blurred-reality.com – Higher Ground, a production company founded by Barack and Michelle Obama, serves as one of the producers of Leave the World Behind. As per director Sam Esmail, Barack had a significant role as he helped Sam build the characters and showcase the concept of technological disaster in the movie.
Leave the World Behind on Netflix provides a distinct and frightening take on the post-apocalyptic genre. The film, based on Rumaan Alam‘s novel of the same name, takes Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke‘s characters Amanda and Clay on a vacation to a rural cabin with their children Rose and Archie.
Their holiday is cut short by the arrival of G.H. and Ruth, the cabin’s owners, who have fled the city due to an unexplained calamity. The film focuses on the individuals’ increasingly neurotic behavior over the next several days rather than the whys and wherefores of the cataclysmic catastrophe that has produced such a quick social collapse.
On the other hand, we have found that many viewers have been wanting to know Barack Obama‘s role in the movie as it is produced by the production company, Higher Ground, which he and his wife own. Well, let’s find it out together.
Previously, we touched on Mahershala Ali, the noise, and the Spanish lady.
Obama’s Production Company Is One of the Executive Producers of Leave the World Behind!
Barack Obama and Michelle Obama founded Higher Ground in 2018 to contribute to the entertainment sector, including films, TV shows, and podcasts. Since then, their production company has produced several movies and shows, including 2021’s Worth, 2023’s Rustin, and their latest, Leave The World Behind.
Obama’s production company, Higher Ground, is one of the producers of Leave the World Behind.
Image Source: Netflix
Among all the producers, Barack had a special role in the making of the movie as he provided valuable and detailed notes on the script. Director Sam Esmail previously revealed that he would seek advice from the former president when writing the original drafts, as it helped him ground the plot in reality. He said,
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 [of] 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.
Esmail further added that the former president is a tremendous movie and book reader, so his observations were informed not only by his background but also by his enthusiasm for the project.
Barack Obama Was Involved in Improving Technological Disaster in Leave the World Behind!
One component of Leave the World Behind that Barack Obama was able to change substantially was its technological catastrophe. According to USA Today, Obama used his White House knowledge to fine-tune some of the film’s technology disaster scenes.
Barack Obama influenced director Sam Esmail to create a technological disaster in the movie.
Image Source: Reuters
He informed Sam Esmail that some of the film’s most dystopian undertones were unrealistic. Having someone so knowledgeable about this type of preparation made all the difference in the picture, which ended up having a strong balance of exhilarating, suspenseful, and realistic. Esmail explained,
Here we have one of the most brilliant minds on the planet making sure we kept focusing on this cautionary tale about mistrust. He’s a movie lover and a fan of the book, so what he really wanted to emphasize with me was hitting on this point about how lack of empathy that can happen in a crisis and what that means for us all.