In the teenage-fuelled house party movie Incoming, freshman Benj feels he has a chance with Bailey, a girl he has a super crush on. Benj wants to attend the “biggest house party of the year” mainly because he believes he has a shot with Bailey, who he once connected with on one decisive evening.
At the house party, Benj “shoots his shot” and asks Bailey for a drink — a promise she made him in the past. He flirtingly asks her to live up to her promises.
Eventually, Benj and Bailey kiss. He’s surprised that his intuition is correct — she also fancies him. However, Benj ends up with the “wrong crowd” at the house party, and his peers pressure him to snort some ketamine. Bailey sees him take the drugs, and she is immediately disgusted by his actions.
All looks lost for Benj. He has no idea how to recover his romance with Bailey, but he remembers that Bailey has always wanted to hear him sing.
At the High School Assembly, Benj bravely gets up in front of the student audience and sings for her, and at the end of the song, asks her to be his girlfriend.
Bailey looks surprised but also has the face of a woman “experiencing the ick” and rejects him. It’s hugely embarrassing for Benj, who risked asking her to be in a relationship with him in front of the entire school.
Why did Bailey reject Benj?
It’s not entirely clear why Bailey rejected Benj. Was it the drugs at the party? She appears over it by the time he sings for her. However, when the movie reaches the final scene, Benj stands motionless and shocked at the rejection. However, in the distance, Bailey turns around and winks at Benj, hinting that it is not over between them yet.
It’s not clear what the wink means, but if I had to guess, Bailey likes Benj but does not want to admit it in front of her peers. She’d likely rather have a secret relationship. Benj is a freshman, after all, and reputation matters at high school.
Benj looks happy at this wink, realizing that his chances are not completely lost with Bailey. However, will he be happy at being played?
It’s likely that if a sequel to the movie is made and Incoming 2 becomes a reality, this confusing relationship between the pair will continue.
The wink at the end is confusing, though. It’s not a great ending to the movie; if there’s no continuation of Incoming, then the ambiguity will all be for nothing.
