‘He wanted to see a really good film’: The director of an apocalyptic Netflix thriller left suitably ‘scared’ when Barack Obama weighed in

On the surface, an apocalyptic thriller directed by the mastermind behind the acclaimed Mr. Robot that boasts Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Kevin Bacon, and Ethan Hawke among its ensemble sounds like it’s got the potential to win anybody over, but Barack Obama still decided to weigh in with his two cents when he offered Sam Esmail his thoughts on early drafts of the script for Leave the World Behind.

Netflix’s literary adaptation is partly produced by Higher Ground, the company founded by the Obamas that has a development deal in place with the streaming service, and he’s also publicly declared himself a fan of Rumaan Alam’s novel on which the movie is based.

Understandably, though, Esmail admitted to Vanity Fair that having a former incumbent of the White House chime in with potential notes and revisions on a screenplay you’ve written is a daunting experience you’re highly unlikely to see happen twice.

“In the original drafts of the script, I definitely pushed things a lot farther than they were in the film, and President Obama, having the experience he does have, was able to ground me a little bit on how things might unfold in reality. I am writing what I think is fiction, for the most part, I’m trying to keep it as true to life as possible, but I’m exaggerating and dramatizing.

And to hear an ex-president say you’re off by a few details…I thought I was off by a lot! The fact that he said that scared the f*ck out of me. He had a lot notes about the characters and the empathy we would have for them. I have to say he is a big movie lover, and he wasn’t just giving notes about things that were from his background. He was giving notes as a fan of the book, and he wanted to see a really good film.”

Leave the World Behind follows a family vacationing on Long Island, who have their getaway interrupted by a pair of strangers with news of a mysterious blackout. With a crisis looming on the horizon, everybody is forced to band together to try and make it through an incoming disaster. Set for release on Dec. 8, there’s a while to go yet until we find out if Obama’s suggestions proved to be worthwhile.