Leave the World Behind
Jan. 13th, 2024 09:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaI liked it. I kept thinking about it and ended up watching it a second time.
+ I enjoyed the slowly building tension of things happening without knowing why or what they meant. I liked the ending.
+ The movie's ending was left very open. The characters aren't reunited yet and we don't get any answers for what exactly is happening but it looks pretty bad. Despite this ambiguity for me it ended on a fairly positive note for the characters (and at least their immediate survival), and I appreciated that.
On a physical level, Clay and G.H. know about the bunker, Amanda has seen the house and is sure to go there because she thinks Rose is there, and Rose is actually in the bunker. It's unoccupied. Rose didn't shut the door behind her. It's fully stocked with supplies. It's radiation proof. They're all set to converge there. Unless something happens this has the situation set for the best possible outcome for them.
On an interpersonal level, things are also at the best they've been for the two families. After all the tension, uncertainty and distrust, and bickering between them levels of trust have been formed.
The most contentious relationship was between Amanda and Ruth and they got some much needed catharsis with Ruth calling Amanda out and sharing her fear/grief as a daughter, and Amanda responding by opening up emotionally. Even more importantly when Ruth found herself alone and afraid Amanda didn't abandon her. She put herself into the dangerous situation in order to help Ruth (in the process temporarily abandoning the search for her daughter) and then acting together as a team they managed to scare the deer off.
At the end of the movie G.H. very seriously asks Clay if "he's on the level". Essentially if they can trust the Sanfords, if they will have Scotts back. We don't see Clay answer him but I think the Ruth/Amanda scenes give the answer to us. Which is - yes. The two families are now united.
So yeah. I think this was as positive ending as there could be. They're all going to converge on that mansion and will be safe in the bunker.
+ G.H. has his theory on what's happening and I think it's very likely that is part of what's happening. But it can't be all that's happening because of the deer. Wow, those deer. I was confused and a little disturbed. Why were they acting like that? There is nothing in G.H.'s theory that would explain them. It made me wonder a bit if there was a supernatural explanation for what was happening however we get all those shots of earth from space which led me to my own theory.
My theory is that there was a solar flare that messed with magnetosphere. That would explain the deer and birds. It could even be why the satellites went out rather then a cyberattack. World leaders and others with power/money (like G.H.'s friend) knew it was coming. Everyone also knew that this would be the perfect time to attack your enemies.
So solar flare causing magnetic field issues and by happenstance taking out the satellites. A disaster for sure but a survivable one. There was a lot of commentary in this movie on humans dependence on technology but in itself it's not a catastrophe.
Unfortunately an other big thing this movie was commenting on was humans beings being horrible. Ruining the planet, not caring about other, hurting other people. In this case Amanda's dim view on humanity is proven right with someone, or several someones, taking advantage of the situation to sow fear (the cars, the plane crashes, the pamphlets) and destruction. Their goal unknown (take over the US?) but the effects far reaching.
Actually we don't even know how far reaching this chaos goes. Is it only the US that is being attacked or are other countries seeing their own versions of this? Is this the end of America or is it the end of the world?
+ The deer. I don't even know. Here's the thing - they seem scary because they are acting in unusual ways. Also being stared at silently is creepy. But they don't actually appear to be aggressive? They surround Ruth but we don't see them attack. They don't charge at her. It's certainly a very scary situation to find yourself in and I don't blame the women for their reactions but were they really in danger? To me this seems to tie in to the whole miscommunication and lack of shared language/understanding thing that was also happening in the movie. The deer were trying to communicate something to the humans but the humans don't understand and so react by reject them and scaring them off.
Actually no because Rose was listening. Other then then the first time it was always Rose and only Rose who saw them, who wanted to know more, who went out to figure out what they wanted/what was going on. And it was in going after the deer again at the end that led Rose to finding the bunker. Did the deer lead her to the house?
Okay, the deer are weird. They kind of lead me back to a supernatural explanation, lol. Or maybe there's no reason and they're just there for the symbolism. All the deer coming together - like humans will need to do to survive?
+ Meanwhile Rose is an interesting case because she spends the whole movie desperately wanting to watch the Friends finale. It's her all consuming desire. See: dependence on technology, technology over human interaction. Except we see her try and reach out, particularly to her brother who rejects her and is mean every single time. Rose wants connection but can't find it in the people around her and so finds herself relying on TV/technology to get it instead, losing herself in fake worlds.
It's an interesting note to end on with Rose finally getting that final episode and the last shot being her smiling face. On the one hand, she abandoned her family without a word. She found a bunker, a safe place AND a place with much needed information, but instead of returning to her family to tell them she gets distracted and sits down to watch friends. So - ignoring the common good for personal desire, and addiction to technology, and hammering home the lack of connection she feels to people over technology. All bad things certainly.
Only that's not really the whole story with her.
A) the lack of connection isn't on her, or only her. She reaches out and is rejected or ignored and finds something to fill that gap elsewhere.
B) Of everyone in the family she is the most observant of the world around her (the ship, the deer) and yet is ignored by the others. She points out the ship several times before her parents take note, she points out the deer situation but her brother only takes the opportunity to scare her and she was wants to go to the house but he's too distracted by his not working phone and doesn't want to.
