among others, Leave the World Behind is a solid, visually-stylish end-of-the-world film that goes for a realistic tone that blends well with the film’s initial theme of distrust under suspicious circumstances. It’s an original movie that doesn’t run on the usual elements of the subgenre and instead goes for a satirical allegory that turns out to be much more relatable than intended.
It’s one of Netflix’s noteworthy films of the year, and to celebrate it, we compiled a list of other apocalypse-based films you can watch today if you want to stay in the spirit.
10 Don’t Look Up (2021)
Don’t Look Up
- Release Date
- December 24, 2021
- Rating
- R
- Runtime
- 2hr 18min
In Adam McKay’s much-maligned black comedy Don’t Look Up, the world is going to end soon. But not tomorrow or the day after. A comet will hit Earth and destroy all human life in approximately six months. The two astronomers who discover the comet and its direction try to warn everyone, including the authorities, and they get “different” reactions. While it’s a very satirical film about the end of the world, Don’t Look Up is really an allegory for how dumb human civilization can be when it comes to solving issues from a collective perspective.
A Film Just Like Leave the World Behind, Only With a Comedy Tone
Just like Leave the World Behind, the film was released by Netflix in what was a huge failure for the studio. It also stars a bunch of great actors, like Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, and Meryl Streep, among others. But this time, the comedy tone didn’t connect with audiences. McKay’s style of satire wasn’t well-balanced with the film’s extremely long-running time. However, it was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
9 Z for Zachariah (2015)
Z For Zachariah
- Release Date
- August 13, 2015
- Rating
- PG-13
- Main Genre
- Sci-Fi
Craig Zobel’s obscure film Z for Zachariah is based on a 1974 novel of the same name, and it tells the story of Ann Burden, the survivor of a nuclear apocalypse who lives in the countryside, where mountains have protected her from fallout. Ann meets John Loomis, another badly hurt survivor, whom Ann heals until Loomis is ready to get back on the road again. But Loomis actually starts being a partner for Ann, whose religious beliefs are unbroken, and she interprets everything as part of her destiny. Even the arrival of another man by the name of Caleb, who will completely disrupt Ann and John’s relationship when a love triangle is born.
Survival Dynamics in a Very Underappreciated Film Starring Margot Robbie in One of Her Best Performances
Z for Zachariah takes place in a gloomy atmosphere full of dread. But the character arcs are extremely compelling, and the film does well enough in the realism department. Like Leave the World Behind, it’s about the mistrust that’s omnipresent in a situation as severe as the apocalypse. In Z for Zachariah, the solution is not to finally trust each other. It’s actually recognizing what others can do with the trust you’ve provided. It stars Margot Robbie in one of her best films.
8 A Quiet Place (2018)
In John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place, the world hasn’t exactly ended. Humankind has just been ravaged by alien monsters from another world, so only a handful of humans remain alive. The problem is that, just like the film’s titular family, the Abbotts, they have to survive in absolute silence to avoid the monsters because they’re ultrasensitive to sound. Fortunately, there’s a way to fight them, but the Abbott family will find out the hard way.
A Great Apocalyptic Film About a Family Trying to Survive
Family is key in A Quiet Place, just like it is in Leave the World Behind. Just the way they work is different, because in A Quiet Place, the worst just happens to be over, and they’re straight-up survivors. In Netflix’s thrillers, they’re becoming survivors without being aware of the circumstances. This is one of the best apocalyptic movies ever produced, and it sparked a franchise that’s still alive and running.
7 The Trigger Effect (1996)
1996’s The Trigger Effect tells the story of Matthew and Annie, a couple who face dire circumstances after a blackout leaves their city without any power. Matthew’s friend Joe joins the family as they struggle with the unseen dangers that are all the consequences of being without power. When they decide to grab their stuff and make a run towards Annie’s parents’ house, the road trip takes a very dark turn when they run out of fuel.
A Different Kind of Blackout than the One in Leave the World Behind
David Koepp’s directorial debut is a very good thriller that’s been forgotten by most people. It’s more of a grounded depiction of humanity trying to face something as trivial as a power outage. The problem is that only then are we able to realize how dependent we are on power, similar to the issue in Leave the World Behind with the internet outage. The heat, the growing tension, and the lack of restraints in the outside world make it a great thriller exercise, featuring the very effective actors Kyle MacLachlan, Elisabeth Shue, and Dermot Mulroney in one of his best roles.
6 Knock at the Cabin (2023)
M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film, Knock at the Cabin, is based on Paul Tremblay’s book, The Cabin at the End of the World. In the film, a family is on a holiday trip in a remote cabin, but suddenly four strangers knock on the door and take them hostage. Their requirement? They must select one of their own to die. If they don’t, then the entire world will suffer awful consequences. Eric and Andrew believe they’re just maniacs and try to protect their daughter Wen. But things change when the TV is turned on, and they see apocalyptic events taking place all around the world.
