The platform of SVoD Netflix ended the year 2023 by releasing a very promising new feature film, The World After UsOr Leave the World Behind in original version. A film announced as a post-apocalyptic psychological thriller with renowned actors and an already highly regarded director/writer : Sam Esmail is indeed the creator of the excellent series Mr. Robot, but here he adapts a novel by Rumaan Alam to his own taste. Despite all this and a production ensured in particular by Barack and Michelle Obama, the result remains mixed. Explanations in this review, obviously without spoilers.
The World After Us could have been a nice closed-door affair with a good cast.
The World After Us follows the family Sandford, whose father and mother are played by Ethan Hawke and Julia Roberts. On vacation with their son and daughter in a rental house, they are disturbed one evening by the father and daughter Scott (Mahershala Ali and Myha’la Herrold), who hope to be able to take refuge here after a huge power and network outage. As the two families discover each other and learn to live together, the world around them seems to collapse.
The pitch and the first minutes of World After Us sets the tone. No post-apocalyptic here, but good the early days of what looks like the end of the world, or at least the United States, attacked by an unknown enemy. Hackers? Russians? Chinese? Iraqis? The country ofUncle Sam is spoiled for choice among his opponents, leaving the viewer asking questions. Besides, the film poses a lot of questions, without rarely answering them, which is not a bad thing. Events are followed through the eyes of Sandford And Scott, just as lost as the spectators in the face of what is happening to them. It’s amusing to see an apocalyptic film like this being produced by a former president of the United States (via his company High Ground Productions), enough to cause a lot of ink to flow in a sphere of the Internet which is already exclaiming: “they know what is going to happen! “. At least, the film allows us to reflect on our possible behavior in the event of the end of the world, when technology will have disappeared. A critique of the modern era which, fortunately, does not support its point to the extent of excess as was done Black Mirror.
The World After Us unfortunately suffers from some shortcomings. In 2h20 of film, we had time to get bored watching sequences that take too much time, adding nothing to the atmosphere or the characters and even less to the storyline. However, the film offers truly gripping and stressful, almost distressing scenes, which punctuate the 141 minutes of the feature film, like an oil tanker running aground on a beach at the very beginning of the film, moments intensified by the music by Mac Quayle (Mr. Robot, The Last of Us Part II). It is also in these moments that the production manages to shine with careful camera movements, notably in a car scene obviously reminiscent of The Sons of Man by Alfonso Cuaron. Sam Esmail is picking up directorial ideas left and right, moviegoers are delighted, but he has not yet managed to find his own style, only repeating what has already been done. This is especially felt in the dialogue scenes, which are not very interesting and filmed in a too classic way, rarely managing to create tension or emotion.
It’s a shame, because when it comes to directing actors, Sam Esmail knows how to do it. The casting is ideal, everyone is perfect in their role, whether it’s Julia Roberts as a mother on the verge of burnout, Ethan Hawke as a father overwhelmed by events and the absence of technology or Mahershala Ali worried about his wife (absent from the film) trying to protect his daughter. On the children’s side, it’s more complicated. Charlie Evans never manages to convince, it must be said that his role is very limited, the same as that of Farrah Mackenzie, the little Sandford spend the film wanting to watch the end of Friends (which it is better to know by the way). Only Myha’la Herrold stands out from the crowd with her role as a stubborn young woman who is entitled to real development in her character. Note the presence in the casting of Kevin Bacon, present only in a single dialogue scene for once very intense and which shows all the talent of the actor, who only has to cast a glance to convince.
The World After Us could have been a good curiosity Netflixa friendly behind closed doors carried by a good cast, criticizing in passing our ultra-connected and technology-dependent society, but the film suffers from real length, dialogues not necessarily well written and above all a very disappointing finale. We will of course not detail it here, but it is surprising, in the bad sense of the word, leaving the viewer wanting more. As we have already said, it is not necessary to provide answers to a story to satisfy the viewer, who will themselves try to answer them, but careful conclusion is still important, being content with ‘an end point is essential in a work of cinema. Not like here. Point.
Note : 2 stars out of 5
If The World After Us by Netflix intrigues you, you can find the novel by Rumaan Alam on which it is inspired for €8.30 on Amazon And Fnac.
| Clint008 Editor – Tester |
