# Incoming (film)

Incoming is a 2024 American teen comedy film written and directed by Dave Chernin and John Chernin in their feature length debut. The film stars Mason Thames and Bobby Cannavale. The film follows Benji and his friends, Eddie, Connor and Koosh, navigate their first weeks as high school freshmen. It was released on Netflix on August 23, 2024.

## Plot

Benj is an incoming high school freshman eager to reinvent himself and wants to date his slightly older sister Alyssa's friend, Bailey. His friends Eddie and Connor are also excited to make a new name for themselves, and their other friend Koosh is eager to live up to his older brother's reputation.
Benj's assigned carpool, senior student Ruby, involves him in a fraudulent drug sale by selling vitamins to skateboarders instead of MDMA. Koosh convinces his friends to attend his older brother's party that weekend. While Eddie and Connor are reluctant, Benj jumps at the chance to pursue Bailey.
When the trio arrives at the party, Koosh reveals his brother is only allowing one of them to attend, and Benj convinces the others to let it be him. When Bailey and Alyssa arrive at the party, Benj talks to them briefly before he's left alone and interacts with a group of rowdy older students. Meanwhile, chemistry teacher Mr. Studebaker arrives and quickly becomes increasingly intoxicated.
Connor, bored at Eddie's house, convinces the latter to steal his mom's irritating boyfriend's Tesla to drive to the party. When they arrive, popular girl Katrina, who is severely intoxicated, gets in the car believing that they're her Uber. They get Taco Bell and Katrina passes out. Eddie nearly crashes the car after Katrina has very liquid diarrhea, which soon gets all over them and the back seat. Connor and Eddie debate leaving her at the fire department before eventually deciding to care for her and clean the car.
At the party, Alyssa is criticized by her ex-girlfriend for her extreme negativity towards others. Mr. Studebaker accidentally lights himself on fire and jumps into the pool. Ruby warns Benj that the skaters he ripped off showed up to the party. When confronted, Ruby blames Benj entirely and gets punched.
Before the skaters can attack Benj, Koosh's older brother intervenes, and after Ruby attacks one of them with a cattle prod, a fight breaks out; Alyssa gets her nose broken by accident and Mr. Studebaker is inadvertently electrocuted. Running away, Benj and Bailey kiss and reveal mutual affection for each another. Meanwhile, Koosh orchestrates a meet cute with a girl named Gabrielle by pretending they are trapped in his family's indoor spa.
Benj socializes and dances with Bailey. The group of rowdy older students invite him to a room where they're snorting lines of what he believes to be cocaine. Peer pressured, Benj does a line only to discover it is Ketamine, causing him to enter into a dissociative state. Bailey finds him, gets upset and leaves.
The police arrive and break up the party. Koosh's plan fails after slipping on water and injuring his shoulder. He bonds with Alyssa who is also at the hospital. Mr. Studebaker attempts to drive home but is unable to because his car key fob has melted.
The morning after, after being berated by their mom, Benj confides in Alyssa. She comforts him, telling him to be himself as that is who Bailey likes. Katrina wakes up and attacks Connor and Eddie, then quickly recalls what happened and leaves in embarrassment.
Eddie finally stands up to his mom's boyfriend. At a pep rally, Katrina defends Connor and Eddie from bullies, then apologizes and thanks them for being kind to her and for their discretion. Inspired by Alyssa's advice, Benj sings Stevie Wonder to Bailey and asks her out in front of the school, which she publicly rejects. However while leaving, she secretly turns and winks at Benj.
In an end credits scene, Principal Hutchens fires Mr. Studebaker after a video of him partying with students comes to light.

## Cast

* Mason Thames as Benj Nielsen
* Ramon Reed as Eddie
* Raphael Alejandro as Connor
* Isabella Ferreira as Bailey
* Bardia Seiri as Danah 'Koosh' Koushani
* Loren Gray as Katrina Aurienna
* Ali Gallo as Alyssa Nielsen
* Kaitlin Olson as Ms. Nielsen
* Bobby Cannavale as Mr. Studebaker
* Scott MacArthur as Dennis
* Thomas Barbusca as Ruby
* Kim Hawthorne as Principal Hutchens
* Victoria Moroles as Gabrielle
* Kayvan Shai as Kayvon Koushani

## Production

The film was written and directed by Dave Chernin and John Chernin in their feature debut. Producers on the film include Nicholas Stoller and Conor Welch for Stoller Global Solutions, Todd Garner, Peter Principato, Ben Silverman and Mark Korshak for Artists Road and Peter Oillataguerre. The rights to the film were purchased by Netflix in November 2023. The cast is led by Mason Thames, Bobby Cannavale, Kaitlin Olson and Scott MacArthur as well as Bardia Seiri, Ramon Reed and Raphael Alejandro. First look images from principal photography were released in July 2024.

## Release

The film was made available to stream on Netflix on August 23, 2024.

## Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 25% of 28 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4/10. The website's consensus reads: "Incoming with raunch and puerile circumstance, this dig at teen comedy doesn't meet its mark." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 38 out of 100, based on eight critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.