Project X

Let’s pretend for one minute that high school is the most important time in everyone’s lives. Then let’s pretend that the cool kids in high school are all drug addicts and skanks. If these generalizations were true, then Project X is the coolest movie of all time. But it’s not. The film is a found footage account of a group of average, unpopular high school students who throw a massive birthday party in an attempt to be noticed. But the party gets more out of control with each passing scene.

There is such a level of discomfort when watching the film, I often found myself wondering if that is the desired emotion. Is the audience supposed to be shaking their head in amazement with how “awesome” the party is? I sure didn’t. The fact that the cast of mostly unknown actors maintain the façade is definitely a positive. The film seesaws between severe discomfort and more positive emotions like humor. But the jokes don’t actually ease the tension for more than a second. The viewer ends up hating characters you’re meant to like because of the damage they cause.

Found footage movies tend to stay below 90 minutes and still feel too long; Project X meets the first half of those criteria, but is paced well. There is a good amount of time spent before and after the party to establish and resolve the story. And plot development actually does occur in between montages of drinking games and sex. When the films ends and the maximum amount of damage is amassed, the characters seem fairly proud of themselves. But was it worth it? To these misguided teenagers, I guess so. But the audience can ask the same question, is this film worth the cost of production or the cost of admission? Unless you are really into high school parties, it probably isn’t.

Each film earns either zero, a half or a full arrow in five categories. The categories are Acting, Writing/Directing, Emotion, Innovation and Overall Impression. The arrows are added up to equal the full score.