Amanda (Julia Roberts) “hates people.” She opens the curtains in her room and decides to flee New York, she rents a luxurious beach house, far from the city to vacation with her two children and her husband. One night, Ruth and GH, owners of her residence, ask her to stay as a shelter. That is the premise of Leave the world behind (Leave the World Behind), adaptation of the novel of the same name and which presents us with an apocalyptic thriller that begins with the fall of the internet.
“She He is a tremendously difficult character. It is complicated and unpredictable, and the main reason I accepted this role was the challenge. You always have to deal with a very fine line to make them understand it, without it being perceived as very unpleasant,” says the Oscar winner in statements sent by Netflix to La República.
The actress maintains that she wanted to work with director Sam Esmail again after the series in 'Homecoming' and 'Gaslit'. The filmmaker was in charge of the adaptation and thought about Roberts since he read the novel by Rumaan Alam. “I felt a creative affinity with him from the day I met him, and he has become a great friend. He is deep, has an eye for detail and an ability to discover aspects I never thought of. We are two of the happiest people on any set. Even in a movie like this!,” he adds.
For his part, Esmail explains that, without a doubt, he would have chosen her even if he did not know her. “We sent him the book and he read it in a couple of days. It was the easiest casting decision of my life.”.
Scene. Myha'la is Ruth, Mahershala Ali plays GH Scott, Ethan Hawke and Julia Roberts as Clay and Amanda. Photo: diffusion
Obama in production
In 2021, Leaving the World Behind was on President Barack Obama's list of favorite books. With his production company, Higher Ground, they transferred the story to film. “When I was working on season 2 of 'Mr. Robot', I almost fell on my back when I found out that the president was a fan of the series, so this has been a unique moment. That he was a fan of the novel, a fan of my work and a friend of Julia… It was a matter of fate that he, Michelle and Higher Ground appeared as producers,” says Esmail.
With Rumaan's approval, the director has changed a character (Ruth, now GH's daughter) and includes the series 'Friends' as part of a character's life. “I thought it would be interesting for Ruth to play a millennial. and offer their point of view in contrast to that of adults and children. “It was a way to give a panoramic view of what a collapse would feel like from different perspectives and different generations.”
In fact, the protagonist's children are first digital natives. “Rose lives in her own world. She feels alone and that's why she believes that TV is her escape from her. “She feels like she belongs more to 'Friends' than to her own family,” says the young actress. Farrah Mackenzie.
The film also addresses racism, power, misinformation and what would be a coup d'état. The director defines it as a “warning” and not as a moral. “I think this film is perfect for today's audience, because it talks about the uncertainty of how we feel. It doesn't matter what your beliefs or your political, religious or racial alignment are. “There seems to be a broad consensus that there are many fractures in our world and much uncertainty about how we are going to heal those divisions.”
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