TikTok has been banned in several countries for a variety of reasons, but it continues to be the hub for short-form storytelling all over the world, especially when it comes to the romance genre. Everyone from vampires to criminals keeps finding love with the dumbest humans imaginable in a matter of seconds or over the course of multiple videos; yes, there are serialized TikToks as well. But since there’s no room for nuance in such a short period of time, obtuse power dynamics and the romanticization of problematic tropes are the order of the day. And with its ever-rising popularity, that kind of content has been emulated via Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, thereby leading to a barrage of material that holds the power to absolutely rot the common man’s brain. It would’ve been fine if that brand of slop was limited to social media. However, after watching films like The Tearsmith, It Ends With Us, A True Gentleman, Umjolo (the entire franchise), Nadaaniyan, and the topic of today’s discussion, Bad Influence, it seems like the TikTokification of cinema is a real and imminent threat.
Chloe Wallace’s Bad Influence (originally titled Mala Influencia), tells the story of Eros, an ex-convict who is employed by a rich restaurateur, Bruce, to be his daughter Reese’s bodyguard. Why Eros, though? Well, Eros’ parents died at a very young age, and he grew up in a foster home along with Peyton and Diego. Each kid there was assigned an adult who would pay for their amenities and education. For Eros, that was Bruce. Eventually, Eros, Peyton, and Diego reached adulthood and had to leave the facility. Diego’s brother, Simon, is in foster care, but Diego wants Simon to stay with him. However, in order to prove that Eros, Peyton, and Diego, as a unit, are capable of looking after a child, they need jobs. Due to Eros’ rap sheet, that’s not easy for him. That’s where Bruce and his offer for a bodyguard job come in. Eros obviously accepts it and begins shadowing Reese wherever she goes. Soon after that, Reese starts getting harassed by her ex, Raul, and she even begins getting death threats. While inspecting this mystery, Eros and Reese stumble upon some uncomfortable truths.
What I have just described in the summary section of this review of Mala Influencia takes up maybe 20-30 percent of the movie’s runtime. The rest is dedicated to a cliché, boring, and borderline controversial romance. Ever since Reese and Eros lock eyes, you know where it’s going to go. There was potential for some intriguing twists and whatnot, but I guess trying to write anything remotely thought-provoking would’ve obliterated all the gray cells in Wallace and Muro’s brains. So, it’s a good thing that they avoided putting any effort into it. The reason why I find the whole thing to be problematic, though, is because the whole dynamic between Reese and Eros feeds into the trend of fetishizing schoolgirls. This has always been a huge problem and has only been exacerbated by shows like Euphoria, Gossip Girl, and Elite. On top of that, there’s TikTok, which has been the frontrunner when it comes to discomforting romances. Sure, people who pull out the “age of consent” card to hide the fact that their moral compass is in the gutter will have no problem with narratives like this. Mine’s still intact; hence, I find this to be despicable.
Given how the world still functions on some or the other form of freedom of expression and speech, I think it’s perfectly fine to come up with any kind of story that you want, even if it’s considered taboo. A bodyguard falling in love with their charge isn’t something new. We have seen it in The Bodyguard (something that Wallace even refers to) and Bodyguard. But, you see, when The Bodyguard was released, Whitney Houston was 29 and Kevin Costner was 37. Their characters were roughly the same age as well. When Bodyguard was released, Salman Khan was 46 and Kareena Kapoor Khan was 31. Kareena’s character was a college-going adult, and Salman’s character was approximately in his late 30s. However, in the case of Wallace’s movie, all the actors playing school children are in their 20s, and the only reason she didn’t or couldn’t cast age-appropriate actors is because, well, the movie would’ve been shut down. So, if it’s illegal to cast children and put them in sexually explicit scenes, why is it okay to write scenarios where children are romancing adults and then film them with adults pretending to be children? To be clear, there are several movies and shows where taboo romantic dynamics have been explored, but only to criticize such practices, not to promote them. What these TikTokified and Wattpadded films are doing is downright disgusting.
I probably would’ve ignored all the infuriating aspects of Mala Influencia if the acting was good. Spoiler alert: the acting was atrocious. Every time Alberto Olmo appeared on the screen, I kept thinking that he was going to trigger one of those hyper-stylized “fancam” edits, accentuating his physical attributes. Because there’s no way to make a compilation of his best “acting” moments from the entire movie since he can’t emote! The dude would’ve been great in a commercial for any kind of luxury brand. Movies are not for him, though. At least, not yet. The same can be said about Elea Rochera. Great-looking person, not a great actor. In fact, all the young actors—Mirela Balic, Sara Arino, Farid Bechara, Fernando Fraga, Mar Isern, Selam Ortega, and Clara Chain—seem to have been cast for their appearance. The hair and makeup team and the costuming department have done a great job of making them look presentable. So, feel free to take screenshots of them and add them to your Pinterest “fashion inspo” page or something. I feel bad for Enrique Arce because he is the only legitimate actor in the group, and he gets to do next to nothing. That’s Arturo Roman from Money Heist, for crying out loud! Why cast him and then not utilize his acting range to the fullest?
Even though I have compared The Bodyguard and Bodyguard to Mala Influencia, I am not going to sit here and claim that those are some of the greatest movies that mankind has ever seen. But, at the very least, those are well-made movies. They have some semblance of narrative progression, character arcs, engaging action beats, and, most importantly, memorable-as-hell songs! “I Will Always Love You” and “Teri Meri Prem Kahani” are evergreen bangers! What is Chloe Wallace’s contribution to the pop culture and entertainment landscape through her movie? I know who her movie’s target audience is, so I am not going to make the mistake of asking, “Who is this movie for?” However, is this what it takes to impress them? Just a bunch of 20-something adults pretending to be children and yapping for hours about nothing, punctuated by some bland make-out sessions? Well, then I guess this kind of TikTokification is going to define cinema because these movies are cheap and profitable, two things that are like music to the ears of producers.
