Julia Stiles had long thought of making her feature directorial debut, but it took a special story to make it happen. The film follows the story of Charlotte (Isabelle Fuhrman), a woman whose life is forever altered after a whirlwind night with Adam (Mena Massoud).

“I’ve known Julia since like ninth grade biology class, so we’re just living our life, man, just looking for the next exciting thing to do,” Carlton, 44, tells PEOPLE of her longtime friendship with Stiles, 43, that started when they were teens.