In Leave the World Behind, a series of unusual events disrupt Amanda’s family vacation, and it is only later that George reveals what is causing these strange incidents.
Amanda rents a beautiful house outside the city for a family getaway. However, the vacation is unlike any other. A number of incidents lead to them realizing that something inexplicable is happening.
When they are at the beach, an oil tanker runs aground. The family gets away in time, but only just. Then, they lose internet connection, and their devices stop working, cutting them off from the outside world.
Lastly, the owner of the house, a man named George, shows up with his daughter, Ruth, in the middle of the night. They ask Amanda and Clay to let them stay for the night, as there is a blackout in the city.
As eerie incidents occur, George and Amanda’s families are left searching for answers. George tells Amanda that he left the city because of a conversation he had with his powerful client. He took the conversation as a warning that something was about to go wrong and left the city.
However, George seems to know something else as well. As he does not want to scare anyone unnecessarily, he does not reveal the information until he meets Danny, his contractor, with Clay and Archie.
The three-stage maneuver
For his work, George has studied military campaigns. He tells Clay about a program that is considered the most cost-effective way to destabilize a country that is dysfunctional enough to finish the job itself.
The program involves a three-stage maneuver that can topple the government from within. The first stage is isolation. By disabling transport and communications, the citizens of a country can be paralyzed.
The oil tanker running ashore, planes losing control and crashing, automatic cars crashing into each other and blocking the roads, cutting off the internet, the blackout, and even the satellite phones not working were all part of the first stage. It is hinted that a cyberattack across the country made this possible.
Once the citizens are isolated, the second stage, which involves synchronized chaos, can be carried out. Covert attacks, like the unbearable noise that terrified both the families, and the spread of misinformation, such as dropping leaflets in foreign languages, result in chaos.
This overwhelms the country’s defense capabilities. Extremists and the country’s own military can gain access to its weapon systems. Amanda and Ruth witness the attack on Manhattan.
The absence of a specific enemy or motive results in the citizens of the country turning on each other, as seen in Danny and George’s case. Finally, the last stage involves a civil war or a coup d’état, resulting in an overthrow of the government.Â
When Rose finds the bunker, the emergency system’s message points to the fact that the third stage is being carried out. Rogue forces attack the White House and the country’s major cities. On top of that, radiation levels are rising near population centers.
The film does not reveal who is behind the overthrow of the government, but it is made evident that it is going to cost numerous lives. To survive this, the two families must get to the bunker built by the Thornes family. While Rose is safe in the bunker, it is not known whether the rest of them made it there.
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