Amongst the many mysteries that Leave the World Behind left viewers with, one of the most confusing was the symbolism involved with the number of deer spotted in the film. Why was there a herd of deer seen multiple times in the movie? What is their significance? Here’s all you need to know.
What did the Deer signify in Leave the World Behind?
So many deer were spotted because they were migrating due to the catastrophic cyber-attack. Sensing that there was something wrong with the environment, they also tried to warn the humans.
The deer in the film were first spotted by Rose, who saw hundreds of them. A hint about them was also heard through the radio broadcast in Clay’s car, which stated:
“We’re now getting reports that the fallout from the ongoing cyber-attack has led to a catastrophic environmental disaster in the south, impacting animal migration patterns.”
So clearly, the deer were migrating, and the Spanish-speaking lady also mentioned seeing more than 50 of them. Rose believed it to be a sign of warning. According to her, their sudden migration was a way of them sensing that something was wrong with the world. As a result, they showed up to warn the humans.
This was later realized by Ruth and Amanda after they thought that the deer were trying to attack them. Looking at the terrifying situation far away in the city, they understood what the deer were trying to do.
The scenes involving so many deer were picked straight out of Rumaan Alam’s novel, which also explained a similar meaning of their presence. According to the book, the deer behaved like that due to “A mass migration. A disaster response. A disaster indicator. A disaster unfolding.”
Speaking during Netflix’s TUDUM, even director Sam Esmail explained the strange scenes involving the deer. He said:
“Deer are peaceful creatures. To turn that sweet image into this sort of ominous, menacing, almost warning — I thought was really interesting.”
The use of these peaceful animals in a post-apocalyptic scenario was a fresh and innovative approach to the conventions of the science-fiction genre.
For more Leave the World Behind updates, check out what role Obama played in its development.