The lamest reason to watch a movie - because it's on Netflix - strikes again, and I thought "Bad Influence" would be mostly hilariously bad.
Let me start with some positives. Despite a problematic screenplay, to say the least, Alberto Olmo and Eléa Rochera deliver solid performances as Eros and Reese, the former a bodyguard who must protect the latter heiress from a mysterious stalker. While their relationship as written and executed isn't good, Olmo and Rochera do their best to make their characters work.
Beatriz Sastre's cinematography isn't half bad, either. Many scenes looked beautiful thanks to Sastre's work, which I can always appreciate.
For the rest of the unironic positives, Chloé Wallace's directing was impressive, and a few emotional moments landed.
However, the best thing I can say about this film is that the first half is a goldmine for hilariously bad moments. Here is where I begin discussing the negatives, but I'll dedicate this paragraph to focusing on the "so bad, it's good" negatives. Exclusively in the first half of this 1-hour and 48-minute film, I found myself laughing a lot, mainly because of the dialogue, which I'll get to in a minute. Many lines had me baffled at how they made it to the screen - this is not how normal people speak, plain and simple. I was having the time of my life hearing some of the worst dialogue I've ever heard, and that's what I'll remember first and foremost...
...if it wasn't for the fact that the second half was one of the most boring movies I've seen all year. Chloé Wallace and Diana Muro's screenplay is astonishingly weak. The narrative it creates never got me invested in Eros and Reese's relationship, and despite committed performances, I never felt their chemistry. The emotional moments that worked were when I did feel their connection, but about one or two scenes failed to make it work. As a bonus, the screenplay is confused about whether to focus on the central love story or the stalker that caused the movie's events in the first place. Even when they focus on who the stalker is, it's not worth the wait. Oh, and the dialogue is terrible!
It's time to go back to the boredom. The second half tested my patience in a way that only the worst movies do, going into cliches that aren't a significant problem, but the film handles them so weakly that they become an issue. I already mentioned the anti-climatic reveal of the stalker, but the ending also doesn't know what note to leave the audience with. No spoilers, but it tries to be both sad and uplifting, but I ended up feeling neither. I wasn't invested enough in this story to care enough, but the tedium didn't help.
Can we talk more about the central relationship? I should care about Eros and Reese, at the very least. I feel bad for Olmo and Rochera because, once more, they are trying their best to make their characters believable. Outside of two scenes, I failed to feel their romantic spark. What's even sadder is I had one thought very often: why don't I watch "My Fault: London" again? That film theoretically should have been what "Bad Influence" was because it has the same basic layup. In that movie, Noah and Nick come together due to circumstances out of their control and fall in love because the "bad boy" is charming. Then, a threat looms in the background, leading to a third-act climax that, depending on its execution, can or cannot work. That's the key word, though: execution. Strong directing, writing, and cinematography complement Asha Banks and Matthew Broome's magnificent performances in that film, which "Bad Influence" wishes it could do.
One more thing: the choices they made for music were shockingly awful. I'm not one to rag on the music of a film unless I feel it stands out, and this is one of those situations where it did. I'm unsure if it's only a me thing, but I shouldn't be able to notice it.
"Bad Influence" lived up to its title. It's a bad, sometimes enjoyable, but more or less exhausting watch that isn't worth your time. I'm excited for "Your Fault: London," but there's no way I'm watching any potential sequel for this.
Technically, the acting, directing, and cinematography are all strong, but the screenplay weighs the technical score down to a 6/10.
For the enjoyment score, the "it's on Netflix" excuse is not one to use for this movie. Watch "My Fault: London" instead. 3/10. I'm interested in seeing what Olmo and Rochera do next, but not for a sequel, unfortunately.
