Welcome to the Heavy Spoilers show, I'm your host Paul and it's time to Leave The World
Behind as we breakdown the brand new Netflix movie.
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Set at what seems to be the end of the world we follow a family as they start to experience
what the downfall of humanity is like from an isolated holiday home. It's a terrible
advert for tesla...and EE...and Netflix now I think ofit but it's great for BnBs and collecting
physical Media. Throughout this video we're gonna be talking about what happens at the
end, the hidden meaning and some of the Mr Robot Easter Eggs that we spotted in it. Heavy
Spoilers ahead so if you don't want to know then I highly recommend that you leave this
video behind. If you enjoy crap puns like that please hit the thumbs up button and dont
forget to subscribe for videos like this every day.
With that out the way, huge thank you for clicking this, now let's get into the movie.
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Ok so the movie follows Amanda and her husband Clay as they decide to leave the world behind
and take a vacation out with their two kids. At the holiday home they start to experience
strange things like an oil tanker driving ashore and unexpected visitors in the form
of George and Ruth. They clearly know more than theyre letting in and as we watch the
film it seems like there's something strange going on in the country. There's been cyber
attacks, the animals are acting weird and strange flyers spelling doom have been dropped
on the location. As things begin to ramp up we learn that there may have been an attack
on the country which happened in 3 stages.
The movie itself is actually broken up into five phases and each of these comes with different
parts to them.
Now the first phase of these is the cyber attack which cuts off communication by destroying
the internet, cell and satellite networks. The second of these is through misinformation
which spreads fear and paranoia. It's then believed that this will lead into a civil
war in which a country will take itself out. We very much see this happening in the final
few scenes with Nukes littering New York and an emergency line being put out from the white
house telling people to seek shelter due to radiation levels.
This sees the Daughter Rose hiding out in the shelter about to chill out and leave the
world behind as she continues the rest of her friends watch through. Gonna get really
confusing when she starts seeing her mother popping up in it.
Ey don't slag it off Ruth she was in it, stop it, stop it.
Now youre probably asking what the hell is going on and what does this all mean?
Well if we look at the book it's pretty ambiguous too with it not really lining out how things
happen. I have been going back and forth on whether this could be foreign invaders, animals
rising up or even ALIENS but I actually think the movie gives us one big clue about whats
going on.
That comes in Georges conversation about his mysterious friend who works for the Cabal.
In the film he talks about someone he knows who would jokingly talk about going off to
meet up with the evil cabal that runs the entire world. Later on when things fall down
it's reveled George had a phonecall with him in which he jokingly brought it up but there
was no laughter. George hints that this might have actually been true and I think the lines
in the film for a specific reason. That's because it is and what we could be seeing
is the results of what happens to the world when those in charge leave it rudderless.
Now Georges entire conversation comes from a famous quote by Alan Moore in which he talked
about who was running the world. He believed that conspiracy theorists made up the idea
that there's a secret society is in charge because it's actually more comforting than
the truth which is that humanity is alone and no one is in charge.
Though this is what George summised too I think that the movie may be a result of what
happens when those running the show no longer are. Everything starts to fall apart and we
see the world destabilise.
It was revealed by Variety that Barack Obama actually consulted with the creative team
for the film and when talking about it to Vanity Fayre he said:
“In the original drafts of the script, I definitely pushed things a lot farther than
they were in the film, and President Obama, having the experience he does have, was able
to ground me a little bit on how things might unfold in reality. I am writing what I think
is fiction, for the most part, I’m trying to keep it as true to life as possible, but
I’m exaggerating and dramatizing. And to hear an ex-president say you’re off by a
few details…I thought I was off by a lot! The fact that he said that scared the fuck
out of me.”
Thus maybe George's client was Obama himself with him being someone who had been controlling
the world from behind the scenes. I told you it was all connected.
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Now we've actually just launched an It's All Connected Shirt on our merch store which is
now out just in time for Christmas. If you love these videos we'd really appreciate the
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it really makes a difference.
Now that's just a theory about it and it may be completely off but that conversation made
me consider it could be the case. This person clearly wanted money moved and this could
show that the rest of the world is ok and that its just america that has been made to
turn on itself. If thats the case then perhaps the head of america fell or was shut out and
thus the country is now on it's own.
