Barack Obama produces first fiction movie for Netflix, gave extensive notes to director for cyberattack plot

Barack and Michelle Obama have produced their first fiction film on Netflix called "Leave The World Behind" about a cyberattack that shuts down all the country's power, crippling the United States. 

The Obamas provided movie notes for director Sam Esmail’s latest film starring Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Kevin Bacon and Ethan Hawke. It is the first fictional movie executive produced by the couple through their Higher Ground Productions company, which has a multi-year deal with Netflix. 

"A family's getaway to a luxurious rental home takes an ominous turn when a cyberattack knocks out their devices — and two strangers appear at their door," according to a description of the movie provided by Netflix. 

 Former U.S. President Barack Obama listens as former first lady Michelle Obama delivers remarks during a ceremony to unveil their official White House portraits at the White House on September 7, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Esmail told Vanity Fair that Obama thought the script was fairly close to how a crisis would actually pan out in the world today, which he said signaled "we shouldn’t wait around until the catastrophe happens—the work begins now."

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"I think [Obama] would say the same thing," Esmail said. "Again, a trope of the disaster genre is that you’re set up with a few characters who are divided, and then they come together and defeat or overcome or get through what’s occurring. But that is just not true to real life. So the work begins now. It’s not really a message film, it’s more of a reflection on where we’re at as a society. But if there is a message, it’s a warning."

One scene garnered attention for characters criticizing White people in the event the "world falls apart."

"I'm asking for you to remember that if the world falls apart, trust should not be doled out easily to anyone, especially White people," one character in the film tells her partner. 

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Esmail told Vanity Fair that most of Barack Obama's notes stemmed from what he’d observed about human nature. 

The Obamas’ production company, Higher Ground Productions, announced Tuesday, April 30, 2019, a total of seven films and series that Barack Obama said will entertain but also "educate, connect and inspire us all."(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File) (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

"He had a lot of notes about the characters and the empathy we would have for them," Esmail said. "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." 

The movie was adapted from a book of the same name written by author Ruman Alam.  

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"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," Esmail added. "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*** out of me."

Kendall Tietz is a Production Assistant with Fox News Digital.