Incoming follows Benji and his friends during their first week of high school as they decide to attend the wildest party of the year. The film is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Benji and his friends—Danah Koosh, Connor, and Eddie—prepare for their first day of freshman year, knowing that high school comes with a lot of pressure.
Benji has had a long-time crush on his sister Alyssa’s best friend, Bailey, a sophomore. Since he spent some time with Bailey over the summer, he believes that he finally has a chance with her.
On the first day, Koosh tells his friends that he and his older brother, Kayvon, are throwing a party at their house, which will be attended by all the popular seniors.
While Benji is excited to go, thinking that he will finally have a chance to make a move on Bailey, Connor and Eddie are reluctant.
Connor wants to lay low after being given an embarrassing nickname on their first day, and Eddie, a mild-mannered boy, wants to avoid trouble.
Koosh convinces them to come, but later at the party, he is forced to send Connor and Eddie home, as his brother forbids him from bringing more than one friend.
Connor is offended and wants to do something wild with Eddie. He persuades Eddie to take the car of his mother’s boyfriend, Dennis, for a drive.
Koosh is afraid of his abusive brother, so he always follows his rules, no matter how irrational they are. Kayvon now wants him to become worthy of their family name.
Trying to earn Kayvon’s respect, Koosh decides to hook up with a senior by manipulating her into believing that they have been locked in a room together by chance.
His lies seem to be working, and he starts getting closer to her. Meanwhile, Benji is not enjoying the party since he has no friends there.
He finally finds someone to talk to when their chemistry teacher, Studebaker, shows up at the party. Studebaker, who has recently broken up with his girlfriend and has no friends, ends up drinking and smoking with the students.
At the same time, Connor convinces Eddie to drive by Koosh’s party, where they meet Katrina, the school’s most popular girl, and her friends.
Due to a misunderstanding, Katrina’s friends mistake Connor and Eddie for Uber drivers and send a drunk Katrina home with them, despite their protests.
Katrina makes them buy her food and falls asleep in the car without giving them her address. She ends up defecating in the car while asleep.
Connor wants to leave Katrina in the soiled car on the side of the road, but Eddie protests. He also refuses to leave her outside a fire station, knowing that it would be embarrassing if her parents were called to pick her up in that condition.
Connor and Eddie clean her up, change her clothes, and take her to Eddie’s house, managing to keep the incident private.
At the party, Benji asks Bailey to have a drink with him, and she agrees. As they talk, he hints that he likes someone. Knowing that Benji likes her, Bailey encourages him to confess his feelings.
Just as they are about to kiss, Studebaker, under the influence, accidentally sets himself on fire. He manages to put out the flames, sustaining only minor burns, but later gets electrocuted.
Earlier, Benji had been forced by Ruby, his school-assigned carpool, to accompany him to sell counterfeit drugs to a group of boys.
The boys they had ripped off show up at the party and confront Benji and Ruby, putting Benji in a dangerous situation. Fortunately, Kayvon defends Benji.
While Benji’s group fights off the boys, Bailey helps Benji escape. Benji finally gets to kiss Bailey, and suddenly, he becomes popular among the seniors for being the reason Kayvon got to fight at the party.
Ending explained:
A disastrous turn
Benji parties with his seniors and dances with Bailey. Eventually, he succumbs to peer pressure and snorts ketamine with a group of seniors.
Bailey sees him with another girl and leaves, feeling disappointed. Benji cannot go after her to explain himself as the drug starts to take effect.
Koosh also finds himself in trouble. He slips and falls, breaking his collarbone. In his pain, he confesses to the senior he had locked himself in the room with that he had the key to the door all along.
Furious, the senior storms out and does not bring help for Koosh, who only gets it when the police arrive to break up the party.
Apart from the students, Studebaker faces consequences for his presence at the party. He is fired for allowing underage drinking and drug use.
The advice to value one’s true self
Alyssa broke her nose during the fight at the party and is sent to the hospital along with Koosh. She had recently gotten a nose job, hoping it would help her get back together with her ex-girlfriend.
However, Alyssa is heartbroken when her ex-girlfriend admits that she broke up with Alyssa not because of her looks, but because she believes Alyssa is not a good person.
Koosh, realizing that he needs to change and be a better person, comforts Alyssa, assuring her that she is fine the way she is.
Later, when Alyssa and Benji’s mother scolds her and Benji, who was brought home by the police in a daze, Alyssa uncharacteristically comforts him.
She tells him that he does not need to be popular to be liked by Bailey, who likes the real Benji, just as Alyssa does. She also encourages him to ask Bailey out.
Changing while being true to oneself
The next morning, Katrina wakes up in Eddie’s room. She is horrified as she recalls what happened the night before, and leaves in embarrassment.
The events of the night give Eddie the courage to stand up to Dennis, transforming him from a calm boy scared of confrontations to someone more assertive.
Despite not attending the party, Eddie and Connor become part of a popular group of seniors at school, as a grateful Katrina now considers them friends.
Koosh also changes. He now knows that his brother is not a good person and no longer wants to impress him or live up to his name.
Finally, Benji decides to be himself and ask Bailey out. He confesses in front of the whole school that he was obsessed with winning everyone over and ended up losing sight of the one person who mattered.
He sings a song for Bailey and asks her to be his girlfriend, only to be rejected publicly. Despite this, he does not lose hope, knowing that he has plenty of time to change Bailey’s mind.
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