Is Leave The World Behind Worth Watching? Netflix Movie Has Rotten Tomatoes Divided

"Leave the World Behind" is the latest Netflix original film to take social media by storm. It quickly launched to the number one spot in Netflix's rankings, so it's certainly garnering buzz. But is it worth watching?

There's a pretty big divide between critics and general moviegoers on Rotten Tomatoes. With over 100 reviews from professional critics, the film's currently sitting at a 75% positive rating on the platform. That would suggest it's pretty good, but scores from audiences list "Leave the World Behind" as rotten, with only 40% of reviews being positive. It's not uncommon for critics and general audiences to be divided, but it's worth considering what could've led to such an outcome for the apocalyptic thriller. 

Some critics certainly lodged complaints, but folks like Craig Mathieson of The Age overall enjoyed the film, writing, "As a dread-stoked chamber-piece, 'Leave the World Behind' is gripping. [Director Sam] Esmail captures indelible images that (sometimes literally) crash his themes into one another." The performances, particularly from Julia Roberts and Mahershala Ali, were also of note to many critics, like Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press, "We haven't seen a nasty Roberts character in a while and Ali balances sophistication and slyness artfully." While critics seem to like the themes and performances, regular viewers took umbrage with some other aspects of the film. 

Critics and general audiences will occasionally look at different things when reviewing a movie. When it comes to "Leave the World Behind," it appears many simply can't get over the long runtime. The film clocks in at 2 hours and 21 minutes, making it an ordeal for some who took their opinions to X, formerly known as Twitter. For example, one fan wrote, "Leave the World Behind is too long too contrived too boring." Even when people liked the movie, like @DrewOfBorg, they criticized the runtime, "Leave the World Behind is very good but 45 minutes too long."

For what it's worth, Looper's own Alistair Ryder sided with the general public on this one, giving "Leave the World Behind" a score of 4 out of 10. A big part of that comes down to what's perceived as a lackluster conclusion, "'Leave the World Behind' doesn't end with a twist, exactly, but the mysterious revelation it spends approximately 135 minutes building toward certainly doesn't land with the narrative-shaking impact in which it was intended." The ending of "Leave the World Behind" also comes up repeatedly in user-generated Rotten Tomatoes reviews, such as one person writing, "The actors were wonderful, but the story was terrible. Horrible ending! So many unanswered questions!"

This leads back to the question, "Is it worth watching 'Leave the World Behind?'" Viewers should definitely go in knowing it's a fairly long movie and plan accordingly. Luckily, watching it on Netflix means you can take restroom breaks at your leisure. There's a good chance you'll either love it or hate it, but the only way to know either way is to give it a shot.