Ethan Hawke has joined Julia Roberts onboard the upcoming Netflix thriller film Leave the World Behind which is based on Rumaan Alam’s eponymous 2020 novel.
Adapted and helmed by Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail, the film will also star the likes of Myha’la Herrold, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Mahershala Ali and Charlie Evans. While Hawke will be seen as Roberts’ husband, Herrold will play Ali’s daughter. Armstrong and Evans will portray Hawke and Roberts’ children.
The thriller will focus on the predicament of two families who embarked on a supposedly relaxing vacation before being confounded by the confusing turn of events.
Although the film synopsis has not yet been revealed, Alam’s book sees a family heading out to a remote corner of Long Island for a serene vacation at a luxurious, rented property. One night, they are requested by an older Black couple for shelter as an alleged blackout throughout the city has left them stranded.
With high-strung tension, internalised prejudices and a general air of disbelief, the safety of the two families are at stake within the isolated environment as they are increasingly wary of each other.
The provocative novel with its dramatically tense environment was a brilliant commentary on race, class, family and parenthood. Not only did it explore the need to protect one’s closest kin but also emphasised how new relationships are forged on the critical brink of anxiety and paranoia.
Hawke is already a busy man who has found himself hopping from one project to another during the pandemic. Besides Robert Egger’s upcoming epic drama The Northman, he will also be seen in Knives Out 2.
Hawke recently finished shooting the Marvel series, Moon Knight and will be seen as a villain in Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill’s The Black Phone.
