Adam Carlson

Evil-doer

Adam Carlson is the main protagonist of the 2022 found footage horror filmThe Incel Tapes. He is a struggling filmmaker brought down by his own narcissism and self-pity. Eventually, he decides if he doesn't lose his virginity by his 26th birthday he will kill himself. After he fails, he changes his mind and aims his hatred towards his friends. He lies to them, telling them he has terminal cancer, and invites them to go on a road trip with him with the intent of killing them.

He is played by Alec Beckstead in his debut role.

Biography[]

Adam Carlson is a 25-year-old janitor who wants to make films, but fails due to his own hateful world view. He rewatches his old films while lamenting about hating women and getting kicked out of film school. His short videos contain him living with his mother and expressing his misunderstanding of women and his own frustration about his degeneracy. He reveals he had a brother who died when he was in high school, and considers that he might not have turned out this way had he still been alive.

Eventually, he hangs a Confederate flag in his room to express his hatred towards humanity, much to his mother's worry. She tells him to remove it due to its connotations, to which Adam refuses. Later, Adam talks about his recent attempts to refrain from masturbating, due to his belief that it makes you weak. He quickly fails, crying afterward.

A couple days later, Adam finally perks up due to being accepted for a date, prematurely celebrating getting a girlfriend. Predictably, he gets turned down and blames his former friends, Jimmy and Evan, for it. He attempts to hang himself, but gives up and sets a deadline for his 26th birthday to lose his virginity. If he doesn't get laid by then, he will successfully kill himself.

He also decides to set a list of things he wants to do before then, including making (unspecified) amends, cliff jumping, petting a giraffe, riding rollercoasters, getting high, skydiving, and killing Jimmy and Evan. He calls them and lies that he has terminal cancer and wants to make one last movie with them on a road trip. Evan obliges, but Jimmy is more hesitant after Adam broke his grandpa's guitar in a fit of rage. Evan convinces him to let him explain himself.

Jimmy asks if Adam has gotten a second opinion, to which Adam says he hasn't. Jimmy offers to drive Adam to his father's friend's office in Milwaukee, who is an oncologist. Adam reluctantly agrees. They set out for Green Bay to see the Lambeau Field. Before they start the trip, Adam gifts Jimmy a new guitar to make amends, to which Jimmy accepts. On the road, Adam and Jimmy make fun of Evan's wife and make misogynistic remarks, heavily agitating Evan. He refuses to get back in the car if they make any more remarks about her, to which Adam and Jimmy reluctantly agree.

The three stop at a hotel for the night, where Adam displays erratic behavior, getting enraged at Jimmy playing the guitar. In the middle of the night, Adam works up to killing them, but they wake up before he can. Adam explains that he was checking the camera settings. The next morning, Jimmy drives Adam and Evan to his uncle's farm house to try out his shooting range. Eventually, Adam points the gun at his friends, but is disarmed. They scold him for his reckless behavior, but Adam explains that it was just a joke. Jimmy's uncle gives him a gun in case Adam ever gets dangerous again.

Evan and Jimmy try to pull over and take Adam home, but he convinces them to drive him to Milwaukee to see the doctor. The three go cliff jumping, despite Jimmy's fear of heights. Adam scares the two by not resurfacing after the dive and jumping out at them. They go on more misadventures, like go-karting and riding rollercoasters.

The next day, Evan realizes it's Adam's birthday and tells Jimmy to help him. Jimmy decides he's going to help Adam fulfill his wish of losing his virginity by taking him to a college campus and ogling the women. Adam ruins Jimmy's attempts at seduction every time, and Jimmy decides to get him a prostitute as a last resort. The three visit the prostitute, but are quickly held up by her pimp who steals their wallets. Adam is unbothered, and they have a fun night on the town, fulfilling Adam's bucket list.

The next morning, Jimmy leaves to get the second opinion. Adam is surprised to find that a girl named Emily on Tinder matched with him. He meets with her in her apartment, and the two have sex. Jimmy shows up in the middle of it, where it is revealed that she is his ex-girlfriend. In a blind rage, he shoots her with his uncle's gun. He pistol whips Evan. When he wakes up, he finds Emily in the bathtub with her head sawed off. Adam has a mental breakdown, and the three move her body into the car and try to find a place to bury her without the police finding them.

Jimmy tries to use his phone for directions, but finds out his phone is dead. Since Jimmy broke Evan's phone, he asks Adam for his. Adam realizes he left his phone in the apartment. He goes back to the apartment where he finds out that Emily had a roommate who also lives there. He asks to use the bathroom so he can get his phone back. When they get back to the car, they have an argument and ask to be let out of the car so they can tell the police about what happened. Jimmy refuses, telling them that they're accomplices despite their obvious hostage situation.

After a while, Evan escapes the car and runs away. Jimmy goes to catch him while Adam tries to find somewhere to hide the body. Adam laments about his situation before Jimmy returns with Evan. Evan yells for help, to no avail. Eventually, Jimmy and Adam decide to bury her in the middle of a forest. While they dig, Adam leaves to take a break. He comes back with a rock and bludgeons Jimmy to death with it. While Evan tries to run, he uses Jimmy's gun to shoot him. The film ends with Adam presumably driving away without getting caught.