Viewers can’t get over this major plot hole in Netflix’s Leave the World Behind

Julia Roberts stars in Netflix’s apocalyptic new film Leave the World Behind – but viewers are stuck on one obvious plot hole.

WARNING: Spoilers below.

The new movie Leave the World Behind has been an instant hit for Netflix, where it currently sits as the most-watched movie on the streaming platform a few days after release.

But viewers can’t get past one very noticeable plot point in the apocalyptic thriller, which sees Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke play overworked New York parents escaping to the countryside for a family holiday with their two teenage children.

Once there, means of communication like internet, phones and television all fail and the family – now joined by the owners of the holiday house they’re renting – come to realise they may be facing an end-of-the-world crisis.

Mahershela Ali, Myha’la Herrold, Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke in Leave the World Behind.

One subplot running through the film concerns the family’s young teenage daughter Rose, played by Farrah Mackenzie. She’s addicted to the hit 90s sitcom Friends, and is glued to her tablet as they leave the city, nearing the end of her first full watch-through of all 10 seasons of the show.

Rose’s biggest frustration, when all internet and phone communications cease, sending America into a state of emergency, is that she was just about to watch the Friends finale for the first time.

It’s the end of the world, and she doesn’t get to see what happened to Ross and Rachel? What a bummer.

But as many viewers have pointed out, if Rose is such a fan of Friends, she would’ve had some questions for her mum regarding one particular episode of the show.

That’s because Roberts made a cameo in the double-length season two episode ‘The One After The Superbowl’, playing Chandler’s old childhood friend Susie.

Roberts with Friends star Matthew Perry while she filmed her episode. Picture: Liaison

Rose’s obsession with Friends is referenced numerous times throughout the film (and – spoiler alert – plays a pivotal role in how Leave the World Behind ends), which made it hard for some viewers to suspend their disbelief when one of the show’s most famous guest stars plays her overworked New York marketing exec mum:

If Rose from Leave The World Behind was obsessed with Friends that means at some point during S02E12 (The One After the Superbowl) she was probably like, “…Mom?” pic.twitter.com/6kEhVQ6ZsG

— frost (@2frost2furious) December 11, 2023

With Rose’s obsession with ‘Friends’ in ‘Leave The World Behind’, wouldn’t she have recognize her own mom was in the episode ‘The One After The Superbowl’?? 😂 @Netflix_CA@netflix#LeaveTheWorldBehindpic.twitter.com/zT8qW3Irwb

— Mauler (@MaulerMauler) December 10, 2023

The daughter watching Friends on her iPad in Leave the World Behind is going to have her mind blown when Julia Roberts turns up pic.twitter.com/t1pwLjdnHL

— Heeral 💫 (@HeeralMasru) December 10, 2023

The Friends-obsessed girl in Leave the World Behind had absolutely nothing to say about her mom showing up in an episode. Not. One. Word. pic.twitter.com/A1Awp3jE3l

— Radio Barbie (@EstherCinDC) December 11, 2023

Roberts one-episode stint in Friends famously turned into a relationship with the actor she starred alongside, the late Matthew Perry. Roberts last week broke her silence about Perry’s recent death.

“The sudden passing of anybody so young is heartbreaking,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “I think that, you know, it just helps all of us just appreciate what we have and to keep going in a positive way as best we can.”

Perry revealed in his 2022 memoir that Roberts’ cameo was the start of a lengthy courtship.

“Thus began a three-month-long courtship by daily faxes,” he wrote. “This was pre-internet, pre-cell phones – all our exchanges were done by fax. And there were many; hundreds. Three or four times a day I would sit by my fax machine and watch the piece of paper slowly revealing her next missive,” he shared.