This month,Sam Esmailbrought an eerie apocalyptic adaptation ofRumaan Alam’sLeave the World Behindto Netflix. Set in a remote home on Long Island, the film centers on a family who just want to enjoy a nice vacation in a luxury rental. However, things quickly go south when two mysterious strangers arrive unannounced as the United States falls into disarray following a devastating cyberattack. While the group is cut off from the rest of society, they still experience similar events, with packs of strange deer included.
During an interview withCollider’s Editor-in-ChiefSteve Weintraub, Esmail explained what he wants people to understand aboutthose terrifying deerinLeave the World Behind. Overall, he thinks the movie “works as a feeling, as a tone. It’s not meant for it to be like an essay where every plot point is annotated with logic and references.” He likened it to a hallucination, explaining how the deer expand on that. Moreover, their recurring presence in the movie is meant as a warning, something that becomes more exacerbated as the story continues: “They’re representing the ominous warning from nature to us that something’s off, and we’re not listening.” Esmail also notes how the deer help bolster the experience he was aiming for. He said:
“I wanted this film to feel like a dream that slowly turns into a nightmare.I was committed to that. That’s the experience that I was committed to giving the audience, and nothing for me ever got in the way of that. So, whenever people are trying to piece together the film in a purely detached, logical way, I think that doesn’t work, and honestly, I don’t think it works withmostfilms. I think a film has to be felt and experienced, and not necessarily thought through in that way.”
Deer Weren’t the Only Bizarre Animal Gatherings in ‘Leave the World Behind’
Deer were the primary animals inLeave the World Behind, but they weren’t the only ones bringing ominous warnings. During the second night at the house,Ruth (Myha’la) and Clay (Ethan Hawke)talk outside when they hear a commotion coming from the pool. They go check on the noise, only to discover that several flamingos flew into the pool as if it were a normal thing. Unlike the deer, though, the flamingos don’t return. Meanwhile, the deer reappear multiple times, each more unsettling than the last. Their final appearance culminates in a nerve-wracking scene with the animals, Ruth, andAmanda (Julia Roberts)as the film heads towards its conclusion.
Leave the World Behindis streaming now on Netflix. Don’t miss the rest of our chat with Esmail which is coming soon.
Leave the World Behind
A family’s getaway to a luxurious rental home takes an ominous turn when a cyberattack knocks out their devices, and two strangers appear at their door.
Watch on Netflix
