By Ron Wynn
NASHVILLE, TN — The next project from the Obamas production company for Netflix stars a powerhouse duo. The trailer for the new thriller “Leave The World Behind” has just been released this week. It shows a couple spending a weekend away in a luxurious Long Island home. The prospect sounds quite idyllic until the apocalyptic doom begins happening around them. “Leave the World Behind” is executive produced by Barack and Michelle Obama.
The film co-stars Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke as a couple who books a weekend getaway with their children. In the middle of the night, the owner of the home, played by Mahershala Ali, shows up to seek refuge with his daughter, played by Myha’la Herrold. It is unclear what exactly is happening to the world, but the film is more concerned with what is happening inside the home: Will the two families work together to survive or instead turn against one another?
Kevin Bacon also stars as a conspiracy-obsessed construction worker, in addition to Farrah Mackenzie and Charlie Evans as Roberts and Hawke’s children.
“Leave the World Behind” is the first fictional movie executive produced by the Obamas’ banner Higher Ground Productions, having previously focused on children’s programs, documentaries and historical dramas. Director Sam Esmail, creator of “Mr. Robot,” adapted the screenplay from Rumaan Alam’s 2020 novel. “Former” President Obama placed Alam’s novel on his 2021 summer reading list.
“Having gone through the pandemic, and then the take-your-pick of any number of other disaster-related events like climate change, and the heat wave that we just experienced over the summer, it is the unknown — and the fear of it — that we try to capture in this film,” Esmail told Vanity Fair.
“Leave the World Behind” opens on Nov. 22 before debuting on Netflix on Dec. 8. The trailer is now available online at various entertainment sites.
