Oppenheimer & Leave The World Behind Establish A Troubling Trend For A24’s New Movie

Oppenheimer and Leave the World Behind are two of 2023’s biggest movies containing themes of human perseverance through the use of nuclear warfare, paranoia, and distrust, and one of A24’s newest movies looks to continue the trend. In the case of Oppenheimer, the film centers around theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer’s moral dilemma regarding the creation of the atomic bomb and its impact on society. While focusing less on nuclear warfare, Leave the World Behind contains similar themes and sensibilities by exchanging Oppenheimer‘s nuclear warhead-centric plot with the growing distrust among everyday citizens and an ambiguous ending that makes Leave the World Behind something of a headscratcher.

Irrespective of their different approaches to storytelling, Oppenheimer and Leave the World Behind are two movies that have a lot more in common with each other than one might assume, and, more importantly, with an upcoming A24 movie. Known for their well-established catalog consisting primarily of slow-burn, independent dramas, one of A24’s newest movies looks to shake things up a bit by changing the subjects typically covered in their filmography while still maintaining their signature aesthetic and sensibilities. With a string of interesting-looking releases coming from A24, one of their latest is connected to Oppenheimer and Leave the World Behind in a troubling way.

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All Three Movies (Including Civil War) Explore Human Distrust & Paranoia

The damaging effects of distrust and paranoia are covered extensively in each film

A24’s Civil War looks to explore the human condition and its relationship with fear, anxiety, and paranoia, while hopefully offering thought-provoking imagery and themes that will inspire its audience to reassess their stake in the state of the world. Although there are plenty of exciting things to expect from Civil War, perhaps the most exciting is how the upcoming epic action movie will handle its themes, and what kind of messages it will leave for viewers to pontificate about. Despite the nature of Oppenheimer‘s storytelling, drama, and suspense, the film is ultimately meant to inspire audiences to work toward more rational solutions to their problems rather than violent resolutions.

Leave the World Behind, on the other hand, is a much more scathing take on the same subject as seen with the hostility that many of the film’s characters openly display toward one another simply out of fear. Additionally, Leave the World Behind is rife with abstract iconography that challenges viewers in a much more cerebral way than that of the historically-based, matter-of-fact Oppenheimer. With limited plot details available regarding Civil War, its title and trailer suggest that it will challenge viewers to think about the direction society is headed in, similar to how Oppenheimer and Leave the World Behind successfully did.

Why Movies Like Oppenheimer And Leave The World Behind Are Good For Society

They inspire people to reassess their views on society

Despite their bleak subjects and tone, movies like Oppenheimer and Leave the World Behind are meant to inspire people to think critically about their own thoughts, actions, and temperaments in an effort to help society mend broken relationships with one another. Although neither 2023 thriller film spells things out for their audiences, both films are filled with enough imagery, themes, and to a lesser extent, dialogue that’s designed to elicit a specific thought and/or emotion from viewers. So, while many movies operating in a post-apocalyptic framework seem dire and grim on the surface, they’re easily some of the most inspirational movies around.

Furthermore, Oppenheimer, Leave the World Behind, Civil War and even many post-apocalyptic zombie movies serve the purpose of leaving future generations with something to consider when working tirelessly to provide solutions to their problems. While movies are primarily meant to be engaging forms of entertainment, they can also be effective educational tools regarding matters of race, history, economics, etc. Unfortunately, a part of successfully getting their themes and messages across, post-apocalyptic thrillers must thrive in their ability to make the stakes and consequences as dire as possible. Otherwise, the messaging gets lost behind the expensive special effects, thus contributing to audiences missing the project’s point entirely.

Why Filmmakers Are Covering Subjects Of Nuclear War And Distrust

Art is meant to reflect the times of society and inspire positive change

As is typically the case with most controversial or challenging forms of entertainment, art is often a reflection of the time in which societies exist. As seen with Westerns of the post-Frontier era and the explosion of the CGI blockbusters of the 2000s once technological advancements reached an acceptable standard, movies typically act as a statement about the times they’re made in or the time that preceded them (as was the case with Westerns). With the constant threats of nuclear war and WWIII in a post-pandemic world, movies like Oppenheimer, Leave the World Behind, and Civil War are clearly meant to be cautionary tales about humanity’s destructive power against itself.