Julia Roberts on Netflix: How Much Is Weird Tech Thriller The World After Us Worth?

What are you doing?

A family dreaming of vacationing in a luxury rental home is thrown into chaos after a cyber attack disables all their devices – and annoys two strangers.

The World After Us, written and directed by Sam Esmail.

who is he with

Oscar-winning actress Julia Roberts, who needs no introduction, stars opposite Ethan Hawke in this angst-inducing thriller. They are dating Mahershala Ali, a two-time Best Actor Oscar winner for Moonlight in 2017 and Green Book in 2019. His daughter, who makes up the quartet, is played by Myha’la Herrold, seen in Black Mirror and Industry. In a small role, some should also recognize Kevin Bacon, star of Footloose and Tremors, among others.

Is it worth checking out?

Sun, sea, model American family… Sam Esmail’s film deceives its world from the first minutes. Doubtful, this apparent lightness makes one wonder when and how it will happen. That’s the question viewers are asking themselves The world after usThe thriller, from the beginning to the end, was permeated with the scent of the end of time. When surreal accidents happen, the nightmare can finally begin.

For many minutes – if not three quarters of the film – the filmmaker leaves many secrets. An oppressive atmosphere is created and questions abound as well as theories. Realistic thriller, fantasy tale, paranoid drama… The World After Us moves between several genres to better play with expectations.

The film could come straight from the mind of M. Night Shyamalan, a director known for his taste for surprises and gray areas. The first act also bears an uncanny resemblance to Knock at the Cabin, his last feature film.

Problem: After long dialogues, the thriller struggles to fulfill the contract it made itself. The World After Us collects interesting props without going all the way as if the script had been signed Sam Esmail He was satisfied with the swirling of the water.

However, there are some good ideas running through the film, starting with a virtuosic staging that uses original footage to better disorient the audience. Some scenes also have their own effects, such as this huge cargo ship that runs ashore, an image worthy of the greatest disaster movies. Revelations never match these epic moments.

What a disappointment to see that this thriller, which has so much to say, never manages to articulate them clearly. The work of the quartet of actors, led by Julia Roberts, works well. The characters are nuanced and avoid any Manichaeism. Unfortunately, they are in the service of an unfinished script.

The greatest quality of The World After Us is, all the same, its success in capturing the modern era and in conveying its anxiety-inducing climate. Sam Esmail is right about this. The film explores many interesting topics such as conspiracy theories, misinformation, dependence on technology… a scary mirror of our present times.

The World After Us is available on Netflix.