Leave the World Behind Shoots to No. 1 on Netflix – Viewers Complain
Leave the World Behind, produced by Barack Obama's company, has reached the top spot on Netflix, but has received mixed reviews from viewers.
Leave the World Behind Rises to No. 1 on Netflix
Leave the World Behind, a post-apocalyptic drama featuring Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, and Kevin Bacon, has climbed to the number one spot on the Netflix film rankings. The film was produced by Higher Ground Productions, the company founded by former US president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle. It is based on the 2020 novel of the same name by Rumaan Alam.
Leave the World Behind depicts a society in turmoil as its technological infrastructure, such as phones and TVs, begins to crumble. Despite its success on Netflix, the film has received mixed reviews from critics, and viewers have had an even more polarized response.
Mixed Reviews and Viewer Complaints
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Leave the World Behind has a critics score of 75% positive, while the audience score is only 42%. Viewers have taken to social media to express their opinions on the film, with a common complaint being its lengthy runtime of 140 minutes.
One viewer commented on X/Twitter, "Leave the World Behind is a weird, often funny, often stupid, and ultimately cynical mess of a movie. The film takes an awfully long time to finally arrive at the point, and when it does, the point is cartoonishly pessimistic and narratively unsatisfying. I did not care for it." Another viewer complained, "I'm watching Leave the World Behind. Here's why that's a mistake. I wanna watch other things and this movie is almost 2 & a half hours long."
Controversy Surrounding Family Switch
Another film that has attracted attention on Netflix is Family Switch, a body-swap comedy that sparked controversy for its "incestuous" kiss scene. Directed by McG, the film revolves around a married couple and their two children, who switch bodies. The scene in question features the two children, in their parents' bodies, being forced to kiss at a social gathering.
Both Leave the World Behind and Family Switch are currently available for streaming on Netflix.
