President Obama’s Involvement In ‘Leave The World Behind’ Explained

Leave The World Behind, Netflix’s newest disaster thriller taking viewers by storm, is currently the No. 1 film on the streaming platform. Starring Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, and Ethan Hawke, the movie also has a unique connection to the Obamas — and no, there is no conspiracy theory.

Based on Rumaan Alam’s 2020 novel of the same name, the sci-fi adaptation is directed by Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail. Although the director made a few changes from the novel — particularly with the film’s ambiguous ending — the plot remains largely the same: two families must rely on each other for survival.

Without giving away spoilers, the film follows Amanda Sandford (Julia Roberts), her husband Clay (Ethan Hawke), and their two children, Rose and Archie (Farrah Mackenzie and Charlie Evans), who go on a beach getaway at a luxurious rental home on Long Island. The home’s owner, G.H. Scott (Mahershala Ali), and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la) unexpectedly return to the house after a blackout in the city. The two families then find themselves together as apocalyptic chaos erupts around them, including plane crashes, cyber-attacks, and herds of (very) creepy deer.

“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,” Esmail told Netflix’s Tudum. “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.”

So, how are the Obamas involved in the Leave The World Behind? Esmail recently debunked conspiracy theories that were swirling around the film routed around the former President’s involvement. Now, he’s setting the record straight.

What was President Obama’s role in Leave The World Behind?

Barack and Michelle Obama (along with Tonia Davis, Daniel M. Stillman, and Nick Krishnamurthy) are credited as executive producers for Leave the World Behind. Since founding their production company Higher Ground Productions, in 2018, the Obamas have also produced projects like Michael Keaton’s Worth and Kevin Hart’s Fatherhood.

In a recent interview with Collider, Esmail explained how exactly the Obamas shaped the current version of Leave The World Behind. (The popular book also made it on the President’s coveted reading list.)

“Because President Obama is such a movie lover, he really focused his notes on trying to cinematically portray what was in the book in a really interesting way. The book was on his reading list, it’s one of his favorites, and he really wanted to do justice by the book and this theme about mistrust and this being a cautionary tale about what could happen if we don’t have that community or bond that holds us together,” the director explained. “So he really gave notes with regards to character, empathy, and also the disaster elements. It was really across the board. And again, it was all in pursuit of making it into a good movie. That was his main focus.”

The director acknowledged that he saw the conspiracy theories on the Internet about the Obamas’ involvement but quickly debunked them by stating that the President’s input came after the story's script was formulated.

“I think the silly thing about the whole thing is President Obama really came on a couple of months before we started shooting, so the script had basically been written and done,” he continued. “He obviously gave notes on the script, but the bones of the story and the sequences were already written. I would just say they’re pretty wrong in terms of his signaling. It had nothing to do with that.”

Leave The World Behind is streaming on Netflix.