Netflix is starting to make end-of-the-world films with a clever premise and where the world finds itself in chaos. Leave the World Behind is in that category. With how much I loved Don’t Look Up back in 2021, I thought that Leave the World Behind was going to be my type of film, and it didn’t disappoint. In addition to the clever premise, it also has a stellar cast, including Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Mahershala Ali, Myha’la Herrold, and Kevin Bacon.

Leave the World Behind is set at a remote rental beach cabin on Long Island in New York. The film first introduces us to Amanda and Clay Sanford (Roberts and Hawke). To escape the stressors of their life they decide to take a family getaway with their kids, Rose (played by Farrah Mackenzie) and Archie (played by Charlie Evans). Amanda works in advertising and Clay is a professor, and they need some time to refresh. But this vacation is far from refreshing. Instead it becomes what Clay called a “vacation from hell!” First a freighter runs aground on the beach in front of their place, the place where they’re staying loses its internet and cable, and then the owner of the cabin, G.H. Scott (Ali), shows up at the door unexpectedly with his daughter Ruth (Herrold), and he gives Amanda and Clay a strange explanation for why they left the city to come there. From that point the film only gets stranger and more inviting.

The central conflict of Leave the World Behind is that a cyberattack is causing total disruption of the world’s operations. There are warning crawlers on television, airplanes are crashing, and many more strange events come at the characters in the film. The only one who seems prepared for the calamity is a stranger named Danny (Bacon) who shows up at the cabin. Although Danny decides to go solo, so he’s not in the film very much.

The political angles and description of the conflict that such a massive technological failure causes sold me on Leave the World Behind. Its characters are placed in a global disaster, totally unprepared, and slowly the disaster hits turmoil. The personalities of the various characters results in some moments of laughter. But the film manages to keep its seriousness while also adding in a humorous side. Hawke’s portrayal of the father heightens the suspense, and Roberts plays a mother who is infuriated by the situation—and her anger only gets worse.

I was totally hooked on Leave the World Behind. There is no hiding from the reality of the uncharted territory the characters find themselves in. The film is presented in stages that develop at just the right pace and point its audience toward excitement with suspense. A family vacation could not get any more treacherous than Leave the World Behind. But will they make it out alive? Catch Leave the World Behind and find out. Three-and-a-half out of four stars.