Project X

In Pasadena, high-school students Costa and J.B. plan to throw a party for their friend Thomas’s 17th birthday, aiming to increase their popularity. Thomas’s parents go away for the weekend, leaving him alone in the house, but warn him not to have too many people over and not to drive his father’s Mercedes. Thomas is reluctant to have the party at his house, but Costa continues with his plan and hires A/V student Dax to chronicle the night’s events. While Costa, J.B., and Dax advertise the party throughout the school, Thomas himself invites his best friend Kirby, who has a crush on him, and Alexis, a popular girl in their school whom Thomas has his own crush on. As the boys shop for party supplies, they have a chance encounter with actor Miles Teller and nervously invite him to the party, only to discover that the celebrity has already heard about it through the grapevine and plans to attend.

The trio then visits drug dealer T-Rick to buy marijuana, wherein Costa steals his lawn gnome to use as a party mascot. As they leave, T-Rick discovers the theft and chases after them, but they escape in Thomas’s mini-van. As night falls, the party’s start time passes, but no one turns up, and Thomas worries that the party will fail. Suddenly, partygoers arrive en masse, Miles Teller included. Thomas intends to limit the party to the backyard and pool house, with the house guarded by Everett and Tyler, two young security guards hired by Costa. However, more and more people begin arriving, and the party moves beyond their control and into the house.