Parents' Guide to

Project X

By Jeffrey M. Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

All-night-party movie has rampant teen sex, drinking, more.

Movie R 2012 88 minutes
Project X Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 16+

Based on 24 parent reviews

age 17+

A raunchy film involving high school students throwing a party

Project X is one of those ‘comedy’ films that isn’t incredibly amazing, but not the worst movie ever; it’s ’fine.’ The plot isn’t anything super original; some high school aged kids are throwing a typical high school party that ends up going super wild and out of control towards the second half of the film. Tons of violence, drugs/alcohol, and of course, scenes that either involve sexual activities being implied and/or scenes involving nudity to a certain extent. There are some differences in the nudity scenes between the theatrical release and the unrated release; namely scenes that were reshot for the theatrical release to either shorten the nude scenes or have the female actors cover their boobs/buttocks with undergarments. Ironically though, it seems one nude scene is slightly more revealing in the theatrical release due to the slightly brighter lighting and the angles of the female actor. Regarding the nudity in the unrated release: there are quite a few scenes where some girls will straight up face the camera, lift up their shirts and/or bras, and flash their bare naked boobs to the camera for a few short seconds. The unrated release also has a scene involving topless girls in a bounce house with some shots showing one or two girls facing the camera and their boobs bouncing when they jump; some of these shots are in slo-mo. A few scenes in the unrated cut also show topless girls in the pool showing their bare boobs, but most of these scenes had them wearing bras or bikini tops in the theatrical release. One pool scene in the unrated cut shows a girl underwater with her underpants (bottoms covering her buttocks) slipping down her buttocks revealing the top of her butt crack. The one scene that was a bit more revealing in the theatrical cut involves the main character, Thomas, and a college girl, Alexis, making out before moving the action to Thomas’s bed. A few seconds after they get on the bed, Thomas reaches for Alexis’s bra; she proceeds to push his hands onto the bed before taking of her bra, revealing her bare boobs, and then grabbing his hands and placing them on her boobs. The main difference between the two versions is that her boobs are slightly more visible in the theatrical release; likely due to the lighting being a bit brighter and the angles being slightly different. It also seems like Alexis takes a few seconds longer to place Thomas’s hands on her boobs in the theatrical release versus the unrated cut. Obviously there’s a ton of swearing in both versions; the typical fuck, shit, bitch, ass, and all their variations. Drugs and alcohol are plentiful too, most of the characters consuming these drugs/alcohol are adult actors playing high school and college aged characters. Several scenes depicting high school aged students smoking weed and consuming alcohol. There are a few violent scenes; namely when the adult neighbors complain about the noise in the party and the high school aged characters hurt them; one scene shows an adult neighbor fighting back. Most of the jokes aren’t really funny for people over the age of 30, but if you’re in between the ages of 17-25 then you may find a few of them funny. The majority of the dialog in general consists of tons of sexual jokes and swearing, which isn’t surprising due to the general plot. Over all, it is a ‘fine’ comedy film if you’re in the late high school or college age groups, especially if you’re just looking for a film to turn your brain off and watch out of pure boredom from time to time. The only problems are the nudity scenes and the drugs/alcohol which obviously make it inappropriate for those under 17, although with the scene involving Thomas touching Alexis’s bare boobs which implies that they were about to fully have sex, that scene alone would push the minimum age up to 18 in my eyes even if they were cut short by Thomas’s girlfriend walking in on them before they could go any further.
age 16+

Sex 10/10 There’s naked people and sex jokes Language 10/10 F*ck p*ssy mother*ucker b*tch di*k f*cking f*ckin f*cker mother*ucking bastard hell damn t*ts b**b other words like ho balls nuts ballsack nutsack and more curse words like ass asshole jackass ass hat dumbass dickhead dickwad bitches bitchface pussout puss cunt ect

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (24 ):
Kids say (55 ):

This party truly is out of control -- and, frankly, shockingly funny at times. The all-night-party subgenre has been around for ages, including everything from American Graffiti and Sixteen Candles to Superbad. Though the parties seem to get crazier over the years, these movies almost always focus on young characters learning a lesson or coming of age. Not so in PROJECT X. Here, character is set aside to make room for a much more insane, out-of-control party experience, in which -- no matter how much damage is incurred or how much it costs -- it was worth it.

As the movie goes on and the party rages harder, the images become more and more primal, like half-glimpsed snippets of a nightmare experienced through a drunken fog. Project X takes the perspective that a great party is one in which we can turn off our brains and let our bodies go wild. But that doesn't change the fact that it's too intense for teens, and too disturbing for parents.

Movie Details

  • In theaters: March 2, 2012
  • On DVD or streaming: June 19, 2012
  • Cast: Jonathan Daniel Brown , Oliver J. Cooper , Thomas Mann
  • Director: Nima Nourizadeh
  • Inclusion Information: Middle Eastern/North African directors
  • Studio: Warner Bros.
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Run time: 88 minutes
  • MPAA rating: R
  • MPAA explanation: crude and sexual content throughout, nudity, drugs, drinking, pervasive language, reckless behavior and mayhem - all involving teens
  • Last updated: August 16, 2023

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