As the opening credits for Leave the World Behind were rolling, my house guest with whom I was watching it asked me to rewind.  This is because she caught a name that we did not expect.  Listed as executive producers are Barack and Michelle Obama.  Yes, that Barack and Michelle Obama, though I am not sure who else it could be.  Like anyone else, the former president and first lady have to do something with their time.  Despite years working in public service, it seems as if they have done quite well for themselves, though I suppose the numerous books and speaking engagements at which they have appeared can boost any bank account.  Also, it is not like the commander-in-chief draws an insignificant salary.  Yet, if you do not know what an executive producer does for a film, then allow me to enlighten you.  Basically, they are the financing arm of a production, either by putting up the funds themselves or by securing it from other sources.  If you watch this movie, which I would caution against, then you can see how the Obamas are spending their money.  Really?  On this nonsense?!

Amanda Sandford (Julia Roberts) is ready to Leave the World Behind.  Her idea for this is for her and her husband, Clay Sandford (Ethan Hawke), and their children, Archie (Charlie Evans) and Rose (Farrah Mackenzie), to take a vacation in a home she rented for the weekend on Long Island outside of New York City.  So ready is Amanda for this that she had gotten up before Clay, packed their bags, and is standing over him while he stirs from his slumber ready to go.  She adds that she wants to get away from people, who she hates, and he is all too ready to comply.  The home they have booked for their getaway is swanky, and situated not far from the beach.  Thus, after Amanda buys some groceries from the quaint local market, and sees a strange man we later learn is Danny (Kevin Bacon), they head for the oceanside.  It is here that they begin to notice problems beyond the increasingly spotty cell service.  As Rose looks to the horizon, she sees a boat approaching from a distance.  It turns out to be an oil tanker, and it does not stop until it beaches itself, causing the other beachgoers, along with the Sandfords, to run in confusion and panic.  Shortly after returning to the house, they are unable to get anything on the internet or television to find out if anyone had reported on this strange occurrence.  Still, they carry on with their relaxation until late that night, after the children had gone to bed, there is a knock on the door.  When they answer it, they find George H. Scott (Mahershala Ali), who goes by G.H., and his daughter, Ruth Scott (Myha’la).  They are the owners of the house, though Amanda is suspicious of this story and their presence.  Their reason for why they are here pertains to New York City being under a blackout, and them not wanting to walk up the seventeen flights to their Manhattan high rise apartment.  Clay is much more accepting of their excuse, but Amanda grudgingly goes along with it, particularly after Ruth turns on the television to a blue screen and the use of the emergency broadcast system.  The next morning, Clay volunteers to go into town to see if there is anyone who knows what is happening.  Meanwhile, G.H. heads to a neighbor’s house to see if they have any information.  As for those who stay behind, the main one to keep an eye on is Rose, who is frustrated that her stream of the sitcom Friends (1994-2004) stops on the last episode.  Thus, out of restlessness and boredom, her and Archie go exploring.  In addition to a strange lone hut in the middle of the woods, she notices another nearby house that she wants to further investigate.  She is overridden by Archie.  As for Clay and G.H., they separately have experiences that suggest that there is something bigger happening.  Clay encounters a drone dropping leaflets that say “Death to America” in Arabic, while G.H. witnesses commercial airlines planes falling from the sky.  All this convinces the Sandfords that they need to leave, vowing to go to Amanda’s sister’s house in New Jersey.  They are prevented from doing so, however, when they find the roads blocked by self-driving Teslas, narrowly avoiding latecomers to the pile up.  Thus, they go back to the Scott retreat.  They all then settle in for another tense night, one that features awkward interactions between Clay and Ruth, and Amanda and G.H.  During the conversation between the latter, G.H. reveals knowledge of a secretive cabal that controls the world, one of whom is a client of his and had warned him of the impending doom.  The following day, Archie wakes up sick (I am being modest for the sake of decorum), which sends Amanda into a frenzy.  Her emotional state is not helped by the fact that Rose is missing.  Once more, they decide to split up.  Clay goes with G.H. to take Archie to doomsday prepper Danny, who they believe has medicine that can help the teenaged boy.  It takes some pointing of guns, and Clay literally begging, for them to get the necessary pills.  Back at the house, Amanda and Ruth go looking for Rose.  The entire time, they have not trusted one another, with baseless accusations made against one another on both sides.  Nonetheless, Amanda jumps in to try to save Ruth when the young adult is confronted by a herd of deer acting strangely.  Before they can continue their search, though, they are stopped in their tracks by a view of the city from across the water, ringed with explosions.  Meanwhile, what is Rose doing?  Well, she cannot let go of the fact that she has yet to see the end of Friends.  Remember that house into which she wanted to look?  She goes there and finds its subterranean bunker, the same one referenced by Danny to G.H. moments earlier.  In it, she finds a complete digital video disc (DVD) compilation of Friends.  Her finding the final episode is where the film ends.

There are many aspects of Leave the World Behind that were not explained.  For instance, at one point, G.H. suggests that the government is behind all these strange occurrences, including a debilitating electronic screech that affects everyone in the area.  Yet, is the government also making the deer to behave as they do?  Also, while I have no idea what Long Island is actually like, I am willing to bet there are more than just the seven or eight people on which we focus.  Finally, the constant waffling of trust was frustrating.  The problem is that apocalyptic films like this one rarely get it right, and I do not mean that simply because none of this matches what is written in the Book of Revelation.  Instead, it starts with the position that all people are terrible.  Amanda says many times how she does not like others, and her work at an advertising agency exposes her to the ugly side of humanity.  Many of us have undoubtedly said some of the same things as Amanda, and yet when it appears that she may never interact with another person outside of her family and newfound companions, she suddenly misses others.  Strange how that works, no?  The thing is that God created us to be communal people.  I do not wish that to mean communism, or that we should all live in communes.  Instead, we are called to community.  The Catholic Church in its history is full of examples of people coming together in unexpected places and times and forming a group that looks out for one another.  Whether they realize it, that is pretty much exactly what the Sandfords and Scotts do.  The one person ruining it is Rose, who cannot let the final episode of Friends go unseen.

I am not sure if there is anything that I enjoyed about Leave the World Behind.  It is long, depressing, and it features literal pulling of teeth.  I had to look away from the television during that part.  I also find it strange that the Obamas would finance such a dark production.  Did they know what they were throwing money into with this film?