Warning! Spoilers ahead for Leave the World Behind.
Leave the World Behind director Sam Esmail explains why Friends was a necessary inclusion in the film and just how hard the rights were to attain. Based on a book of the same name by Rumaan Alam, Leave the World Behind hit Netflix earlier this month, chronicling one family’s journey through a series of increasingly odd, cataclysmic events. Friends is featured prominently throughout the movie, with daughter Rose (Farrah Mackenzie) singularly focused on finding a way to finish the sitcom’s final season after the internet goes out.
In a recent interview with Collider, Esmail breaks down why Friends was so important to include, with the show ultimately serving as a key ingredient in Leave the World Behind‘s ending. The director also touches on some of the challenges the production faced in terms of getting the rights to feature the show. Check out Esmail’s full comment below:
“That was a big conversation that we had for a long time, and you run through all the sitcoms that are these classics that could potentially work but none of them really had that theme song that was so iconic. And, I have to stress this, the lyrics of that song were so perfect for how the film ends. I honestly don’t know what I would have done.
“There was a point where, after we ran through other options, I think I looked at the team and I said, ‘I don’t think we can afford to lose Friends.’ There’s no show that fits that moment more perfectly than that show, so we had to use all our powers to make sure that we got the rights, and we luckily did.”
Friends Was The Best Option For Leave The World Behind
Leave the World Behind‘s inclusion of Friends ultimately speaks to one of the film’s core themes. Esmail movie explores a variety of ideas relating to technology and its omnipresence in our lives, but the Rose storyline tackles specific ideas regarding the comfort that media can provide. While the rest of the characters are dealing with extraordinarily traumatic, world-shattering events, Rose just wants to finish her show.
For many, Friends is like comfort food or a warm blanket; it’s light and easily watchable with a likable cast of characters. Shows like Friends are also an escape, with sitcoms in general remaining consistently popular because they allow viewers to put aside their own problems and hang out in a reliable, inviting, manufactured reality. While the Leave the World Behind cast of characters all respond to the apocalypse differently, Rose’s obsession with her favorite sitcoms is instantly relatable.
These themes are, of course, hammered home by the Friends theme song, which prominently features the line, “I’ll be there for you.” As Esmail touches on, the theme song lyrics are perfectly relevant for the story he’s telling, and it gives Leave the World Behind‘s final needle drop that much more of an impact.
