Part "Booksmart," part "Superbad," with pieces of "American Pie" and a half-dozen other teen sex comedies thrown in for good measure, "Plan B" never reinvents what doesn't need to be reinvented, but tweaks the popular formula just enough to make a place for itself.
Sunny (Kuhoo Verma) and Lupe (Victoria Moroles) are best buds in South Dakota navigating the treacherous waters of high school, not popular enough to be mean girls but not dorky enough to be shunned by the cool kids. They're right there in the middle, where they want to be.
A casual hook-up at a party leads Sunny to need the morning-after pill, which leads to a routine trip to the pharmacy followed by a simple transaction and the outcome everyone wanted. Or it leads to an all-night adventure filled with strange encounters, drug mishaps and several moments of inward-looking self-reflection. It's up to you to guess which one.
Director Natalie Morales and writers Joshua Levy and Prathiksha Srinivasan (both from "iZombie") know the terrain well, and find the right balance of bawdy talk and heart-to-heart moments to raise "Plan B" above its often predictable path. And there's at least one instance of boundary-pushing that takes "Plan B" beyond the limits of the average entry in the genre. (Trust, you'll know it when you see it.)
Beyond that, what makes "Plan B" work is the chemistry of the leads — Verma and Moroles play quite well off each other — and the pleasant surprises along the way (Edi Patterson is a scene-stealer as a late night gas station clerk) that make "Plan B" worth the trip. The destination is familiar, but the ride manages to have its moments.
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'PLAN B'
Grade: B-
Not rated: Language, sexual situations, drug use and graphic nudity, all involving teens
Running time: 1 hour, 47 minutes
Playing: Available Friday on Hulu
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