A good comedy is hard to come by, and a great one feels even more impossible. Making a solid case for the return of the raunchy R-rated sex romp, co-writer/director Dave Chernin fills Incoming with a varied roster of genuine teenage actors, and a sharply funny script to boot. Almost anyone can relate to the simplistic premise—who doesn’t remember their freshman year of high school? To call them growing pains would be putting it mildly, especially as a nerd myself acclimating to a decidedly different energy in high school. Partly coming of age, I could not help fall for the outrageous fun. A frenetic high school party flick in the vein of Can’t Hardly Wait and more recently 2021’s Supercool, Incoming makes stars of its teen performers and delivers big on zippy laugh-out-loud comedy.
Music nerd Benj (Mason Thames, The Black Phone) spends most of his time pining after the unattainable Bailey (Isabella Ferreira, Hulu’s Love, Victor) when he isn’t pretending to make out with her in front of his mirror. Everything is about to change as freshman year begins for Benj and his friends. Benj’s sister, Alyssa (Ali Gallo, Unhuman) just got a nose job, and now sees herself as too cool to cart around her brother; instead, uber-douche loser Ruby (Thomas Barbusca, Big Time Adolescence) acts as Benj’s senior carpool. The other three in his group arrive by different means—Koosh aka Danah (Bardia Seiri, Grey’s Anatomy) gets driven in by his abusive brother, Kayvon (newcomer Kayvan Shai); Connor (Raphael Alejandro, Jungle Cruise) and Eddie (Ramon Reed, 13: The Musical) are forced to take the schoolbus. High school isn’t exactly what the quartet had hoped. Connor immediately receives an unwanted nickname—a couple obnoxious seniors refer to him as “Fetus” due to his smaller stature—and Benj somehow gets wrapped up in selling phony drugs alongside Ruby at a skatepark.
Koosh flaunts a raging party happening that very night, in actuality led by his brother, Kayvon. Koosh’s arc involves stepping out from his brother’s shadow, so this potential party already tees up a perfect scenario for that to play out. Similarly, Benj’s obsession with sophomore, Bailey, has a potential change to move beyond nip slip and into reality, as she vows to attend the party as well. When they arrive though, there has been a noticeable change in plans. Koosh has been granted just a single plus one rather than three, and they sort of mutually agree to allow Benj to take up the spot. This leaves Connor and Eddie to their own devices. Eddie’s jackass potential new dad (Scott MacArthur, Halloween Kills) pushes him too far. At Connor’s suggestion, they take out Eddie’s Telsa for a joy ride that finds them acting as an Uber for an obliterated social media influencer. Meanwhile, Benj tries everything to win over Bailey despite his inherent awkwardness, derailed by tripping down a k-hole. Koosh creeps on people through his house’s cameras, waiting for the right girl to flirtatiously entrap. The only other major player is the honestly pathetic Mr. Studebaker (Bobby Cannavale, The Watcher), a chemistry professor who crashes the party. His attempts to attract attention by doing increasing “cool” shenanigans are cringey, and also happen to hold the single most hilarious moment involving Koosh’s pool.
I have to point out that not one, not two, but three series regulars for underrated and short-lived FOX comedy The Mick star in this film, though none share their scenes together. This already made sense as the hilarious physical comedy and ridiculous scenarios would feel very at home on that show. Digging a little deeper, series creators Dave and John Chernin co-created and wrote The Mick together. For fans longing to revisit its quirky charms, Incoming is the next best thing. We have bits of coming-of-age coupled with R-rated vulgar high school humor, blending together in a satisfying manner. There is a dash of American Pie and a sprinkle of Good Boys thrown in as well, embracing ridiculously memorable set pieces that will linger in my mind as we approach year’s end.
The four boys at the center have great chemistry together in the few scenes they all share, but the beauty of Incoming allows the ensemble to function separately in order to give forward momentum to their stories. Not a single one of them is the same by the movie’s end, most of all Benj, who appears to have undergone a great deal of personal growth. An adorable love story forms at the core, built up by a surprisingly rousing version of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.” This Hollywood-ized vision of a crazy party probably does not represent the experiences of anyone you know. It certainly doesn’t reflect mine either, but in this way, the contagious joy rubs off on every frame. The filmmaking crew clearly had a ton of fun making the movie, and Netflix should give them a perfect audience to revel in its delights for a pizza and popcorn night with some friends. Taco Bell and chill may even be an option.
Incoming welcomes you to Waymont High School’s freshman class, coming to Netflix on Friday, August 23rd.
