Diksha Sundriyal
In ‘The Boy Next Door,’ a brief fling between Claire and Noah turns deadly when he is revealed to be obsessed with her. At the time, Claire is going through a rough patch in her marriage, trying to decide whether she should give another chance to her husband, who cheated on her. When she meets Noah, she is flattered by his attention and bonds with their common things. In another situation, she would have had no trouble dating Noah, but there are several problems in this case, the most important of which is that Claire is his teacher. If their affair comes to light, she will be ruined, personally and professionally. The age gap between them doesn’t make things any easier either. SPOILERS AHEAD
The Two-Decade Age Gap Raises Problems in Claire and Noah’s Relationship
In ‘The Boy Next Door,’ Noah is 19 years old during the film’s events. He is twenty years Claire’s junior, meaning she is around 39. The age gap between Ryan Guzman and Jennifer Lopez is almost the same. Guzman was around 28 during the filming and release of the movie, while Lopez was around 45, putting an age gap of around seventeen years between them.
When screenwriter Barbara Curry first started writing the movie, she had a different age gap in mind. She referenced cases like Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau, where the age gap was more than twenty years, with Fualaau being twelve when the affair began. At first, Curry had made Noah younger. Still, when the sexual aspect came into the picture, she decided to up his age, at least beyond the legal marker, because she knew it would make the audience uncomfortable and might also pit them against Claire. If they don’t like her, they won’t root for her, which would beat the whole purpose of the movie.
Even with the age gap, Curry wanted the audience to have some form of understanding with Claire so they would know that she didn’t simply act upon fake feelings. The connection between her and Noah is palpable even in their first meeting, and it’s clear that if the age gap between them had been smaller (in addition to Noah not being a psychopath), they would have done quite well together. She wanted the audience to see that side of their brief romance and wonder what could have happened for them and what direction their relationship could have taken if things were more acceptable.
Jennifer Lopez, who plays Claire, also reiterated the point of the romance between an older woman and a younger man. She remarked that gone are the days when women were set aside when they got older beyond a certain age and were not considered desirable. She added, “Women are more interesting and beautiful and self-assured and realized in their 40s and 50s – and the most attractive.” It makes perfect sense to her that a young man would be attracted to an older woman due to all her qualities. At the same time, she doesn’t justify Claire’s actions in the movie because one must maintain a certain line, especially as an adult in the relationship. Still, she understood where her character was coming from, and this helped her get in her mind space and play the role better.
Read More: Best Older Woman Younger Man Romance Movies
