I have never liked parties – I don’t like crowds and noise in general, nor excessive drinking, dancing and drug-taking, so I have that “square” personality not conducive to high school or college festivities. The party in “+1,” however, is an exception. There is something curious about it even before the partygoers encounter bizarre power outages, followed by what can only be described as out-ofbody experiences. The first half of “+1” is strange, a little surreal, and overall feels more like a parody of party movies like “21 & Over” and “Old School.” There is a mystery to it, but one that ultimately should have been left unanswered.

“+1” is an indie sci-fi thriller that starts with clich’ÛΩs, gets weirder from there, and finally just kind of peters out toward the end. David, our hero, visits his girlfriend Jill at college just before her fencing competition. They are smitten with each other, as young lovers typically are, and all is right with the world. When Jill loses her match, David ends up kissing Jill’s opponent. Not by accident, mind you; David is drawn to her, as though not in control of his actions. Needless to say, Jill sees the pair and breaks up with David.

Time passes and David is still pining after Jill. He takes solace in the company of his libidinous friend Teddy (who has all the best lines) and the pair attends the kind of college brouhaha I suspect only takes place in movies. It features drunken jocks, strippers, drug dealers, zany stunts (in particular a living room tennis match played with a flaming ball), a sprinkler system and a backyard rave. Oh, and the arrival of Jill with a new boyfriend in tow. This all sounds trite, but the way it’s presented makes it so much fun. The camera flows hypnotically around the events as David, Teddy and their friend Allison (played by twins Colleen and Suzanne Dengel) witness them. The pacing is deliberate instead of flashy, and the tone is stilted and empty, not at all dissimilar from the early party scenes in Stanley Kubrick’s surreal masterpiece “Eyes Wide Shut.” This party is slightly offkilter, as though waiting for some bigger event to come along and take over.

This anticipation builds to a meteor landing nearby and an omnipotent energy creeping through the power lines, causing random power outages and a host of paranormal activity only recognized by our three heroes. This energy creates a duplicate of every person at the party, complete with the same memories, feelings and complete lack of awareness about what is happening. The duplicates repeat everything that happened an hour or so before, but with each power outage they catch up in time to their counterparts.

Sadly, director Dennis Iliadis abandons such a brilliant setup in favor of conventional thriller tactics. “+1” remains tense and leads to a violent climax I was all too happy to see, but it cops out on emotion. In the face of such supernatural activity, David’s continued pursuit of Jill should be irrelevant, yet it takes center stage. Teddy’s early sex scene with hot chick Melanie is priceless, yet their interaction becomes stale as the thrills are ramped up. Allison remains underdeveloped, but we’re expected to feel some emotional payoff by the time we reach the end. Like a great deal of sci-fi films, “+1” raises a host of fascinating questions only to respond with stock answers.

Surrealism as a cinematic genre (or, in most cases, technique) gets a bad rap. Since “Eyes Wide Shut” in 1999, the few surreal films made have ranged anywhere from merely good (“Holy Motors”) to utter disaster (“Only God Forgives”). Many filmmakers, such as Iliadis with “+1,” are more content to work within a sci-fi or body horror template, while utilizing surreal techniques; it’s safer, provides more structure and becomes more marketable now that it has emotional closure, however shallow it may be. That’s a shame. “+1” would have been better had it embraced the mystery.