Star-studded cast examines American anxiety in Netflix thriller

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Leave the World Behind ★★★½
Netflix, Friday

Executive produced by Barack and Michelle Obama, this unsettling psychological thriller has serious apocalyptic vibes: the internet is down, animals are forming ominous herds, and a misanthropic Julia Roberts coolly declares, “I f—-ing hate people”. As a patient descent into paranoia, that you will need the internet to stream, Leave the World Behind is overflowing with American anxiety, which is expressed by an exceptional cast led by Roberts, Mahershala Ali, and Ethan Hawke.

Mahershala Ali., Myha’la, Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke in Leave the World Behind. Credit: Netflix

The movie’s nerve-jangling architect is writer and director Sam Esmail, who brings to bear key traits of his previous television shows: Mr Robot‘s unnerving spread of technology and Homecoming’s uncertain identities.

Adding big-budget set-pieces to the gliding camera moves of David Fincher’s Panic Room, Esmail turns the Long Island holiday house rental of New York professionals Amanda and Clay Sandford (Roberts and Hawke), and their two teenage children, into a just hold it together mood once everything digital drops out.

The family’s unity is tested when the immaculately attired G.H. Scott (Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la) arrive at the door, claiming to be the owners and wanting to share the refuge. Clay is welcoming, but Amanda is not, an instinct in part based on the interlopers being black. Should they be scared of each other or what’s possibly happening back in New York City? The prickliness suggests the former. “I manage relationships,” Amanda says of her job in advertising. “I would not have guessed that,” Ruth replies.

As images grow more ominous, everyone struggles to communicate: phones are glorified cameras, no-one wants to admit how worried they are, and when Clay encounters a panicked woman he eventually flees because she only speaks Spanish.

Charlie Evans and Farrah Mackenzie in Leave the World Behind.Credit: Netflix

In adapting Rumaan Alam’s 2020 novel, Esmail ratchets up the possible ramifications of our reliance on technology, America’s political divide, and national insecurity. He uses the cast expertly. Roberts’ signature mega-smile is deployed when Amanda reassures her daughter everything will be alright, which you instantly know she doesn’t believe.

As a dread-stoked chamber-piece, Leave the World Behind is gripping. Esmail captures indelible images that (sometimes literally) crash his themes into one another. Part of the emotional reckoning is schematic. Ruth eventually asks Amanda, “why are you like this?” when the answer already permeates the plotting.

But in a film where everyone is desperate for answers but unwilling to acknowledge the truth, the timeliness feels wildly blatant. “That’s the old way,” a neighbour says of the world the characters, and us, take for granted.

Strife ★★★★
Binge

With Asher Keddie playing Evelyn Jones, the stretched thin mother of a women’s website and two teenagers, this briskly insightful Australian comedy can’t resist a few Sex and the City references in the first episode: the writer’s demanding cursor, the cigarette as crutch, and Jonathan LaPaglia as a cavalier magazine publisher with Mr Big vibes. But they’re hardly definitive, and the show has a genuine wit borne of the battle against imperfections.

A semi-period piece, the show is set in 2012 as the internet gains ground and feminism, like Evelyn, gets pulled in every direction. The inspiration is Mia Freedman’s memoir Work Strife Balance, but creator Sarah Scheller (The Letdown) uses deft exchanges and telling obstinacy to render Evelyn fully formed.

The need for clicks is all too real, and there’s a tart taste of life in Sydney’s wealthy eastern suburbs.

Asher Keddie in Strife, inspired by Mia Freedman’s book Work Strife Balance.

Evelyn frets about her business and her children, who stayed with their permanently piqued father, John (Matt Day), and the upbeat pacing of these half-hour episodes doesn’t preclude addressing fundamental concerns, whether it’s Evelyn acknowledging that she needs more than to be a mother or the satisfaction she gets from publicly sharing her struggles.

There are farcical setbacks and bittersweet breakthroughs, and Strife makes both count. Equally notable: the accomplished direction by Stuart Bowen.

Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas
Apple TV+

Hannah Waddingham: traditional Christmas variety.Credit: Apple TV+

Ted Lasso fans get their own cheery Christmas special, with the now concluded comedy’s Hannah Waddingham, who played football team owner Rebecca Welton. She is an accomplished veteran of West End musicals in her own right, headlining this all-singing and all-dancing spectacular that is very pro-Christmas.

Recorded at London’s Coliseum theatre, it’s a traditional variety with famous duet partners, bountiful banter, and plenty of cross-promotional work from Waddingham’s Ted Lasso co-stars. It’s the least contentious show you could put on during the holiday season, and thankfully succinct.

Tuuli Narkle, as AFP Liaison Officer Constable Evie Cooper, and Sean Sagar, as Special Agent DeShawn Jackson, provide some of the light relief in NCIS: Sydney.

NCIS: Sydney
Paramount+

In the case of a good procedural, familiarity has to breed content rather than contempt. The aim is to engineer a recognisable show that can run forever. I thought the pilot of NCIS: Sydney was pretty rocky, but checking back with the third episode and the franchise’s familiar elements starting to take shape as the Australian and American investigators (the latter are armed now!) take on their weekly US naval crime. Leads Olivia Swann and Todd Lasance have a decent chemistry, while Mystery Road: Origin’s Tuuli Narkle nails cop sidekick duty.

The Case Against Cosby
Stan

Told with damning testimony and the appropriate care and detail, this two-part documentary is focused on Andrea Constand, a former Canadian professional basketball player and women’s coach who was sexually assaulted by entertainer Bill Cosby in 2004, starting a torturous process that ended with Cosby’s conviction in 2018.

Bill Cosby.Credit: REUTERS

The show gets to the truth behind the headlines, both legally and emotionally, as it moves from archival courtroom footage to the present-day therapy of the many other women who have made similar accusations against Cosby. It’s a thorough telling of a survivor’s story.

Candy Cane Lane
Amazon Prime

With a few echoes of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1996 Yuletide comedy, Jingle all the Way, this holiday season family comedy stars Eddie Murphy as Chris Carver, a suburban family man desperate to beat his neighbour, Bruce (Ken Marino, easily going full jerk), in the annual festive front yard competition.

Eddie Murphy in Candy Cane Lane.Credit: Amazon

Desperation leads Chris to both an unusual retailer who keeps receipts (Jillian Bell) and some obligatory lessons about the true values and importance of Christmas Day. Reginald Hudlin’s film is self-aware, but it’s very broad and in trying to do too much achieves little.

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