Netflix's Bad Influence (Mala Influencia) introduces a mysterious stalker hellbent on making teen ballerina Reese Russell's (Eléa Rochera) life a living hell. The new Spanish romance thriller follows Reese as she gets assigned a bodyguard named Eros (Alberto Olmo) to protect her from a dangerous stalker who has been hounding their family for years.
As the pair grows closer, Eros and Reese eventually fall in love with each other, much to the disdain of her wealthy father (it is in the same vein as The Gardener where forbidden love drives the story). Directed by Chloé Wallace, Bad Influence stars Alberto Olmo, Eléa Rochera, Mirela Balić, and Money Heist alum Enrique Arce.
Bad Influence dives deep into Reese's paranoia while finding solace in Eros. Little does she know, the stalker may be closer to her than she thinks.
In Bad Influence, Fer Fraga's Raúl is Reese's ex-boyfriend who seems to be a little obsessed with her because he has yet to move on from their past relationship.
Through the early moments of the film, it is clear that Raúl still holds a grudge against her, belittling Reese at any given moment when they are near each other.
Thankfully, Eros is present to protect Reese, warning Raúl to stop with the bullying. Despite his hatred toward Reese, Bad Influence confirmed that Raúl is not the stalker. Instead, it is someone hiding in plain sight.
It is later revealed that Reese's stalker is none other than Peyton (Mirela Balić), a close friend of Eros who holds a grudge against the Russell family.
It turns out Peyton's mother died due to a fire that started in Bruce Russell's restaurant. Coincidentally, it is the same incident that killed Eros' parents and his wife.
Bruce's reckless actions caused the fire (he apparently brought a cigar into the restaurant that kick-started everything). Feeling guilty, he covered it up and helped care for Eros while growing up.
Peyton then found out the truth, leading her on a quest for revenge that led her to target Reese. She even lied to Eros about her real job because she was actually working as a cleaner in Reese's school to be close to her.
Bad Influence's ending showed Peyton successfully killing Bruce, fulfilling her years-long revenge plan. While the final moments didn't confirm if Peyton was arrested for her actions, the movie did end on a positive note since Eros and Reese received their happily ever after, with both of them being free to pursue one another after Bruce's death.
