| Director | K. Asher Levin |
|---|---|
| Budget | $500,000 |
Alexander Finn is a high school student, befriending fellow outcasts Darius and Stuart. Alex has a crush on a girl named Lo, whom popular student Cole Winnard has a crush on too. One day, multimedia teacher Mr. Eskin announces a presentation project, with the theme 'you.' Alex's big brother EJ works at a venture company participating in an app creation challenge using General Electric's cloud to enhance everyday lives. EJ keeps encouraging colleague Ellie to use his ideas, wanting to be the next Mark Zuckerberg.
One day, while Alex and EJ's parents go on a honeymoon out of town, Stu encourages Alex to impress Lo by throwing a party, so that he can give a good impression of himself in his presentation. Meanwhile, Ellie accepts one of EJ's ideas that prevents phone addiction and climate change, and tells EJ to submit a prototype. Alex reveals to EJ about their plan and agrees on a quid pro quo, with EJ asking him to create the prototype and tell the party comers to install it and turn their phones off as a test run. After failed attempts by EJ's party organizer friend Nine, EJ invites students directly, and the party becomes trending on Twitter, bolstering the trio's popularity. Meanwhile, the prototype, Cloud Maximizer 2.0, is finished and accepted.
At the party, everyone agrees on the phone rule. EJ invites colleague Owen Reed, Ellie, and the envious Jonathan to the party. Due to the boisterous mood, Cole, who was known for organizing parties, lost his social status. As a revenge, he gaslights Lo by revealing the mission behind the party after he eavesdropped Darius slamming Alex for caring more about the party mission than him. Jonathan secretly calls the cops for underage drinking. After a raid, EJ and Owen are arrested but released the next day. Lo dumps Alex.
Mr. Eskin tells the class that the presentation is tomorrow, and Alex quickly makes it. As part of his presentation, he apologizes to everyone that is mad at him for his ego, realizing that him masking his true self does not make him seem any better. EJ then appears on stage, announcing the app: IRL (Internet acronym for 'in real life'). After the presentation, Mr. Eskin, Nine, and EJ team up as the founders of IRL. Lo and Alex reconcile, and they become friends back with Darius, and Stu.