Project X (2012)

This is an okay movie. In North Pasadena, California, high school students Costa (Oliver Cooper) and J.B. plan to throw a party for their friend Thomas Kub's birthday, with the aim to increase their popularity with their peers. Thomas's parents go away for the weekend, leaving him alone in the house, but warn him not to have too many people over. Thomas (played by Thomas Mann) is reluctant to have the party at his house, but Costa continues with his plan. As the number of people who come over continues to rise, Costa admits that he placed ads on Craigslist and told a local radio station. After a few hours the crowd grows too big and rowdy and the party spills out into the street, causing the police to arrive to try and stop it.

This is British-Iranian director Nima Nourizadeh's feature film debut. The title was initially just a placeholder, but interest generated by the secretive title kept it in place. The film is presented as a home video. Following release, incidents of large scale parties referenced or blamed the film as an inspiration. Mann had previously acted in the film It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010). Alexis Knapp's character required nudity for a sex scene and she was initially uncomfortable with the idea due to the moral implications. Dax Flame, who plays the character holding a video camera and is rarely shown, was discovered through his personal Youtube video blog. During filming, Burbank police were called to the set concerning noise complaints made by nearby residents.