C) She doesn't actually know everything that is happening because her parents are keeping her in the dark. She knows something is wrong but not how bad.
D) She's a child.
I rather like that she's the one who found the bunker first. It felt appropriate in a way. She's curious, observant, and sets off on her own when everyone around her wouldn't listen. Amanda was desperate for a plan and spiralling at not knowing what to do, Clay and G.H. left to search for information. Meanwhile it's Rose who finds the answers to both.
+ I felt so bad for that poor woman Clay left in the middle of nowhere. Lost and alone in a rural setting, no people, afraid and uncertain of what's happening, not even being able to speak the dominant language. Horrible situation for her. Unfortunately her distress and fear and the communication barrier plus her (understandable!) intensity caused Clay's already high anxiety and fear to spike leading him to abandoning her. It felt very real and sad but also, wow, was that such a shitty thing for him to do. He clearly felt overwhelmed and uncertain but yikes dude. He should feel guilty! She was so scared :( The actress did a great job.
ALSO, he left in the first place to find information. Yes, he can't understand her but he doesn't know if G.H. or Ruth speak Spanish. There is also the fact that they could find ways to overcome the language barriers.
This encounter was also interesting because between the two Sanford parents he was the more open and accepting one with the Scotts. He was the peacemaker, the one who stayed calm and was willing to trust. And now after a day of the unexplained, without technology, without knowing what is going on he gets so upset and frazzled that he's willing to abandon a woman. Tying into humanity being the worst and how things breakdown between humans when things go wrong and even the dependence on technology.
+ The Tesla scene was great.
+ The moment when Amanda wakes and checks Archie's forehead was one of the most tense moments of the film. Her noting that his fever is gone and you're left wondering: is he dead? It got me.
+ I honestly didn't notice until the second time I watched that the paintings kept changing. The screen even lingers on them! I'm so unobservant sometimes, lol. The bedroom ocean painting getting bigger, darker, choppier, more dangerous as the situation gets worse. The living-room painting changing from white blotches in black to a more cohesive blending of the two colours showing how the two families become closer?
+ I feel like there is a lot of symbolism I'm missing.
+ There was probably a bunch with Archie I missed but mainly I was left thinking 'stop being a dick to your sister just because you're bored'. Oh, and also WTF! If your teeth are loose you don't pull them out! You certainly don't keep pulling them after the first one comes out! WTF, WTF!
+ It took everyone a little too long to react to the crashing vehicles. The ship was very obviously going to crash long before they all started to move. G.H. watched the plane coming longer then he should have. It was obvious the incoming car was the same as the others.
+ I enjoyed the slowly building tension of things happening without knowing why or what they meant. I liked the ending.
+ The movie's ending was left very open. The characters aren't reunited yet and we don't get any answers for what exactly is happening but it looks pretty bad. Despite this ambiguity for me it ended on a fairly positive note for the characters (and at least their immediate survival), and I appreciated that.
On a physical level, Clay and G.H. know about the bunker, Amanda has seen the house and is sure to go there because she thinks Rose is there, and Rose is actually in the bunker. It's unoccupied. Rose didn't shut the door behind her. It's fully stocked with supplies. It's radiation proof. They're all set to converge there. Unless something happens this has the situation set for the best possible outcome for them.
On an interpersonal level, things are also at the best they've been for the two families. After all the tension, uncertainty and distrust, and bickering between them levels of trust have been formed.
The most contentious relationship was between Amanda and Ruth and they got some much needed catharsis with Ruth calling Amanda out and sharing her fear/grief as a daughter, and Amanda responding by opening up emotionally. Even more importantly when Ruth found herself alone and afraid Amanda didn't abandon her. She put herself into the dangerous situation in order to help Ruth (in the process temporarily abandoning the search for her daughter) and then acting together as a team they managed to scare the deer off.
At the end of the movie G.H. very seriously asks Clay if "he's on the level". Essentially if they can trust the Sanfords, if they will have Scotts back. We don't see Clay answer him but I think the Ruth/Amanda scenes give the answer to us. Which is - yes. The two families are now united.
So yeah. I think this was as positive ending as there could be. They're all going to converge on that mansion and will be safe in the bunker.
+ G.H. has his theory on what's happening and I think it's very likely that is part of what's happening. But it can't be all that's happening because of the deer. Wow, those deer. I was confused and a little disturbed. Why were they acting like that? There is nothing in G.H.'s theory that would explain them. It made me wonder a bit if there was a supernatural explanation for what was happening however we get all those shots of earth from space which led me to my own theory.
My theory is that there was a solar flare that messed with magnetosphere. That would explain the deer and birds. It could even be why the satellites went out rather then a cyberattack. World leaders and others with power/money (like G.H.'s friend) knew it was coming. Everyone also knew that this would be the perfect time to attack your enemies.
So solar flare causing magnetic field issues and by happenstance taking out the satellites. A disaster for sure but a survivable one. There was a lot of commentary in this movie on humans dependence on technology but in itself it's not a catastrophe.
