The Boy Next Door

Claire is in her 40s and works as a teacher in a school. Professionally, things are going well for the attractive woman, but her private life is in ruins. Her marriage to Garrett (John Corbett) recently fell apart and the divorce still weighs heavily on her everyday life. The handsome young neighbor Noah (Ryan Guzman) seems to be just in time to provide a little distraction. A little later it comes to a sensual love night, which for Claire is no more than a short adventure to get her mind off things. Noah, on the other hand, sees things differently: over time, he turns out to be a psychotic stalker who cannot accept the end of the affair. He increasingly follows Claire, ambushing her and interfering in her life. When Noah even starts

“The boy next door” comes along as a low-budget production that cost no more than about four million dollars. The makers are used to other sizes with their budgets: Producer Jason Blum is usually more active in the horror genre (” Insidious”, “The Purge”), and director Rob Cohen proved in the past to be an expert for action blockbusters like “Fast and the Furious” or “The Mummy”. For both, it is the first cinematic foray into the field of psychological thrillers, which is unfortunately also noticeable in the film most of the time. Cohen shows no flair for psychologically dense, comprehensible dramaturgy and uses too many worn-out clichés with his sex-and-crime thriller. This makes the film predictable and robs it of its moments of suspense (although they do exist to some extent). The solid performance of Jennifer Lopez can no longer do much.

• The boy next door