Leave The World Behind (2023) Movie: Thought-Provoking Tale

White Lion

The name of the oil tanker is “White Lion”, which hits the beach of an American shoreline in this film. It is worth noting that “White Lion” was the first ship ever to bring African slaves to the English colonies in America.

Furthermore, the radio frequency in Clay’s (Ethan Hawk) car is 1619, Most likely, it is another reference to the White Lion ship of the oil tanker.

The ear-piercing noise

While we hear the ear-piercing noise, quite a few times in the film. What could be the reason behind such a disturbing noise?

The cause of the piercing noise heard during the movie and the source of Archie Stanford’s (Charlie Evan) illness is a mystery.

Havana Syndrome

However, one of the characters mentions a microwave weapon, stating that one was used in Havana, Cuba. Most likely, it is a reference to the so-called “Havana Syndrome” that we have heard in the past. The “Havana syndrome” is a condition some (US) government officials and their family members at US embassies in different countries have reported experiencing since 2016.

Symptoms have included headaches, sleeplessness, other signs similar to those of neurological conditions and ringing in the ears to cognitive dysfunction. Some of these people reported having heard a piercing sound that preceded and seemed to precipitate the symptoms.

Cause of the Havana Syndrome?

But investigations by seven different U.S. intelligence agencies reported in 2022 and 2023 that there is no credible evidence that a foreign adversary like Cuba, Russia, or China was responsible or even possesses such a weapon and that out of over a thousand purported cases, the causes of only about two dozen cases were still unknown. Press outlets seized on the idea that a foreign enemy of the U.S. might have used some sort of a sonic or microwave weapon and reported that speculation so widely that many in the general public still believe it and present it as fact.

Info. Source: IMDb.

Reel-life

In one of the dramatic sequences in the film, the Sandford family are stymied in their attempt to leave Long Island by a line of stalled cars. But they soon realize that what seems like a traffic jam is more complicated: it is hundreds of Teslas that have been sequentially hacked, auto-driven, and crashed into each other in a remote ploy to make the roads unusable–a clear cautionary message about the auto-drive function, a technology that has been controversial in real life. 

Real life

And then in real life, on December 12, 2023 (very soon after the release of this movie), the Tesla automotive company, under strong pressure from U.S. regulators, recalled more than two million cars across nearly all manufacturing models because of widespread reports of flaws and dangers posed by their autopilot systems.

Info. Source: IMDb

Commodus

In this film, the bunker is manufactured by a company called ‘Commodus Survival Shelters’. Again, it is worth noting that the “Commodus” (161 CE- 190 CE) was a Roman emperor whose reign generally marked the end of the golden age of peace in the Roman Empire. His brutal misrule precipitated civil strife, ending 84 years of stability and prosperity within the Roman empire.

The 3 step theory of war strategy explained by G.H. Scott at the end of the movie, on how to destabilize a country and its infrastructure, is the same theory used in The Twilight Zone S1 Ep 22 (1960) “The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street”. With step 3 being identical.

3 stages explained by the film’s dialogues

G.H. Scott: A simple three stage maneuver that could topple a country's government from within. 

The first stage is ISOLATION. Disable their communication and trasnportation. Make the target as deaf, dumb, and paralyzed as possible. 

Setting them up for the second stage - SYNCHRONIZED CHAOS. Terrorize them with covert attacks and misinformation, overwhelming their defense capabilities leaving their weapon systems vulnerable to extremists and their own military. Withourt a clear enemy or motive, people will start turning on each other. 

If done sucessfully, the third stage would happen on its own. 

Clay Sandford: What's the third stage?

G.H. Scott: (the third stage is) Coup d'etat. Civil War. Collapse. This program was considered the most cost-effective way to destablize a country. Because if the target nation was dysfunctional enough, it would, in essence, do a work for you. Whoever started this wants us to finish it...

{coup d'état/French for 'stroke of state' or simply a coup}.

The Last One

Rose/Rosie (Farrah Mackenzie), the teenage daughter has been trying to watch the last episode of the Friends series, entitled “The Last One” but she was unable to do it. So, she wishes to see the finale of the Friends season titled “The Last One” desperately. It is worth noting that Part IV of this movie is called “The Last One” too.

Finally, as this film proceeds towards the end, we witness Rose watching the Friends series alone in the basement bunker of one of their Long Island neighbour Thornes’ homes. The film’s ending is a departure from Alam’s novel, which finishes with Rose gathering supplies from the house before presumably returning to her family.

What does the author say about the film’s ending?

It’s not that kind of story. I have no problem with like a big disaster movie that saves the six or eight principals and reunites them in the aftermath of a disaster and allows you to be like, “Well, everything’s gonna be okay.” I just don’t think this is that kind of film.

Author Rumaan Alam | Variety

Let us discuss the ending in detail

This apocalyptic movie ends with Rose finding the neighbour’s bunker and a DVD containing the final season of the “Friends” series. As she puts on the series finale, the Rembrandts’ theme song, “I’ll Be There For You,” plays over the movie’s end credits, and the lyrics of the same go like this:

So no one told you 
Life was gonna be this way 

You Job's a joke
You're broke
Your love life's DOA

It's like you're always 
Stuck in second gear
When it hasn't been your day
Your week, your month
Or even your year

But I'll be there for you
When the rain starts to pour
I'll be there for you
Like I've been there before
I'll be there for you
'Cause you're there for me too...

In a way, this series and the song provide some solace to Rose, the youngest of the survivors. This show is like comfort food for her and maybe it is about the ‘nostalgia for a time that never existed’ for her, her family and her acquaintances. The sudden ending of the movie is open for interpretation by its viewers. One can draw their conclusion on its surprising end. So, go ahead, and draw your views.