+1 [2013]

October 13, 2013

+1, what a strange name for a strange movie (the poster is misleading too). I jumped into it without much thought and was pleasantly surprised how good the actors were. They had good lines, but lines don’t make good actors, delivery does (look at this, I’m just like a real movie reviewer). And they had it, besides that, the lead actor seemed familiar so upon closer inspection (looked up IMDb after the movie) Rhys Wakefield turned out to be that creepy guy from The Purge [2013].

I continued to be baffled by really good special effects that looked like they belonged in some big-budget alien invasion blockbuster and not some “low-budget indie” movie. Combining comedy, science fiction, and horror +1 tried to give you everything, with a mixed result. The execution was the main problem. I think that the movie tried too hard to achieve perfection. Also, try not to watch the trailer as it gives away too much…

David doesn’t like change much. He stayed in his hometown while almost all of his friends went away to college, including his girlfriend Brenda. So he decides to visit her but accidentally ends up smooching with another girl that looks like her (but he loves her… dick). Of course, the outcome was an immediate breakup, at least from her side, while David still thinks that everything will be okay once he makes his case (I tripped and my tongue accidentally…). A perfect opportunity appears when his friend Teddy invites him to a huge, pimped out (I hope that term is still in use) party. A party that he will never forget…

Although it starts as a usual teenage comedy, wait, scratch that, it starts out as a great teenage comedy in the vein of Superbad, it seamlessly transforms into sci-fi and even later horror movie without much effort, all while keeping the best elements of all three genres. +1 is one of those movies that the more you watch it, the more you like it as you slowly keep immersing yourself into the story and the characters. Fair amounts of nudity, wait, scratch that, perfect amounts of nudity offer a sight for sore eyes, especially in a couple of scenes with beautiful Natalie Hall (yes that’s the girl you’re thinking of).

If you liked this movie and would like to continue your journey down the rabbit’s hole of indie science fiction movies, I recommend you check out Coherence, Triangle and finally Los Cronocrímenes.

Unfortunately, there are a couple of problems one of them being the romantic angle of the whole story that was just too much, and it almost caused the entire project to crumble under its own weight. Prolonged shots of teenagers in love with the whole world around them on pause are not that amusing. Otherwise a phenomenal movie with a phenomenal story, I can’t wait to see Dennis Iliadis next movie…