Sam Esmail said Barack Obama’s script notes for his Netflix film LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND ‘scared him to death’

Sam Emailcreator of the two series Mr. Robot AND Homecomingteamed up with Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions to adapt the 2020 disaster novel Leave the world behind Of Rumaan Alam. Netflix movie stars Julia Roberts AND Ethan Hawke like a couple on vacation on Long Island when a disaster strikes that threatens the world. Mahershala Ali he plays the owner of the house the couple is renting. The owner shows up seeking refuge from the disaster with his daughter (Myha’la Herrold), forcing the two families to trust each other as the world potentially comes to an end.

Esmail recently told Vanity Fair (via Variety) that he received script notes from the former president, which scared him:

“In the original drafts of the script, I definitely pushed things a lot further than they were in the film, and President Obama, having the experience that he has, was able to ground me a little bit in how things could take place in reality. I write what I think is fiction, for the most part, I try to keep it as true to life as possible, but I’m exaggerating and dramatizing. And to hear a former president say you’re out of your mind about some details… I thought I was very wrong! The fact that he said that scared the shit out of me.

The Vanity Fair report states: “The director was more reassured when the Obamas suggested that some of his potential plot points were too dark or unlikely. Most of the former commander in chief’s notes, however, stemmed from what he had observed about human nature, particularly how rifts form between people who might otherwise find common cause.

Esmail continued:

“He had a lot of notes about the characters and the empathy we would have for them. I have to say that he is a great lover of cinema and didn’t just give notes on things that came from his background. He was giving notes as a fan of the book and wanted to see a really good movie.

With Leave the world behindEsmail attempted to create a different kind of disaster film than the ones he grew up with.

“The disaster genre is one of my favorites, and the trick we used in this film, which differs from most disaster films, is that in that genre the focus, the priority of the narrative, is on the scenes. It depends on the spectacle of whatever disaster that may be for that story, and the characters were secondary to that. I’m more there to react and become the public’s avatar. What I think Rumaan did so well in the novel, and what I tried to capture in the film, is to reverse the situation and focus on the characters and their reaction. The spectacle of the disaster is secondary and distant.”

Leave the world behind will have its world premiere at the AFI Fest in October. It will be available for streaming on Netflix starting December 8th.