The Obama's production company addresses serious issues

Keeping it short but sweet this week. Giving you just enough to fulfill your hunger for entertainment. If you haven't seen "Leave the World Behind" the dark look on society currently on Netflix centers on the idea of mistrust and how easy it is for humans to lose empathy for one another when faced with a crisis. Most importantly, it is produced by Barack and Michelle Obama's production company, Higher Ground.

- Yanina Carter

Released on Friday, it is one of three films from Higher Ground that will be released within a month of one another on the streaming service. The others are "Rustin" a biopic about a gay civil-rights-era activist, Bayard Rustin, and "American Symphony" a documentary tracking the relationship between the musician Jon Batiste and his partner, Suleika Jaouad.

Together, the films provide the best evidence of the five-year-old company's attempts to evolve from an earnest, feel-good brand to one that is more complex and focused primarily on good storytelling centered on, Mr. Obama said, people who are dealing with "the tensions that are in our society." "It's taken a while for us to remind our team at Higher Ground, as well as the creative community in Hollywood, that this isn't like Masterpiece Theatre - not everything we do has to fit on PBS," Mr. Obama, "We are known to watch other things." "Leave the World Behind" which is based on the Rumaan Alam novel that was a pick of Mr. Obama's. Mr.

Esmail said he was heartened that the president was not interested in shying away from the themes of the film, whose starry cast includes Julia Roberts and Mahershala Ali. A must-see.