TikTok has been banned in several countries for various reasons, but it remains the hub of short-form storytelling worldwide, especially when it comes to the romance genre. From vampires to criminals, everyone finds love with the most naive humans imaginable in a matter of seconds or over the course of several videos; yes, there are also series on TikTok. But since there's no room for nuance in such a short time, simplistic power dynamics and the romanticization of problematic clichés are commonplace. And with its growing popularity, this type of content has been imitated on Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, leading to an avalanche of material that has the power to completely atrophy the viewer's brain. It would be fine if this kind of superficial content were limited to social media. However, after watching films like The Tearsmith, It Ends With Us, A True Gentleman, Umjolo (the entire franchise), Nadaaniyan, and today's subject, Bad Influence, it seems that the "TikTokification" of cinema is a real and imminent threat.
Bad Influence (originally titled Mala Influencia), by Chloe Wallace, tells the story of Eros, an ex-convict who is hired by a wealthy restaurateur, Bruce, to be his daughter Reese's bodyguard. Why Eros? Well, Eros's parents died at a very young age, and he grew up in a foster home along with Peyton and Diego. Each child was assigned an adult who paid for their expenses and education. For Eros, that adult was Bruce. Eventually, Eros, Peyton, and Diego came of age and had to leave the center.
Director: Chloé Wallace
Writers: Chloé Wallace, Diana Muro
Stars: Alberto Olmo, Eléa Rochera, Enrique Arce
Diego's brother, Simon, is in a foster home, but Diego wants Simon to live with him. However, to prove that Eros, Peyton, and Diego, as a unit, are capable of caring for a child, they need jobs. Due to Eros's criminal record, this isn't easy for him. That's where Bruce comes in with his job offer as a bodyguard. Eros, obviously, accepts and begins following Reese everywhere. Shortly after, Reese begins to be harassed by her ex, Raul, and even receives death threats. While investigating this mystery, Eros and Reese uncover some uncomfortable truths. What I've just described in the summary section of this review of Bad Influence occupies perhaps 20 to 30 percent of the film's total runtime.
The rest is dedicated to a cliché, boring, and almost controversial romance. From the moment Reese and Eros lock eyes, you know how it's going to end. There was potential for some interesting twists and turns, but I guess trying to write anything remotely thought-provoking would have annihilated all of Wallace and Muro's brain cells. So, thankfully, they avoided putting in any effort. However, the reason I find all of this problematic is because the dynamic between Reese and Eros feeds into the tendency to fetishize schoolgirls. This has always been a huge problem and has only been exacerbated by shows like Euphoria, Gossip Girl, and Elite. Plus, there's TikTok, which has been the leading platform for uncomfortable romances. Sure, people who pull out the "age of consent" card to hide the fact that their moral compass is completely broken won't have any problem with narratives like this. Mine is still intact; therefore, I find it despicable.
Given that the world still operates with some form of freedom of expression, I think it's perfectly fine to create any kind of story one wants, even if it's considered taboo. A bodyguard falling in love with his charge isn't anything new. We've seen it in The Bodyguard (something that Wallace even references) and in Bodyguard. But, you see, when The Bodyguard was released, Whitney Houston was 29 and Kevin Costner was 37.
Their characters were also approximately the same age. When Bodyguard was released, Salman Khan was 46 and Kareena Kapoor Khan was 31. Kareena's character was an adult attending university, and Salman's character was approximately in his 30s. However, in the case of Wallace's film, all the actors playing schoolchildren are in their twenties, and the only reason she couldn't or wouldn't hire actors of the appropriate age is because, well, the film would have been canceled. So, if it's illegal to hire children and put them in sexually explicit scenes, why is it okay to write scripts where children and adults have romantic relationships and then film them with adults pretending to be children? To be clear, there are several films and series where taboo romantic dynamics have been explored, but only to criticize such practices, not to promote them. What these TikTok and Wattpad-style films are doing is simply disgusting.
Although I've compared The Bodyguard and Bodyguard to Bad Influence, I'm not going to claim that they're some of the best films humanity has ever seen. But, at least, they're well-made films. They have a certain narrative coherence, character development, interesting action scenes, and, most importantly, incredibly catchy songs! "I Will Always Love You" and "Teri Meri Prem Kahani" are timeless hits.
What is Chloe Wallace's contribution to the landscape of pop culture and entertainment through her film? I know who the target audience for her film is, so I'm not going to make the mistake of asking, "Who is this film for?" However, is this what it takes to impress them? Just a bunch of twenty-somethings pretending to be kids and talking endlessly for hours about nothing, interspersed with some bland kissing scenes? Well, I guess this kind of "TikTokification" will define cinema because these films are cheap and profitable, two things that are music to producers' ears.
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