Sumith Prasad
In Netflix’s disaster movie ‘Leave the World Behind,’ Archie Sandford wakes up one day, only to find out that his teeth are falling out. The Sandfords and Scotts, who are terrorized by the mysterious national emergency they are facing, get startled upon seeing Archie struggle with a mysterious illness. Although he remains calm for a while, the teenager suddenly vomits blood, alarming Amanda and Clay concerning their son’s fate amid a disaster. Although Archie’s illness is only one of the several ambiguous developments that have happened since the start of the emergency, it is the most personal one, directly affecting one of the members of the two families! SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Microwave Weapons
When Danny, G. H. Scott’s former contractor, learns about Archie’s mysterious illness, he wonders whether the same is a repercussion of the shrill noise they have been hearing. The noise can be emitted from a microwave or directed-energy weapon, which aims its target with highly focused energy. The severe sound beams emitted from such a weapon can affect the human body. Archie must be losing his teeth because of the same sound beams that unsettle the rest of the Sandfords and Scotts. The attackers of the country must be using such weapons to stir chaos among the population.
One of the easiest ways to destroy order or normalcy in a community is by targeting the health of the people who form the same. The fear of death makes people selfish and paranoid, which stops them from being rational. People are expected to turn against one another, which would help the attackers to ensure an outright calamity. Archie’s illness makes G. H. and Danny point a gun against one another and proclaim that they will the other. Even though they do not fire their guns, the same outcome cannot be expected in every similar scenario throughout the country. Therefore, the attackers must have used the sound beams to target the citizens.
In Rumaan Alam’s novel of the same name, the source text of the apocalyptic thriller, Archie is not the only one suffering from the unknown sickness. “Danny didn’t know that the teeth in Karen’s mouth were themselves loose, would soon fall out,” the book reads about the contractor’s wife. However, Karen doesn’t feature in the film.
The Deadly Insect
If the sound beams really cause Archie’s illness, it is important to note why others who listen to the same do not suffer from the same. Archie’s illness can be the result of both the sound beams and the insect bite he gets while walking through the woods with his sister Rose. The insect bite can be poisonous and the same may have contaminated his bloodstream, making the teenager weak. It is understandable how a weakened body would react first to the sound beams likely emanating from direct-energy weapons. Archie is the only one losing his teeth possibly because his body is the weakest among the two families.
‘Leave the World Behind’ ends with Rose discovering a bunker equipped with essential resources in the house of the Thornes. Since G. H. wants to take the two families to the bunker, Archie may find enough medicines to treat his illness at the place. He may manage to survive the sickness using the same medicines.
Read More: Where Was Leave the World Behind Filmed?
