Leave the World Behind

“gave me the willies. loved it.”

“A white family is on vacation at an Air BnB when an unspecified society wide blackout occurs. The Black owners of the rental arrive forcing them to cohabitate. By never specifying what went wrong in the world, Alam creates a crucible of tension that explores themes of race, class and trust. A very good film was made about this book, directed by Sam Esmail and starring Julia Roberts, Myha'la, Mahershala Ali, and Ethan Hawke. Sadly the movie reveals more about how society collapses as it ends. The books version, where the collapse is a microcosm representing our everyday failures as a society, is much more profound.”