Leave the World Behind’s Ending, Explained

The biggest Netflix original movie at the end of 2023 is Leave the World Behind. Adapting the 2020 novel of the same name by Rumaan Alam, the film ends on a relatively open-ended note, leaving audiences to ponder its implications. Here’s an explainer for Leave the World Behind‘s ending.

Leave the World Behind’s Ending, Explained

The movie follows the Sadnford family as they vacation in Long Island when they witness the sudden loss of modern telecommunications technology nationwide, causing the country to rapidly descend into chaos. With escalating phenomena, including anti-American propaganda being dropped in the community and apparent microwave weapons being used on civilians, the Sandfords shelter the Scott family, with tension quickly rising between the two groups.

The Scotts and Sandfords learn that a full-on civil war is unfolding, theorized to be part of an ambitious coup of the federal government. The disruption to the telecommunications infrastructure and other strange phenomena are allegedly part of a sweeping false flag attack to destabilize society in order to facilitate this true conflict, with vast swathes of the country fighting among themselves. The tension between the Sandfords and Scotts is a visible example of this plot, though fortunately, the two families don’t escalate to all-out mayhem.

As New York City is bombed as part of this growing civil war, the families seek refuge in an underground bunker in the neighborhood created by a local doomsday prepper. Rose overhears an Emergency Alert broadcast that reveals the military is battling a rogue splinter faction who are relying on radioactive weapons to fatally poison the opposition. As the country continues its devastating war with itself, the Sandfords’ daughter Rose finds a television and is able to watch the series finale of Friends.

The bombing of New York and the emergency broadcast appear to confirm the theory that an insurgency by a rogue group within the military is underway, though the full extent of their conspiracy remains a mystery. Rose disassociating with conflict to watch Friends is a callback to the opening of the movie, with the disruptions to power and internet access preventing her from watching the finale. Though the civil war is sweeping the nation, Rose still manages to watch the elusive finale as the world goes to hell around her in the ultimate pyrrhic victory.