The Netflix original movie Leave the World Behind delves into psychological horror fueled by society’s overreliance on technology. However, there is a secret viewers can check out while watching the film. Here’s what the QR code on Leave the World Behind’s map leads to.
What the QR Code Is in Leave the World Behind
Approximately 34 minutes into the film, a secret QR code is displayed on-screen that viewers can scan with their mobile devices and access a website. The QR code appears on a map of the United States, with the map displayed roughly over the state of Kentucky. The map also briefly appears in the movie’s trailer.
Successfully scanning the QR code leads viewers to a website for the Lake Shawnee Abandoned Amusement Park in Mercer County, Kentucky. The site itself is an extension of the Mercer County travel site, offering visitors to the area a list of suggestions of things to do, including local accommodations and dining options. The amusement park is a real site, reputed to have a long history of tragedy, with alleged hauntings stemming from accidents and other incidents related to the park. Through the site, visitors can book a tour or check out specially scheduled events.
The location’s relationship to Leave the World Behind isn’t readily apparent, with the main characters mainly sticking to New York and New Jersey over the course of the movie. Instead, the abandoned amusement park offers more of a thematic link to the film, falling in line with the idea of the world falling into rapid dilapidation in the wake of the sudden loss of modern telecommunications technology. And with major cities falling victim to the horrors of Leave the World Behind first, once bustling locations like amusement parks are a grim and twisted reminder of harmonious settings turned into something far more sinister.