Protecting Your Own at All Costs
Similarly to what happens in Leave the World Behind, the family in Knock at the Cabin is forced to believe in the improbable if they want to protect their own. The problem is that in Shyamalan’s film, control is pretty relative. The film was heavily criticized because it softened the blow of the book’s premise by making a few changes to the story. As necessary as they could have seemed to make the film friendlier, audiences didn’t quite get the point. A great case of a film inspired by a book and actually staying faithful to the details is Leave the World Behind, which is based on Rumaan Alam’s book of the same name.
5 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
In 10 Cloverfield Lane, Michelle has an argument with her fiancé, and she packs her stuff and escapes her relationship. But then she’s involved in a car accident, and she actually wakes up in an underground bunker. Howard Stambler is the leader of the “house,” where Emmett is also hiding. Michelle is shocked because it appears she’s being held against her will. Nevertheless, Howard reveals the reason: outside the bunker, the air is poisonous. But Michelle doesn’t actually believe him. She attempts to leave, only to witness the real reason why Howard may be right after all about keeping them locked in.
A Solid Apocalyptic Film, Also About Mistrust
Part of the Cloverfield universe of films, 10 Cloverfield Lane is a great apocalyptic thriller that does well enough in the sci-fi department. But the film’s main theme is the group’s isolation and how Michelle’s intuition can help her in the end. It also provides enough depth in its character arcs to help you understand them and what they do, even if you don’t agree with what they actually try to do.
4 The Road (2009)
The Road is based on Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same name, and it tells a very simple story. Nameless and hopeless, the man and the boy are walking across a country devastated by an apocalyptic event that has left Earth completely deserted. Their only goal is to reach the sea, but their journey is constantly interrupted by hordes of humans who scavenge the remains of civilizations and indulge in cannibalism.
The Road Is One of the Best Apocalyptic Films Ever Made
Starring Viggo Mortensen in one of his best films ever, The Road is a brutal and jarring trip through the very dark corners of humanity. The man and the boy are in a loving enough relationship to provide some hope for the viewers, but the film’s extremely bleak and gritty, and will make you shiver at some point with its horrific display of survivors and what they’re willing to do in order to live in a devastated world.
3 Take Shelter (2011)
Take Shelter
- Release Date
- September 30, 2011
- Rating
- R
- Runtime
- 120
Written and directed by Jeff Nichols, Take Shelter tells the story of Curtis LaForche, a family man who starts having nightmares about apocalyptic events and starts seeing visions that resemble premonitory disasters. The problem is that he doesn’t exactly know if it’s all taking place in his mind or if he’s actually seeing the future. His wife, Samantha, begins questioning him to the point of making him believe they need to shelter themselves from him. But could Curtis be right in preparing for Doomsday?
An Impressive Thriller by a Great, Underrated Director
Take Shelter is one of the most underrated psychological thrillers of all time. Like Leave the World Behind, it leaves a space for doubt and cleverly takes off from that point. It’s a great character study that deconstructs Samantha and Curtis’ relationship from a grounded perspective and never fully acknowledges what may only be called a supernatural turning point. However, when things are supposed to arrive, they do. And genre film fans will have their fix.
2 Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)
Lorene Scafaria’s Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is the story of Dodge Petersen (Steve Carell in one of his best non-comedic performances) and his neighbor Penny, two very unfortunate people who get together for the last three weeks of their lives. After it is announced that an asteroid will hit Earth and, in fact, destroy every human life on the planet, Dodge’s wife leaves him in panic. Penny is very sad that she won’t be able to see her family before the countdown begins, and the two find themselves forming a friendship during their last days on Earth.
Laughing in the Most Improbable of Moments
Like it usually happens in Leave the World Behind, there are some moments of awkward comedy in Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. However, most of the film is simply about a cataclysmic event that makes people react in certain ways, trying to avoid seeing the image of an impending disaster. It’s about seeing the best in the most dire of situations. If you end up laughing, it’s only because Dodge and Penny try to make the best of the moment by perhaps being truer to themselves than they actually allowed themselves to be in normal circumstances.
1 The Divide (2011)
In The Divide, New York City is attacked by several nuclear blasts. 10 of the residents run downstairs in their apartment block and manage to make it to the bomb shelter before someone closes the door. Once inside, they realize that getting out is not an option. The problem is that power is a huge thing in the group, and the struggle for it will bring up the primal aspect of their isolation situation. This is one of the best films you’ve never seen.
An Ensemble Cast in a Very Underrated Thriller
Michael Biehn, Milo Ventimiglia (in the best performance of his career), Courtney B. Vance, Rosanna Arquette, and Michael Eklund, among others, star in Xavier Gans’ quite disturbing feature about what happens when lockdown takes a turn for the worse. In The Divide, it’s all fiction with no real events, but the film truly makes you wonder, “What would happen if…?” This one gets very, very disturbing, so it’s not recommended for the faint of heart.
To keep celebrating Netflix movies, here’s a video of the most watched films on the streaming platform:
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
