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Julia Roberts’ newest venture takes real-life anxieties and throws them into impossible situations. Based on the book, Leave the World Behind, the Netflix film finds a way to make the potential for cyber attacks even more terrifying.
Roberts plays Amanda Sanford, a mother intent on getting her family on vacation. She convinces her husband, Clay (Ethan Hawke), and their two children to head to a vacation home for some rest and relaxation. But after settling in, the world is thrown into jeopardy as a series of cyber attacks threaten their way of life. Things get even more complicated when a family arrives, claiming to own the house.
G.H. Scott (Mahershala Ali) is a New York financial advisor who has a hunch that the city-wide blackout portended dire circumstances. He arrives on the doorstep with his daughter Ruth (Myha’la), and they are not greeted warmly. Amanda doubts that they own the house, considering their arrival in the middle of the night. The tensions surrounding the families are high, improved upon by Barack Obama’s helpful character notes for the film. Even more unexpected is the way America’s most beloved sitcom made an imprint on the film.
How is Friends involved with Leave the World Behind?
A cultural touchstone that can touch any generation, Friends continues to resonate. The sitcom was part of NBC’s Must See TV and catapulted its stars to monumental success. Ultimately earning each actor a million dollars per episode, Friends lasted for a decade of laughs, love, and heartache. Though the series ended in 2004, it is quite a pivotal point in Leave the World Behind. Esmail explained to USA Today how including the series came to be.
“The whole ‘Friends’ thing was a just passing remark, really, in (Rumaan Alam’s) book, so we turned it into a storyline.”
The first indication that something is amiss in the vacation home — and all around the world — is the failure of the WiFi. This is particularly devastating for young daughter, Rose (Farrah Mackenzie), who is on the series finale of Friends. When the episode aired in real-time, virtually no one missed it, and because of the glitchy Wi-Fi, Rose could not see the emotional send-off that was 10 years in the making. Her older brother, Archie (Charlie Evans) is less than sympathetic to Rose’s plight, but Esmail explains where Rose is coming from emotionally.
“I felt that Rose’s attachment to ‘Friends’ was very human and comforting. In a way, that is the heartbeat of the film: Rose’s yearning to escape to that comfort zone.”
There is even another connection to Friends that some might not think about initially. At the height of her fame, Roberts guest starred in one season 2 episode opposite her boyfriend at the time. The relationship between her and Matthew Perry didn’t last, but the two always spoke highly of each other. Esmail’s attempt to offer some levity in such a dark film was ultimately quite effective.