Ashley Hinshaw
Rhys Wakefield
Natalie Hall

Dennis Iliadis

95 mins.
Sci-Fi, Thriller
September 20, 2013

Not Rated

“Plus One” deals with parallel universes, the idea that your past eventually catches up with you, how we handle fear and uncertainty, and the discovery of one’s own identity in an increasingly shallow world. These things are explored at a party full of college-aged, young adults. It’s an interesting setting for a metaphysical exploration, and it doesn’t always work: The addition of the older adult party-crashers, one of whom murders his double (more on that later), along with the other murders in general, and the way that the vicissitudes of the central romantic relationship are woven into this film are glaring examples of that.

However, the combination of that party and the metaphysical makes sense, because young adults typically try to figure out who they are. They try to find themselves. They also typically wish that they could go back in time to change things, a concept that this film explores, as well.

Each person at the party has a double who was unleashed by some sort of asteroid that crashed into Earth. The asteroid affected the power lines, as a result. So the power goes out, and when it returns, the doubles appear and reenact events from not long ago. However, each time the power goes out, those doubles disappear. But, when the power comes back on, they reappear once more. And every time the doubles reappear, they move further into the future. So the original people are on a crash course to meeting their doubles, but they don’t know how that meeting will turn out.

The main characters figure this out, early on, after they have encounters with their doubles. They then warn the rest of the originals about what’s happening. The question is: What will happen when all of the originals and doubles meet? Will there be danger, especially since the originals paranoia bleeds into their doubles as time progresses? Plus, those doubles aren’t merely copies of their originals; they have free will and slightly different experiences of the same events. Or will something else happen? This twist on the banal teen/college party theme is not unwelcome.

“Plus One” has serviceable writing and acting, and its pacing is fine. But I think the premise sounds a little better than it actually is. Overall, it’s a decent movie with a really good idea. Really, it’s a coming-of-age story: These characters are forced to confront themselves and deal with the aftermath of those confrontations. But its horror-movie tendencies are completely unnecessary.

Verdict: Somewhat Good

About: (Source: +1)

Three college friends hit the biggest party of the year, where a mysterious phenomenon disrupts the night, quickly descending into a chaos that challenges their friendships — and whether they can stay alive.