We hear from Kevin Bacons Danny that Russian contacts were pulled out of Washington the
week prior so this attack had been likely coming for a while. However that doesnt mean
that things are over and instead I think that this is a time of rebirth in which things
will be born again potentially better than before.
Characters like Amanda start off as people that literally hate humanity and theyre suspicious
and distrustful of those around them.
She clearly bases a lot of her judgement on George and Ruths race with her suspecting
that theyre actually people that work for the true house owners and not wanting to stay
in the house with them. George somewhat knows that race may be an issue to some too which
is why all photos of him and the family are out of sight and the only things with black
people in them are shut off in his office.
Amanda definitely seems like shes completely distrustful but as she gets to know them she
realises that she was wrong. Come the end of the movie rather than turning against them
she decides to be more optimistic and helpful. You would suspect that humanity would turn
on itself and give into our baser instincts but on the whole I believe that people are
good. Sure the powers that be will fire weapons and wipe out others but at a ground level
I think that people would help one another.
Amanda is someone who talks about the collective dellusion we all have that allows us to commit
heinous acts and just act like it's fine. She sees humanity as being evil but in the
end still helps others which I think would probably happen on the whole.
That too is exemplified Danny who refuses to help out by providing medicine. Man stands
with a shotgun in hand in front of a sign that says no soliciting. In the end though
even he gives in and I think thats the true meaning of the film.
Still though to me the Cabal had a power struggle and this then ended with America coming down.
One of the chapters is titled the curve and this is in reference to George trying to read
the curve and use his knowledge and foresight to control things financially. Being ahead
of this has made him rich and in the end its what saves his life. Strange things happening
before major events are something thats been apparent throughout history with 9/11 being
a great example of this. I remember seeing a documentary about a simulation that flipped
a coin over and over and over to test outcomes. Just before 9/11 we had heads landing over
and over and over again and though that might have been some nonsense, these things are
believed to have deeper roots in the world around us.
Now that's of course a theory time theory time theory time theory timeshirts available
too.
But I do think that there are clues in the film that point towards
the cabal. Now the movie itself also has nods to Mr Robot laced throughout which too dealt
with Cyber attacks. Sam Esmail confirmed that the movie is set in the same universe and
the 5/9 attack is brought up as being something that almost broke the economy.
Our editor Matt is a big fan of the show and he was also thinking that the white rose may
have been behind the effects of it. Matt noticed that we too open with a joey badass song who
played Leon in the show.
On top of this he spotted that the start of the movie we also get several nods to Confitura
industries and the E Corp Logo on Dannys tub. This too appears on Julias Laptop with Otto
Irvings book Beach Towel appearing at roughly the 35 minute mark.
The Blue Hue of the emergency broadcast also bathes them in a similar glow to Tyrell and
Blue is something that appears repeatedly throughout the movie.
The opening shots are of the earth before we then cut to a shot of the sky. Jet streams
and a plane flies through this which also looks similar to the blue wall we cut to above
the bed with the crack in it. After friends breaks on the tablet we then pan up to a blue
sky and see an ocean and blue sky above the scotts bed. The jeep is also blue and blue
appears on the market signs with blue also appearing at the beach too. The sky and coast
are of course blue, Amandas dress is blue and the pool is of course blue...daba dee
dabadie.
Then we have the buttons on the tablet and the national emergenmcy screen with the remote
also being blue too. Roses' nasa logo t shirt, the Imessage colours, radio in the car, garage
contents blue glass and needle on the record they all carry this hue along with the blue
pills. Before the friends dvd starts up thats blue too with there being blue buttons on
the remote and lastly blue light on the plants.
Now what does this all mean? Well blue is of course the colour of our planet and water
and it often means stability and hope.
Most of the things that provide safety and comfort are basked in blue which is why it
lights up Rose' face at the end. Think Story pointed out in his video that Clay discussed
how media is both an escape and reflection of our world. I definitely think this light
represents an escape for Rose who is now just completely shut off from the rest of the world
and enjoying whats basically gonna be lockdown.
Think Story has done a brilliant video on it too so definitely go check that out.
Either way this is why I think blue is laced throughout the movie along with the two other
main colours in green and red. Green normally represents nature and that things are safe
whereas Red pretty much always means danger. This to me is why its shown on the flyers
and why its used as the title head for the noise chapter.
Green meaning go has Rose going into the woods and here she finds safety in the shelter.
