"Friends" plays a pivotal emotional role in Esmail's movie, which stars Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Mahershala Ali and, in a small but powerful role, Kevin Bacon. (In the mid-'90s, Roberts appeared briefly on "Friends" and dated Perry for three months.) The plot of "Leave the World Behind" revolves around a vacationing family, some unexpected visitors and a world that suddenly starts falling apart.

“The whole ‘Friends’ thing was a just passing remark, really, in (Rumaan Alam’s) book, so we turned it into a storyline,” says Esmail.

The story is this: Rose (Farrah Mackenzie), the daughter of vacationing Amanda (Julia Roberts), is constantly glued to her tablet, which she uses to stream “Friends.” She is almost finished watching the show’s final episodes when disaster strikes: Her Wi-Fi becomes glitchy.