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James and Lance share a dorm and clash in personality. Lance is rich and casually focused on hookups, while James is introverted and excels at programming. Lance proposes that James do the minimum required work so no one else in class has to, setting up the tone for their partnership.

Lance learns James has been coding since youth and pitches Jungle, a campus-wide hookup app. The goal is to connect people for no-strings-attached encounters without exposing names or numbers. James agrees to lead the technical development.

James seizes control of their dorm room to work day and night on Jungle, pouring hours into coding and testing. The app is designed to enable casual encounters with total anonymity. He becomes consumed by the project, changing the routine of their shared space.

Lance offers to pay for James to transfer to an Ivy League school in exchange for Jungle. The promise adds pressure for James to deliver a polished and scalable product. The stakes shift from curiosity to career-affirming leverage.

James asks Lance to claim Jungle as his own so he isn’t blamed for the platform. Their computer science professor excuses him from class, citing his constant coding as the reason. The dynamic foregrounds how far James is willing to go for the project.

During Christmas break James sees Jungle's impact on his family and upbringing. His dad brings a very young date he found through the app, while his mom is encouraged by friends to try it as well. The break exposes how the project has altered real relationships.

James follows his mom as she tests Jungle and meets new people, feeling remorse for creating the platform. He recognizes that the app is distorting family dynamics. The moment marks the first real emotional consequence of Jungle.

Following that, James tries to recruit his grandparents and their friends to answer a questionnaire about their past sexual experiences. He discovers his mom has re-engaged with Jungle, so he immediately takes the app and similar ones offline to stop her. Lance and his team hear about the shutdown and pressure him to relaunch.

Back on campus, James hides from Lance by taking shelter in Hannah's sorority house. He is told he can stay only if he creates a relationship app for the sisters. The arrangement forces him to pivot from casual hookups to something more relational.

James briefly returns to his room, where Lance and his friends coerce him to stay and re-launch the app. He uses a relaxing tea to buy time and slips back to the safety of the sorority house. The scene intensifies the sense of threat around his invention.

Lance leaks James's participation to the press, turning the campus and Hannah against him. Hannah confronts James about the project and his hopes for connecting with her. He confesses his involvement, admitting the app failed because she never downloaded it.

James urges everyone to stay off the apps and to seek real connections instead. He admits his feelings for Hannah and they share a kiss, signaling a shift from dangerous experimentation to genuine connection. The final moment frames responsibility and growth for both of them.