'Leave the World Behind' Gets Netflix Treatment

Author Rumaan Alam‘s critically acclaimed new Hamptons-set novel, Leave the World Behind, will be adapted by director Sam Esmail into a film for Netflix starring Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington.

The book was recently released to unanimous praise. “Amanda and Clay head out to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a vacation: a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter, and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they’ve rented for the week,” according to publisher HarperCollins. “But a late-night knock on the door breaks the spell. Ruth and G. H. are an older couple—it’s their house, and they’ve arrived in a panic. They bring the news that a sudden blackout has swept the city. But in this rural area—with the TV and internet now down, and no cell phone service—it’s hard to know what to believe.”

A twisty, darkly humorous and timely tale, Leave the World Behind is a 2020 National Book Award finalist and has been receiving a ton of buzz from high-profile outlets, including Entertainment Weekly and the New Yorker.

Esmail previously worked with Roberts on the Amazon Prime thriller Homecoming.