Sam Esmail of Hoboken, N.J. and “Mr. Robot” fame just blew my mind with his must-see end of the world thriller “Leave the World Behind.” One of the strengths of the film, outside of a cast headed by Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Mahershala Ali and Kevin Bacon, is that it is so believable.

The bitterly cynical and admittedly misanthropic advertising analyst Amanda Sandford (Roberts) wakes up and decides that she and her family, including husband and professor of English and Media Studies Clay (Hawke) and adolescent children Archie (Charlie Evans) and younger Rose (Farrah Mackenzie) should leave their chic Park Slope, Brooklyn home and go to “the country” for a quick vacation. The “country” is a few miles away in Long Island, where they get to stay in a beautiful home near the beach. “Leave the World Behind,” which is based on a 2020 novel by American author Rumaan Alam and produced by among others Barrack and Michelle Obama, is nothing less than a modern-day version of Alfred Hitchcock’s unforgettable 1963 hit “The Birds.”

Strange things, to coin a phrase, begin happening. A tanker runs aground on the beach. Deer begin to gather in the lavish back yard as if to deliver a message. An African American man in a tuxedo named George Scott (Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la Herrold), or so they say, knock on the door, claiming to be the home’s owners and ask to be given shelter. Something odd is going on. The WiFi is out, New York City, which can be seen in the distance, has plunged into darkness. The TVs, computers and phones do not work. The music of Mac Quayle (“Mr. Robot”) rattles our nerves.

Many of the adults who see “Leave the World Behind” will experience a powerful sense of deja vu because many of us have imagined a scenario like this. It is something we hide from our children. Amanda sees a local man (Bacon) piling cases of water and canned food into his truck the day before all hell breaks loose. Did he know this was going to happen? Rose, who is obsessed with the ’90s TV show “Friends” and furious that she cannot watch it online, is attracted to the disturbed animals. Clay drinks too much, so does Amanda, who remains terribly suspicious of George and the “snarky” Ruth, who is terribly worried about her Morocco-bound mother Maya. There is a handgun in an unlocked drawer in the house, which has walls covered in what becomes premonitory and cautionary art and designs. Something appears to be happening to the planet’s atmosphere.

On an attempt to “buy a newspaper” (good luck with that) in a nearby town, Clay gets lost. Archie and Rose find a shed in the woods, where Archie gets bitten by a bug, and the film threatens for a time to turn into an Eli Roth movie. George, a rich, financial advisor to the super-rich, visits a neighbor’s house and a plane plummets out of the sky. Explosions can be heard in the distance. The sky is full of buzzing engines. Birds caw. Sirens blare. Flamingos fill the pool.

In one of the film’s most powerful scenes, a squadron of remotely-driven Teslas behave devilishly. Consider it a crank message from Elon Musk. Ruth, who makes no effort to be likable, complains about Rose going all “Donnie Darko.” The suspense is intense. The words, “Especially white people,” are spoken. Who’s responsible? Is it hackers, aliens, North Koreans, Russians? Are our enemies counting on us to turn on each other? Let me just say that the “Friends” theme song never sounded so bleak. Caution Ahead.

(“Leave the World Behind” contains profanity, sexually suggestive language and bloody and gruesome images)

“Leave the World Behind”

Rated R. At the Landmark Kendall Square. Grade: A-