Julia Roberts' Netflix apocalyptic thriller Leave the World Behind captivated viewers with its social critique and stunning performances, but left them hanging in the end. What was supposed to be a family vacation transformed into a fight for existence, as the whole world unraveled in horrifying and bewildering ways. With its disturbing vagueness, the Obamas-produced film raised gigantic discussions, but the most commonly asked question remained that of a potential sequel. 

Will the saga of human conditions and breakdown of social order in Leave the World Behind continue?

To date, Netflix has not given a green light to the sequel to Leave the World Behind. Even though the movie created ample buzz, expectations, and wild guesses, the streaming service reportedly has no plans in place for a formal renewal or a part 2 of the movie yet. Viewers might still be looking forward to a sequel as its ambiguous ending breeds uncertainty in equal proportion outside its script. A continuation might not be surprising, but the director himself likes to rob viewers of a conclusive denouement.

In an interview with Collider, director of Leave the World Behind, Sam Esmail, reflected on its open ending, saying, "I love movies where the end of the film is the beginning of a conversation, and when you answer all these questions... it closes the door on that." He purposely designed the ending to initiate contemplation rather than to resolve everything. While his comments might already be a nail in the coffin of a potential sequel, nothing has been announced officially by Netflix. Regardless, the dramatic thriller sealed its place as one of Netflix's greatest hits in 2023 for the right reasons.

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The original movie still holds an immensely re-watchable factor that initiates critical thinking about racism, poverty, and social order.

Rarely does an apocalyptic thriller cause such commotion as Leave the World Behind, starring Tinseltown's finest, Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha'la, and Kevin Bacon. Backed by Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, the movie derived its enthralling blue narrative from Rumaan Alam's 2020 novel. At its core, Leave the World Behind chronicles Amanda Sandford (Julia Roberts), who hates humans, her husband Clay (Ethan Hawke), and their two kids, who depart Brooklyn for a supposedly perfect vacation on Long Island in a rented house. 

Everything goes awry when two people, G.H. (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter Ruth, turn up, stating that they are the rightful homeowners and have come to warn of a massive blackout reaching the East Coast. The narrative, laced with paranoia, exposes a society in ruins, with ominous conditions, and characters’ fates uncertain, so the viewers get more questions than answers. A subtext in the film critiques America's poverty, racism, slavery, and a collapsing social order when faced with an apocalyptic scenario. However, the inconclusive ending did keep the possibility of a sequel alive, but as of now, there is none in the works. 

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