Sam Esmail’s latest film, Leave The World Behind, an adaptation of Rumaan Alam’s critically acclaimed literary thriller of the same name, explores how people act amid an apocalyptic situation.
Oscar winners Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke as middle-class New Yorkers Amanda and Clay, who book an opulent Airbnb for a weeklong vacation in Long Island with their two teenage children.
The property is advertised online as a stunning location to “leave the world behind.”
The real owners of the house, G.H. Washington (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la Herrold), interrupt their family’s idyllic vacation when they knock on the door, pleading to be allowed to move in and live with their confused renters because the East Coast is experiencing a menacing blackout that has shut down the internet, disconnected cell phones, and left everyone in complete darkness as an armageddon-like situation plays out.
Something far more repulsive than the signs of the end of the world is revealed by the incursion. Because G.H. and Ruth are black, Amanda finds it hard to believe that they might be the owners of this lavish property in the book.
Might they be scammers? It’s the worst moment to practise racial bigotry, and it’s definitely not the time to lament a fantasy trip gone wrong.
As they leave their old worlds behind, the humans depicted by this incredible ensemble figure out how to cope with new realities—there are children to protect, after all.
Date of “Leave the World Behind” Release
Netflix image of Julia Roberts as Amanda, yelling in the woods in Leave the World Behind
November 22, 2023 is when Leave The World Behind will have its limited theatrical premiere in order to be eligible for this year’s Academy Awards.
On December 8, the movie will thereafter be available on Netflix in a larger format.
Netflix has a history of releasing high-profile films in restricted theatres. Just this year, titles including Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, David Fincher’s The Killer, and Chloe Domont’s Fair Play have all had limited theatre releases.
On October 25, the movie will make its global premiere as the 2023 AFI Fest’s opening night feature.
Trailers for “Leave the World Behind”
Netflix published a teaser trailer for Leave the World Behind on October 2, 2023. The tension between Roberts and Ali’s characters as well as the post-apocalyptic mayhem the protagonists are confronting are hinted at in the 100-second teaser.
Amidst the sound of LCD Soundsystem’s ‘oh baby’, Netflix released the official trailer for Leave the World Behind on October 24, 2023.
The video centres on the two families at the heart of the movie, as they attempt to come to terms with the end of the world and the collapse of human society as we know it.
A preview trailer including some of Netflix’s biggest 2023 releases, such as Leave the World Behind, was also unveiled back in January.
Netflix’s “Leave the World Behind” social feature image features the cast of the film.
The protagonist in Rumaan Alam’s postapocalyptic novel Leave The World Behind, Amanda, has a dark side.
And it was perhaps this nasty side that drew Academy Award–winning actress Julia Roberts to this delectably complicated part of a contemporary, liberal lady who, in a crisis, finds out about her own prejudices and flaws.
In an attempt to adapt Alam’s novel for the big screen, Roberts reunites with Esmail. Her passion for the project initially resulted in the choice of former co-star and fellow Oscar icon Denzel Washington as G.H., a coup in casting that ultimately did not work out.
The two A-list actors collaborated on The Pelican Brief thirty years ago, and the possibility of their reunion sparked a bidding war for the adaptation of Alam’s already popular best-selling novel.
Mahershala Ali, a two-time Academy Award winner, plays George G.H. Washington, the affluent black proprietor of the Long Island Airbnb, who finally ruins Amanda and Clay’s idyllic holiday by informing them of a widespread blackout.
G.H., a worldly expert, is as powerless when the internet and lights go out as any of us might be.
Playing Clay, a husband and father whose attempts to defend his family turn out to be less than heroic, is Ethan Hawke, who never ceases to astound audiences with the variety of characters he takes on.
Myaha’la Herrold portrays G.H. Washington’s daughter Ruth Washington. Ruth was G.H.’s wife in the book, but her character in the movie was altered to fit Herrold’s needs.
Danny is portrayed in the novel as the capable and trustworthy contractor who constructed the Washingtons’ ideal home.
G.H. has grown to regard Danny as a friend and turns to him for advice on anything, including how to survive the end of the world.
The consistently dependable Kevin Bacon (A Few Good Men) plays Danny. Charlie Evans (Everything’s Gonna Be Okay) as Leonard and Farrah Mackenzie (Logan Lucky) as Rosie are also in the cast.
“Take Off from Here” Plot: Myha’la and Mahershala Ali in the Netflix original film Leave the World Behind as Ruth and G.H.
According to the official Netflix summary,
Two strangers, Mahershala Ali and Myha’la, arrive at night to seek safety from a cyberattack that becomes more frightening by the minute, upending a family’s (Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke) vacation and compelling everyone to accept their roles in a disintegrating society.
Sam Esmail and Julia Roberts from the “Leave the World Behind” creative team on the Leave the World Behind set.
Image courtesy of Netflix
Fans should be thrilled to see this December apocalypse on Netflix because of the big personalities involved, including the aforementioned Sam Esmail, who wrote the story and directed the picture.
Rumaan Alam, the author of the book, is also the executive producer. Producing will be Esmail, Roberts, Chad Hamilton, Lisa Gillan, and Marisa Yeres Gill.
