Jennifer Lopez plays a teacher who sleeps with a student in The Boy Next Door, and the movie never figures out whether that means the woman is the villain or the victim. That confusion runs through every scene, and it never gets resolved. This is a thriller that wants to scare you, but it keeps choosing romance over danger, and the result is a film that feels more like a soap opera than a horror movie.
The setup is simple. Claire Peterson, played by Lopez, is a high school English teacher who has just separated from her husband, Garrett, after he cheated on her. Her teenage son, Kevin, played by Ian Nelson, lives with her too. Across the street moves Noah Sandborn, a 19-year-old orphan whose parents died a year earlier. He helps his uncle, who uses a wheelchair, and quickly wins over both Claire and Kevin. He flirts with Claire, undresses in front of her, and eventually the two sleep together. Claire wakes up the next morning regretful, but Noah doesn’t take it well.
Trailer, via Universal Pictures.
Noah’s Obsession
Noah’s behavior shifts fast from charming to obsessive. He hacks into Claire’s computer and emails the principal to get transferred into her class. He manipulates Kevin into hating Garrett. When Kevin goes into shock during gym class, Noah saves him with an EpiPen. Claire thanks him, but the thanks only fuel Noah’s fixation. The film treats his stalking as a kind of passion, not as a threat.
The movie tries to build tension by cutting between Claire’s fear and Noah’s pursuit. Director Rob Cohen, working from a screenplay by Barbara Curry, keeps the camera tight on Lopez’s face whenever she looks uncomfortable. But the script never commits to making Noah truly frightening. Instead it keeps returning to the idea that he loves her too much, which makes the danger feel less like terror and more like a broken heart.
The Supporting Cast
John Corbett plays Garrett, Claire’s ex-husband, and Kristin Chenoweth plays Vicky Lansing, the school vice principal. Hill Harper plays the principal. Lexi Atkins plays Allie Callahan, and François Chau plays Detective Johnny Chou. The cast is capable, but none of them get much to do beyond react to Lopez and Guzman’s central conflict.
The Production
The film was financed and produced by Blumhouse Productions, and it was shot over 23 days in Los Angeles and other locations in California at the end of 2013. It was released in the United States on January 23, 2015, by Universal Pictures. The DVD and Blu-ray came out on April 28, 2015.
Where It Falls Apart
The biggest problem is that the film can’t decide what kind of story it’s telling. It wants to be a thriller about a dangerous stalker, but it keeps circling back to the idea that Claire and Noah share a genuine connection. That split keeps the film from being scary or satisfying. It just becomes frustrating.
There’s also the question of consent. Claire is a teacher and Noah is a student, and the film treats their relationship as a romance rather than a power imbalance. That decision will trouble anyone who thinks about it, and it never gets worked through.
A Box Full of Numbers
- Director: Rob Cohen
- Writer: Barbara Curry
- Stars: Jennifer Lopez, Ryan Guzman, Ian Nelson
- Release: January 23, 2015, in the US
- Budget: $4 million
- Box office: $52.4 million
- Runtime: 91 minutes
The Boy Next Door is a film that knows how to look tense and doesn’t know how to follow through. It builds dread and then pulls it away. It raises questions about power and trust and never answers them. Lopez brings energy to a role that asks her to play confused, but even she can’t save a script this thin. The film is a failure of focus, a thriller that keeps getting distracted by its own romance. It’s not worth your time.
Score: 3 of 10.
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