The Boy Next Door is a 2015 American erotic thriller film directed by Rob Cohen and written by Barbara Curry.
The film stars Jennifer Lopez, Ryan Guzman, and Ian Nelson, with John Corbett and Kristin Chenoweth playing supporting roles.
The film follows a 19-year-old boy who, after having a one-night stand with his high school teacher, develops a dangerous and deranged obsession with her.
19-year-old Noah Sandborn, an orphan whose parents died a year prior, moves in next door to help his uncle, who uses a wheelchair.
Noah emerges and attempts to rape Claire, who fends off his attack by slamming her knee into his groin and demands that he stay away from her and Kevin.
[5] In the original script, Claire was "happily married", but Curry chose to have her separated due to her husband's infidelity, so that she could be a "more sympathetic character".
[5] Curry was influenced by the real-life story of Mary Kay Letourneau, a teacher who became involved with her underage student, causing her to be convicted for rape charges.
[5] Director Rob Cohen revealed that in Curry's draft, the character of Noah was younger, but he made the conscious decision to age him to 19, because he felt as if it was "not healthy" and that audiences would lose sympathy for the protagonist.
Explaining her character, Lopez stated that Claire was feeling "worthless" after her husband cheated, and "People can understand that.
"[6] The Boy Next Door's plot has been compared to the thriller films Basic Instinct (1992) and Swimfan (2002),[5][7] while being dubbed "the Fatal Attraction of 2015".
[9] Casting of The Boy Next Door began early September 2013, when Jennifer Lopez was chosen to play Claire.
[21] Lopez made her largest Hispanic press tour to date in Miami in promotion of The Boy Next Door.
and Nuestra Belleza Latina, shows which air on the Latin American network Univision, the latter of which saw 22% ratings gain with Lopez's appearance.
The film's UK distributors, also Universal Studios, chose to remove two seconds of material, the eye gouging scene, in order to obtain a 15.
[4][27] The Boy Next Door received generally negative reviews from film critics, who felt that it promised "campy thrills" but did not deliver.
The site's consensus reads: "The Boy Next Door may get a few howls out of fans of stalker thrillers, but for most viewers, it won't even rise to 'so bad it's good' status.
[30][36] Writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, Thomas Lee wrote: "Why Lopez decided to do this inept, cliche-infested film is anyone's guess".
[40] Entertainment Weekly's Leah Greenblatt similarly wrote that the film was a "few deliciously bonkers bons mots dot the Lifetime-grade dialogue", while calling its script "too timid to fully dive into the high camp it hints at".
Richard Lawson from Vanity Fair wrote: "Given the material, Lopez is actually pretty darn good in the movie, taking it seriously enough that it's not irksomely arch camp, but also plenty aware that she's not doing Shakespeare.
"[42] Claudia Puig from USA Today stated that the movie was an improvement on her previous romantic comedies, calling Lopez "believably powerful in moments of physical conflict".
[44] Several publications particularly criticized the scene where Noah gives Claire a printed book that is supposed to be a first edition copy of the Iliad, a work written nearly 3,000 years ago in Ancient Greece.
[45][46][47][48][49] Amy Heidt, writing for Slate, noted that while a first English edition could have been a possible explanation, such works were from the 16th and 17th centuries, and describes the book Noah gives Claire as "A pristine hardcover that looks like those Jane Austen Penguin Classics they sell at Urban Outfitters.
Richard Davis, a spokesman for the website, said: "It appears people who have watched the film are trying to identify the actual edition handed to Lopez, which has dark yellow and blue boards.
[53] Lopez later received two more accolades for her work as an actress and as a producer in film at the Premios Juventud, broadcast by Univision.