Leave the World Behind Trailer Released by Netflix

Netflix has released a trailer for Leave the World Behind, their upcoming post-apocalyptic drama from Mr. Robot‘s Sam Esmail. The film stars Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke, and centers on a family’s vacation, which is “upended when two strangers arrive at night, seeking refuge from a cyberattack that grows more terrifying by the minute, forcing everyone to come to terms with their places in a collapsing world.” Up to this point, very little has been known about the actual plot of the movie, so the trailer is our first really good look at the world being created in the chaos of the story.

One of those strangers in played by Blade‘s Mahershala Ali, making it one of the most celebrated Netflix casts this side of Red Notice. Although, obviously, a very different kind of “celebrated,” with this movie’s leads being Oscar nominees and winners rather than action stars.

You can see the trailer below.

Based on a novel by Rumaan Alam, the movie rights were subject to a fierce bidding war between Netflix, Apple, and MGM which reportedly ended up fetching $100-plus million. Other actors who were attached to the project at various points included Kevin Bacon and Denzel Washington (the latter of which would have reunited Washington and Roberts for the first time since 1993’s The Pelican Brief, after his recent reunion with Man on Fire‘s Dakota Fanning).

Here’s the film’s official synopsis:

In this apocalyptic thriller from award-winning writer and director Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot), Amanda (Academy Award winner Julia Roberts) and her husband Clay (Academy Award nominee Ethan Hawke), rent a luxurious home for the weekend with their kids, Archie (Charlie Evans) and Rose (Farrah Mackenzie). Their vacation is soon upended when two strangers — G.H. (Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la) — arrive in the night, bearing news of a mysterious cyberattack and seeking refuge in the house they claim is theirs. The two families reckon with a looming disaster that grows more terrifying by the minute, forcing everyone to come to terms with their places in a collapsing world. Based on the National Book Award-nominated novel by Rumaan Alam, Leave the World Behind is produced by Esmail Corp, Red Om Films, and executive produced by Higher Ground Productions.

Leave the World Behind is set to release on December 8 on Netflix, following a limited theatrical run beginning on November 22.