Julia Roberts & Ethan Hawke’s Lead New Netflix Thriller, Leave The World Behind
Want a good thriller to curl up with this month? Julia Roberts (Gaslit), Ethan Hawke (Blackphone) and Mahershala Ali (True Detective) are starring together in Netflix’s newest film Leave the World Behind, as a group of strangers trying to survive after a mysterious blackout that leaves New York City without power.
It’s based on the novel of the same name and is directed by Mr Robot creator Sam Esmail. It received good reviews from critics after it premiered earlier this year, and finally comes to the streaming service in December- here’s all we know.
What is Leave The World Behind about?
Roberts and Hawke play a married couple, Amanda and Clay Sandford, who live with their kids Rose (Farrah Mackenzie) and Archie (Charlie Evans). The family decides to take a vacation to a home in Long Island for some R&R, and everything seems to be going well until the sudden arrival of two strangers upends things.
Father and daughter G.H (Ali) and Ruth (Industry star Myha’la) Scott inform the family of a mysterious blackout that has affected the island and apparently the whole of Manhattan.
The disruption to the Sandfords’ holiday however becomes the least of their worries, as it becomes clear that the event is very serious. The Sandfords and the Scotts band together, despite knowing little about each other, and try to work out how best to navigate the escalating crisis.
What else do we know?
The original novel received positive reviews for its twisting, turning story, and the official trailer released by Netflix a few weeks ago gives a glimpse: when G.H and Ruth arrive at the door of where the Sandfords are staying and reveal that they are in fact the owners of the house. “We were driving back to the city when something weird happened”, G.H. says, and want to shelter there. But when a news report indicates that America is being hit by cyber attacks, the two families decide to stick together, despite a clear mistrust between them.
“Something is happening, and I don’t trust them, remarks Roberts’ character Amanda, before the trailer becomes a chaotic montage of the Sandfords trying to get away in a car, guns being drawn, and shots of a strange gathering of deer outside the house.
It also introduces Kevin Bacon’s (Patriot’s Day) shotgun-wielding character Danny, another survivor who tells G.H. and Clay that “I will do anything” to keep his own family safe.
Is there a release date?
The intense thriller is set to arrive on Netflix on 8th December, and you can watch the trailer below.