The Boy Next Door (2015)

The Boy Next Door sees Claire (Jennifer Lopez), a high school teacher, separate from her husband after he cheats on her. When a handsome and charismatic 19-year-old boy, Noah (Ryan Guzman) moves in next door, Claire in a moment of weakness surrenders to his advances. When Claire tries to end it Noah’s flirtations turn into a dangerous and violent obsession, which will push Claire to her limits.

Overall Review Score

5.5 out of 10

Review

The Boy Next Door is a 2015, 90-minute, thriller with attitude, its script about a student sleeping with his teacher and then obsessively manipulates her family while stalking and taunting her is rich in detail and effortlessly connects with the audience. While the supporting cast do feel underdeveloped and give sub-par performances, both Jennifer Lopez and Ryan Guzman put on solid performances. As the film progresses their own screen relationship changes and develops as Claire (Jennifer Lopez) goes from being scared and insecure to a protective mother determined to protect her family, while Noah (Ryan Guzman) goes from a charming, manipulative, 19-year-old to an unreasonable, irrational psychopath focused purely on punishing Claire for rejecting him. Unfortunately the film is let down by a slightly predictable storyline, that does not contain enough twists and turns to surprise the audience until the final scenes, and by avoidable mistakes. For example, Claire accepting ‘The Lliad’ is a first edition that Noah paid a few bucks for, despite Clare being a Classics Teacher and knowing ‘The Lliad’ is a 3,000-year-old ancient Greek poem attributed to Homer and passed down through an oral tradition until the 10th Century where it was wrote down / published for the first time. Overall, while The Boy Next Door is too timid and predictable to become a cult classic, its rather unpredictable, heart pounding ending coupled with Jennifer Lopez’s and Ryan Guzman’s on-screen chemistry that engulfs the audience and makes this film entertaining from start to finish.

Reviewer 1's score & comments:

Score: 4 out of 10

Comments:

The Boy Next Door can be seen as one of two things. Either the audience will think it is a tense thriller with several surprise plot twists and a great script, or they will see it as a budget film that featured a storyline that was all too predictable, and contained some terrible acting. The one thing that stuck out after watching The Boy Next Door was how far Noah’s obsession had to go, in order for Claire to feel threatened enough to call the police, but I suppose this was just for the convenience of the plot. What I did like was Ryan Guzman’s portrayal of Noah, who became more and more unhinged as the movie progressed, though this was offset by the overall lack of a decent and unpredictable story. Still the movie does get some credit for its startling finale, which had both of the Reviewers temporarily speechless.

Reviewer 2's score & comments:

Score: 7 out of 10

Comments:

Thrillers are ten a penny in the movie world, which means films have to do something special to stand out from the herd. However, the Boy Next Door does just that. The film is a beautifully created thriller complete with jump scares, an emotional storyline, and a creepy, psychopathic protagonist. Jennifer Lopez’s portrayal of Claire, a high school teacher who regrets and tries to downplay her moment of weakness, and Ryan Guzman’s portrayal of Noah, a 19-year-old who is obsessed with Claire, are truly commendable – their on-screen chemistry feels real and will entertain the audience for the film’s 90-minute run time. Overall, the Boy Next Door is a thriller for people who want something a bit edgy and naughty; its ending will render any moviegoer temporarily speechless, while its twists and turns will leave audiences on the edge of their seats, wondering what Noah is going to do next to punish Claire.

#thriller #jenniferlopez #ryanguzman