The map of america in the scotts basement is also broken up into the colours of green
and red with these two colours becoming more and more dominant. As we move away from the
blue and rather the comfort these begin to take over and this is why it's appearance
at the end is so imporatant. The final chapter is called the last one as is the final episode
of friends. That left things on a high and happy note which to me hints at how we leave
things here.
So symbolically again I think that this is about rebirth and the people will return to
nature and then build up again from there. Knowing what hurt them in the past will hopefully
steer them in a new direction in which they wont be so quick to judge. All the characters
work together in the end to make it through and its a more optimistic message that what
normally happens in apocalyptic movies.
Now one of the big questions you probably have is whether the characters made it to
the bunker or not. This was actually posed to Julia Roberts by Yahoo and she had this
to say on where we leave things.
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Now that ending music is the friends theme tune about how people will be there for each
other. I'll be there for you mate...when the rain starts to fall....i'll be there for you...like
I been there before, I'll be there for y...look you get it.
Clay makes a joke earlier in the movie that his kids could sleep through the atom bomb
and here we see that sort of playing out with Rose being completely oblivious to it all.
In the end I believe that they did make it to the bunker as the guys were told about
it by Danny so they'd probably head there next. Amanda and Ruth were out looking for
Rose so they probbaly eventually followed the tracks to the house and it was a-ok in
the end.
This too was backed up by Sam Esmail who talked about it again with Yahoo. Also I dont just
wanna keep ripping off Yahoo so I've left a link to the video in the description. Look
at me, shouting out Yahoo, giving these...giving these up and coming mega famous places a chance
mate. That's how we do at the heavy spoilers show.
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So in the end I
think thats
what happened and the movie is basically meant to document the fall and rise of humanity
with a better, kinder mindstate.
Think Story also pointed out that theres a store called The Huxleys which is likely a
reference to Aldous Huxley who's work explored the dangers of technology.
I think thats basically what the movies real meaning is and overall its about how we are
stronger on a personal level in which we can interact instead of this digital world that
we've crafted for ourselves. We are now so reliant on that that if it goes away we could
go into a meltdown and turn on each other to the point that we blindly fire away incase
the other are attacking us.
Throughout theres the constant suspicon that its cuba, or the koreans, chinese or russians
doing this along with even the iranians being suspects due to the flyers. In the end though
I think those nukes come from america itself which is the civil war that george hinted
at.
Now had there not been this suspicion and paranoia then this never wouldve happened
and everyone int hose cities would still be alive. If we've just been able to talk it
out then things may have de-escalated and I think the films about how humanity can keep
going we just need to work together.
I know a lot of the interpretations are bad but I get the feeling that this is more optimisitic
than damning us to death. Sure...millsiona and millions of people will die but those
that stick together and work it out all have a chance of coming out on top. Theres safety
in numbers and I thinkt he survivors could go forth with this mentality and start something
new thats better than before.
We also have the constant deer throughout that pop up and slowly get closer and closer.
To me this is about humanity getting closer to nature now because the more technological
things in life have started to fail them. However Brain Pilot also brought up a brilliant
point when he talked about how theyre a symbol of rebirth. The antlers of deers...is it deers
or deer...any way their antlers grow and shed overtime and this could represent humanities
rebirth. We have grown to a point that we've shed away and are now starting again as something
new. I think in the end that it works really well as a metaphor and definitely check out
his more indepth video on that point.
anyway thats my interpretation of it but what did I think about the movie?
Well I think pacing wise that it did drag a bit but overall I really liked it. Its one
of those movies that the more Ive thought about the more and more ive started to enjoy
it. I like that theres lots of interpretations you can draw and its cool that what you take
from it could reflect you. If you think they all died ey...you might be a pessimist and
if you dont ey...you might be an optimist. Now this isnt a psycholical analysis of your
personality and im probably a pessimist on the whole but this gave me hope. In the end
I did like it and like the characters it made me wanna leave the world behind.
Also the music and piano bits kept reminding me of LA Noire.
Either wya I'd love to hear your thoughts and thank you everyone for checking out
the video. If you want something else to watch then we've got another movie about the downfall
of humanity and that is apocalypse now. That will be linkned on screen and its one of our
best videos on the channel. Definitely go check it out after this and i'll see you on
the next one. peace.