You are really missing out on something if you have not watched Leave the World Behind on Netflix yet. Sam Esmail’s latest post-apocalyptic film is an exciting venture that successfully blends realistic elements with apocalyptic suspense. Did you know that Netflix’s blockbuster, based on Rumaan Alam’s 2020 novel of the same name, benefited heavily from Barack Obama’s contributions?
While Julia Roberts plays Amanda Sandford, who also holds the producer’s chair, Ethan Hawke plays Clay Sandford in the film. Because of the 44th U.S. President’s influence and the combined talent of the cast, this Netflix blockbuster promises an engrossing plot that could break viewership records.
A remarkable cast of acclaimed actors appears in Leave the World Behind, helping to faithfully adapt the novel’s twists and turns for the big screen.
Barack Obama’s Role in Netflix’s Leave the World Behind?
The movie’s apocalyptic setting allowed it to explore themes of race relations and class tensions against a backdrop of violence and destruction. With the Obama family’s help, this could be accomplished because of their substantial contributions to the project. Netflix’s Leave the World Behind featured prominent roles for both Barack and Michelle Obama, the former president and first lady of the United States, respectively. The two founded Higher Ground, a production company, and took on this exciting project in 2022.
As per a Vanity Fair interview, Barack Obama, 62, had a special interest in the movie and contributed insightful and thorough script notes. Sam Esmail, the director of the film, revealed to the outlet that he had sought advice from the 44th president of the United States when writing the first drafts because he would help
“Ground me a little bit on how things might unfold in reality. I am writing what I think is fiction, for the most part, I’m trying to keep it as true to life as possible, but I’m exaggerating and dramatizing.”
Although the work is fiction, Esmail’s goal was to make it as realistic as possible, and Obama assisted him in this endeavor. He offered observations on the characters and the level of empathy the movie ought to have in presenting them, along with pointing out when some of the plot points were too simple or improbable.
Leave the World Behind Was Partly influenced by Barack Obama’s Presidential Experience
Barack Obama had a significant impact on Leave the World Behind in a number of ways. According to USA Today, he refined some of the film’s technological disaster scenes by drawing on his own experience from his time in the White House. He informed Sam Esmail that the movie’s more dystopian implications were not grounded in reality.
The film struck a great balance between being exciting, suspenseful, and realistic because it had someone who was so experienced in this kind of planning.
Esmail told Vanity Fair that he considered including Obama’s point of view to “ground” the story and give it a more realistic feel. The latter believed, according to Esmail, that the script reflected a crisis’ real-world outcome quite accurately. In the interview, the director discussed the experience of getting that criticism.
“And to hear an ex-president say you’re off by a few details…I thought I was off by a lot! The fact that he said that scared the f*ck out of me.”
Michelle Obama and the former president’s Higher Ground Productions agreed to executive produce Leave the World Behind. The first African-American president in U.S. history was granted the opportunity to offer his interpretation of the events depicted on-screen as part of the agreement.
Esmail recalled:
“He had a lot [of] notes about the characters and the empathy we would have for them. I have to say he is a big movie lover, and he wasn’t just giving notes about things that were from his background. He was giving notes as a fan of the book, and he wanted to see a really good film.”
With an average rating of 6.8 out of 10, 75 out of 100 reviews from critics are positive on Rotten Tomatoes. Leave the World Behind had its world premiere on October 25, 2023, at the AFI Fest. Prior to Netflix’s December 8, 2023, streaming release, it debuted in a few theaters on November 22, 2023. So sit back, relax, and prepare to ‘leave the world behind’ as this chart-topper will soon enter streaming history.
Leave the World Behind is streaming on Netflix.
