Netflix Teases Movie With Rogue Teslas Nearly Killing Julia Roberts’ Character – On Elon Musk’s X

Netflix/Leave the World Behind

A new Netflix movie released Friday features a two-minute scene in which self-driving Teslas drive into a pileup of other self-driving Teslas – and nearly kill some of the characters in the process.

Leave the World Behind is a Netflix post-apocalyptic thriller that takes a swing at the electric vehicle maker, whose CEO Elon Musk has claimed that Tesla will achieve true full self-driving capability “next year” every year since 2014.

Netflix posted a clip from the movie on X, formerly Twitter, which Musk owns. It shows Julia Roberts’ character walking up to a line of banged up white Teslas. As she looks at one of the cars, the camera zooms in on a placard affixed to the it touting its “Full Self-Driving Capability” as ominous music plays. Meanwhile her (presumably) husband, played by Ethan Hawke and children are waiting in another car, which is not a Tesla. The husband sees another car approaching, which he tries to flag down before Roberts’ character realizes that it’s just another Tesla driving at full speed into the pileup.

Director Sam Esmail was asked if he got Tesla’s permission to include the scene during a recent interview with Rolling Stone. He did not:

Q: You also had a scene where a bunch of Teslas turn on their self-driving functions to block the roadways. Did you get permission from Tesla for that?

ESMAIL: No, I did not. Look, I wrote it in the script. I asked my amazing props guy, Bobby, to bring a bunch of Teslas out on the street. We shot the scene. I edited it in post, I showed it to Netflix, I crossed my fingers. And to this day, no one has said anything to me. So yeah, I’m hoping the movie comes out and no one will say anything.

The film also features Kevin Bacon and Mahershala Ali.