Dive deep into the world of suspense and family dynamics with ""Leave the World Behind,"" a gripping apocalyptic thriller directed by Sam Esmail and based on the novel by Rumaan Alam.
Join the conversation as the director and author share insights into the making of this mind-bending film starring Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke. Now on Netflix.
Join the conversation as the director and author share insights into the making of this mind-bending film starring Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke. Now on Netflix.
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00:00 I'm so excited for everyone to see the movie. How are you? Are you nervous going into it at all? Of course
00:04 Yeah, very nervous. I wanted to ask I know that this genre
00:09 I mean a lot of apocalyptic movies exist, but each one's a little different. What sets this one apart from others?
00:14 well, you know, I'm a huge fan of disaster films and and and that's how I viewed this when I read the book and
00:20 but what I think is great about what we're doing is we're sort of
00:24 converting disaster films typically center the story on the set pieces and the sort of
00:30 And the sort of disaster elements and the characters kind of secondary
00:35 So we've sort of inverted that where the characters are the focus and the disaster elements are sort of secondary and more often the distance
00:41 Absolutely. I mean going off of that my next question like there's big themes of just like identity and humanity in this story
00:48 So, how did you really tackle those themes and come to convey them while also balancing all of the disaster going on?
00:54 Well, what's interesting is when I read the book and this is like during the pandemic
00:58 You know the what resonated about the book was this
01:04 idea that in a moment of crisis how easy it was to lose sight of our common humanity and it was
01:10 Really relevant then but it's equally relevant today with everything that's going on in the world
01:15 And and that was that was just something that grabbed me from the book that I really wanted to convey in the film
01:21 So really ultimately that the film is kind of a cautionary tale
01:24 About that about how we see that, you know
01:27 One society starts to crumble around us how we sort of lose our sense of connection with one another when we need it the most
01:33 Do you have a scene that you can like tease that you're really look forward looking forward to hearing an audience react to oh
01:40 my god, well
01:42 There is a scene between Mahershala and Julia
01:44 That's very sweet
01:48 I do not want to spoil but it's my favorite scene and I can't wait to see what the how the audience reacts to it
01:53 I saw the movie yesterday and it was
01:55 Yeah, absolutely. My last question. I wanted to ask just like a little random one. Do you have a favorite friends character?
02:02 Oh, wow, that is that is good. Um, that's a good good question
02:08 It's really hard wow you I am NOT prepared for this I might have to just go with Ross is that boring?
02:17 What's your favorite I would say mine's Phoebe, okay. Yeah, I love her quirky nice line with yeah
02:22 Okay, cuz I think I kind of align with Ross. So maybe maybe that makes sense
02:26 The film adaptation of your book explores themes of trust identity and humanity
02:33 So what really inspired you to write about that? Wow, maybe you should be my publicist. I didn't know those were the themes
02:39 I
02:42 Don't know. I think that it's so difficult to sort of look back at what I was thinking
02:46 In 2018 and sort of figure out what it was. I was feeling my way toward but those
02:52 ideas that you just mentioned are so big and so timeless and there are things that
02:56 Artists return to and have returned to and will continue to turn to over time
03:00 So maybe that just puts me in a sort of longer tradition, you know
03:04 And how how does this cast really relate to the characters like how do they kind of shape into these people that you
03:14 I mean
03:16 You when I write I'm not thinking about like a performer who could embody this person and
03:23 when I saw the cast list I was just like
03:29 oh the idea that actors of this caliber are going to
03:33 Interpret these people that I made up privately. It's an extraordinary feeling, you know extraordinary
03:40 I have to ask I I don't want to you know, give away too many spoilers for people who are excited to see the movie
03:45 But the ending is just very different than what we've seen in a lot of movies
03:49 Can you just kind of speak about your choice with that? I I love the ending of this movie
03:54 It's Sam's choice not my choice
03:55 But I absolutely love the ending of this movie the book my book ends with a question and I think Sam's script
04:02 Interprets that question in a pretty extraordinary way and I think it's the kind of ending
04:08 I think a lot of people are gonna be talking about it tonight
04:10 Yeah, and just kind of on that note. Do you have a favorite friends character from the show? Oh
04:17 God a favorite friends character. I mean the thing is that you need them all for its work
04:23 But you know Lisa Kudrow. That's what I said, too
04:28 Yeah
04:30 (whooshing)