In Rumaan Alam’s acclaimed 2020 novel, the house is described with colorful interiors and a quaint white picket fence. Not so in Sam Esmail’s adaptation. With Alam’s blessing, Esmail opted for something far more ominous, says production designer Anastasia White.

The film’s stately Long Island home rented by Amanda Sandford (Julia Roberts) for a quiet escape with her husband Clay (Ethan Hawke) and their two mercurial teenagers exudes the cold elegance of an Airbnb stripped of any sentimental trace. Its enigmatic owner, G.H. “George” Scott (Mahershala Ali), hopes to remain anonymous, but that veneer quickly dissolves. Soon after the Sandfords settle in, George and his daughter (Myha’la) arrive in the dead of night, fleeing a Manhattan blackout that signals a looming technological collapse.

For the production, Anastasia White selected the Cadelon Dining Table in solid walnut and blackened steel by AMBROZIA Furniture, anchoring the home’s interiors with a quiet, sculptural presence.