Review: +1

Dennis Iliadis's +1 is as ambitious as films get. He seems to want to have every idea, genre, and style slammed together. At times, this creates some truly stunning moments that feel truly original. However the overall effect can be a bit numbing. The film reminded me of Detention, another good film slightly hampered by its ADD nature.

The film follows three college friends at the biggest house party of the year. In the middle of their college drama drops a mysterious phenomenon that creates duplicates of everyone. Multiple time lines are juggled as our main characters try to survive the night and figure out what's going on. The balance of horror/sci-fi elements with college, coming of age stuff is tricky but works for the most part.

All three leads turn in good performances but Rhys Wakefield is the real standout. He showed promise in The Purge but here really proves he had great range and acting chops. These three friends really ground the complicated film in something relatable. The college drama stuff might not be very new but its effective and allows the focus to be on the clever timeline plot.

The best part of +1 are the moments when characters become aware of their own fleeting existence. Just like the latest trend or the silly nature of Facebook, these people are only going to matter for a brief moments. This party to end all parties will only be that until the next great party. The film gains an emotional immediacy as it explores these topics.

It's a shame then when the film boils down to a more siege type film. While the film remains exciting and thrilling, the emotional connection to the characters fades away and the film remains good instead of great. Iliadis shows immense creativity and talent with +1. Despite a few flaws, +1 is one of the most original and fun films of the year.