Julia Roberts Evades Killer Teslas in First Trailer for Leave the World Behind

Writer-director Sam Esmail has always been concerned with how advanced technology can be used to manipulate people and overthrow the basic pillars of society. The creator of the critically acclaimed Mr. Robot has expressed plenty of that paranoia on screen already, but he’ll be bringing a new blockbuster-scale rumination on some of those same fears to the small screen this December with Leave the World Behind, a feature film for Netflix with a very impressive cast, boasting the likes of Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Mahershala Ali, Myha’la and Kevin Bacon. The film, which released its first trailer today, hits the world’s biggest streamer on Dec. 8, 2023, and follows a family as they navigate a suddenly unfamiliar world in the wake of a cyber attack that devastates the entire country. Or as the official synopsis puts it:

A family vacation on Long Island is interrupted by two strangers bearing news of a mysterious blackout. As the threat grows more imminent, both families must decide how best to survive the potential crisis, all while grappling with their own place in this collapsing world.

What we have here is a clear clash between generations and socioeconomic classes, as the well-to-do are thrust into a dog-eat-dog world when all the protections of society suddenly fall away. Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke are playing the viewpoint middle class family, seemingly oblivious to the danger that is building, while Kevin Bacon’s apparent antagonist has the air of a doomsday prepper who has been expecting this kind of traumatic event for a long time.

One person who might well have an interesting reaction to this Leave the World Behind trailer? That would be Twitter/X owner Elon Musk, given the clear appearance of Tesla cars in the trailer, and the seeming satire present in this story about the brand’s much-ballyhooed “Full Self Driving” mode. In the trailer below, one gets the sense that the cyber attacks have given malicious forces full control of the entire Tesla fleet, potentially turning all the cars into deadly weapons–one wonders what kind of protest that might evoke from the notoriously thin-skinned Tesla CEO.

Regardless, Leave the World Behind looks like a pretty grand thriller, and a welcome return to the feature film director’s chair for Esmail, following his debut Comet back in 2014. Check out the first trailer below.