Unfortunately an other big thing this movie was commenting on was humans beings being horrible. Ruining the planet, not caring about other, hurting other people. In this case Amanda's dim view on humanity is proven right with someone, or several someones, taking advantage of the situation to sow fear (the cars, the plane crashes, the pamphlets) and destruction. Their goal unknown (take over the US?) but the effects far reaching.
Actually we don't even know how far reaching this chaos goes. Is it only the US that is being attacked or are other countries seeing their own versions of this? Is this the end of America or is it the end of the world?
+ The deer. I don't even know. Here's the thing - they seem scary because they are acting in unusual ways. Also being stared at silently is creepy. But they don't actually appear to be aggressive? They surround Ruth but we don't see them attack. They don't charge at her. It's certainly a very scary situation to find yourself in and I don't blame the women for their reactions but were they really in danger? To me this seems to tie in to the whole miscommunication and lack of shared language/understanding thing that was also happening in the movie. The deer were trying to communicate something to the humans but the humans don't understand and so react by reject them and scaring them off.
Actually no because Rose was listening. Other then then the first time it was always Rose and only Rose who saw them, who wanted to know more, who went out to figure out what they wanted/what was going on. And it was in going after the deer again at the end that led Rose to finding the bunker. Did the deer lead her to the house?
Okay, the deer are weird. They kind of lead me back to a supernatural explanation, lol. Or maybe there's no reason and they're just there for the symbolism. All the deer coming together - like humans will need to do to survive?
+ Meanwhile Rose is an interesting case because she spends the whole movie desperately wanting to watch the Friends finale. It's her all consuming desire. See: dependence on technology, technology over human interaction. Except we see her try and reach out, particularly to her brother who rejects her and is mean every single time. Rose wants connection but can't find it in the people around her and so finds herself relying on TV/technology to get it instead, losing herself in fake worlds.
It's an interesting note to end on with Rose finally getting that final episode and the last shot being her smiling face. On the one hand, she abandoned her family without a word. She found a bunker, a safe place AND a place with much needed information, but instead of returning to her family to tell them she gets distracted and sits down to watch friends. So - ignoring the common good for personal desire, and addiction to technology, and hammering home the lack of connection she feels to people over technology. All bad things certainly.
Only that's not really the whole story with her.
A) the lack of connection isn't on her, or only her. She reaches out and is rejected or ignored and finds something to fill that gap elsewhere.
B) Of everyone in the family she is the most observant of the world around her (the ship, the deer) and yet is ignored by the others. She points out the ship several times before her parents take note, she points out the deer situation but her brother only takes the opportunity to scare her and she was wants to go to the house but he's too distracted by his not working phone and doesn't want to.
C) She doesn't actually know everything that is happening because her parents are keeping her in the dark. She knows something is wrong but not how bad.
D) She's a child.
I rather like that she's the one who found the bunker first. It felt appropriate in a way. She's curious, observant, and sets off on her own when everyone around her wouldn't listen. Amanda was desperate for a plan and spiralling at not knowing what to do, Clay and G.H. left to search for information. Meanwhile it's Rose who finds the answers to both.
+ I felt so bad for that poor woman Clay left in the middle of nowhere. Lost and alone in a rural setting, no people, afraid and uncertain of what's happening, not even being able to speak the dominant language. Horrible situation for her. Unfortunately her distress and fear and the communication barrier plus her (understandable!) intensity caused Clay's already high anxiety and fear to spike leading him to abandoning her. It felt very real and sad but also, wow, was that such a shitty thing for him to do. He clearly felt overwhelmed and uncertain but yikes dude. He should feel guilty! She was so scared :( The actress did a great job.
ALSO, he left in the first place to find information. Yes, he can't understand her but he doesn't know if G.H. or Ruth speak Spanish. There is also the fact that they could find ways to overcome the language barriers.
This encounter was also interesting because between the two Sanford parents he was the more open and accepting one with the Scotts. He was the peacemaker, the one who stayed calm and was willing to trust. And now after a day of the unexplained, without technology, without knowing what is going on he gets so upset and frazzled that he's willing to abandon a woman. Tying into humanity being the worst and how things breakdown between humans when things go wrong and even the dependence on technology.
+ The Tesla scene was great.
+ The moment when Amanda wakes and checks Archie's forehead was one of the most tense moments of the film. Her noting that his fever is gone and you're left wondering: is he dead? It got me.
+ I honestly didn't notice until the second time I watched that the paintings kept changing. The screen even lingers on them! I'm so unobservant sometimes, lol. The bedroom ocean painting getting bigger, darker, choppier, more dangerous as the situation gets worse. The living-room painting changing from white blotches in black to a more cohesive blending of the two colours showing how the two families become closer?
+ I feel like there is a lot of symbolism I'm missing.
+ There was probably a bunch with Archie I missed but mainly I was left thinking 'stop being a dick to your sister just because you're bored'. Oh, and also WTF! If your teeth are loose you don't pull them out! You certainly don't keep pulling them after the first one comes out! WTF, WTF!
+ It took everyone a little too long to react to the crashing vehicles. The ship was very obviously going to crash long before they all started to move. G.H. watched the plane coming longer then he should have. It was obvious the incoming car was the same as the others.
