‘Bad Influence’ Ending Explained – Netflix’s Teen Romance Goes Completely Off the Rails
WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS
I know what you’re thinking – a teen romance about two radically different but implausibly attractive people has to have a happy ending, right? The leads get together, lessons are learned, the upstairs/downstairs divide is ignored, and everyone lives happily ever after. Right? Well, not really in the case of Bad Influence. The romantic payoff is there, but it requires everyone to stop functioning like human beings with relatable emotions. It’s only a happily ever after if you deliberately forget about half of the movie.
I didn’t see this coming, granted. For the most part, I thought the movie was another passably generic romantic drama for Netflix. It was obviously teasing some late revelations, but those didn’t seem like much to worry about. And then, in the final ten minutes or so, you get a flurry of odd turns, including a unifying explanation for how these characters are connected and then a murder. How romantic!
Anyway, let’s break it down.
Who Is Reese’s Stalker?
Bad Influence hinges on Reese, the well-to-do ballerina daughter of wealthy businessman Bruce, needing a bodyguard. The reason she needs a bodyguard is because she has a stalker whose behaviour is becoming increasingly threatening and sinister. If the movie has a “whodunit” aspect, it revolves around the identity of the stalker.
At first, it seems like Reese’s openly psychotic ex, Raul, is to blame. But he’s so horrible that it’s immediately too obvious, which kind of narrows the suspect pool a little bit. It could have been one of Reese’s friends or associates, but that wouldn’t play into the movie’s underlying themes of class disparity. When Reese discovers that Eros’s friend Peyton secretly works as a cleaner at her school, she realizes the timing works out. Peyton is the stalker.
Eros doesn’t initially believe this, of course. When he gets back home, he discovers Peyton has been “working” for three days and is about to leave for work again, on her birthday. He confronts her about Reese’s suspicions, which send Peyton a bit bonkers. She tries to explain herself, Eros keeps talking over her, and she eventually pushes him. He hits his head and falls unconscious.
The Connection Between Peyton, Eros, and Bruce
You’d think that Peyton’s beef with Reese is a simple matter of class resentment, or perhaps even jealousy over Eros, but it turns out to be much more personal than that. Peyton’s real target is Bruce. Luckily, Reese arrives at the apartment and is followed almost immediately by her father, since she had told him where she was going and why, so that gives Peyton an opportunity to explain her motivations out loud for the benefit of the audience.
Remember the accident that killed Eros’s mother? Well, that accident also killed Peyton’s mother. And Reese’s, as it happens. The accident was a fire at Bruce’s restaurant, where Eros and Peyton’s mothers both worked. The place had no fire safety protocols, and the employees weren’t insured, so the kids were consigned to the system, and Bruce essentially got away with his negligence, even blaming the accident on Eros.
Peyton explains this while holding Bruce at gunpoint. Eventually, Eros tackles her, giving himself and the others time to flee. They head down the stairs, but Peyton follows and unloads several shots down the stairwell.
Eléa Rochera in Bad Influence | Image via Netflix
Happily Ever After?
This is where the ending of Bad Influence gets a little weird. It turns out that Bruce was killed in the shooting, but Reese doesn’t seem the least bit bothered by this. She and Eros are together, and she’s even able to get into the dance company she was auditioning for. The movie ends with the two of them frolicking in celebration onstage.
Sorry, what? Why is everyone okay with this? Why isn’t Reese upset or resentful of Eros for his tangential role in what happened? What happened to Peyton? Where was Diego, and what will happen to Simon now? Wasn’t Simon’s well-being the entire motivation for all three of these characters? Nobody has mentioned him since that video call!
This, I think, is a clear example of a movie having no idea how to conclude and bending over backwards to accommodate the most “audience-friendly” outcome, which in a romantic drama is always the two sexy leads getting together at all costs. But the cost here is unusually high, and the script’s refusal to really acknowledge that, let alone grapple with the implications of it, leaves a sour taste in the audience’s mouth, which even undermines the romantic side of things.
A shame, really. This could have been another generic Netflix romance. You can never have enough of those.