There are a lot of fine lines in making her understood, but not too unlikeable.”Įsmail, who had previously directed Roberts in 2018’s Homecoming, knew immediately that “Amanda was Julia.” “She’s complicated and surprising, and the main reason I took on this role - aside from wanting to work with Sam Esmail again - was the challenge. “She's just a wildly challenging character,” Roberts told Netflix of Amanda. She also serves as a producer on the film. Known for her award-winning performances in Erin Brockovich and Pretty Woman, Julia Roberts brings a natural charm to her portrayal of Amanda. Though she comes across as privileged and shortsighted at times, Amanda is a no-nonsense woman who’s able to put her stubbornness aside when it comes to protecting her family. On a whim, she books a weekend family getaway in a gorgeous house on Long Island with her husband and two kids - but her vacation bliss is soon spoiled when the owners arrive in the middle of the night, seeking to hunker down in the midst of a blackout. Is Bambi back for revenge? Something isn’t right, but no one has any idea exactly what’s happening.Īmanda Sandford is a New York City advertising executive who desperately needs a break from the real world and the people occupying her busy life. Rose steps a bit closer, and the usually skittish animals don’t move. In a clip from the movie below, Clay’s quest to fix an uncooperative television is interrupted by an eerie sight - the home is surrounded by a herd of silent, staring deer. What’s going on with the deer in Leave the World Behind? I always felt like my book was in great hands,” Alam said.

I never had that experience working on this project. “I have many colleagues and friends who are also novelists who’ve had their hearts broken in Hollywood. In other words: have no fear, book lovers. It showed me that I had chosen a creative partner who enriched the story, deepened it, and created a different experience, but one with the same destination.” “When he sent me the script, it felt as if I was seeing this story I had come up with being reborn, yet the emotional truth remained the same.

“There’s a trust you have to establish with people as an artist, and in my first conversation with Sam, I trusted him and felt I understood him as an artist,” Alam said. “What Rumaan did so well with this story is that he kept it centered on these characters and the journey they’re all on, and I found a way to expand upon my obsessions while translating it into a cinematic experience: What if technology was the driver behind this collapse?”įor his part, Alam found in Esmail the type of creative partner he’d been hoping would adapt his novel. “I read it in one sitting and then reread it a few hours later - the first time as a fan and the second time imagining it as a movie,” Esmail said. Leave the World Behind is drawn from Rumaan Alam’s bestselling, National Book Award-winning 2020 novel. Is Leave the World Behind based on a book? Find out more below, and stay safe out there.

The film is based on the bestselling 2020 novel of the same name by Rumaan Alam, who also serves as executive producer of the film alongside Barack and Michelle Obama, Tonia Davis, Daniel M. “The impact of technology on society is something that I’ve always been fascinated by because I really do think it dramatically changed the way we interact and evolve as people.” “I had been interested in doing a disaster movie for a while, and I specifically wanted to do one surrounding a cyber attack because I don’t think a lot of people have a concrete idea of what that would look like or how detrimental it would be, not just in America, but globally,” writer and director Esmail told Netflix. You can see just how strange in the trailer above, and in a clip from the film below. Technology is mysteriously on the fritz, and the deer around the families’ Long Island hideout are acting strange. Only one thing’s for sure: There is no going back to normal. Robot creator Sam Esmail tells the story of two families as they fight for survival amid an inexplicable blackout. Starring Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, and Ethan Hawke, the apocalyptic thriller from Mr. Leave the World Behind is here and it’s chilling.

Utopia movie on netflix