This feature film, which received very bad reviews upon its release, failed to appeal to the public. This is one of the most criticized films of recent years.
French comedies do not always have good press with specialist critics, but generally succeed in entertaining the public. But this film, released in 2017, was a dismal failure even with the public. On Allociné, it rises to third place among the worst films of all time (established according to the worst spectator ratings), with a press rating of 1.6/5 and an audience rating of 0.9/5.
However, on paper, nothing suggested that Bad Buzz would be such a disaster. Directed by Stéphane Kazandjian, who had already worked on Modern Love in 2008 and worked on the scenarios ofA monster in Paris, Pattaya or D-Daythis film was written and performed by the comedian duo Eric and Quentin, then at the height of their glory thanks to their interventions in The small newspaper Then Daily.
This comedy which aims to be “trashy and transgressive” follows two hosts of a children’s show who are victims of bad buzz on social networks following compromising photos. They then try everything to save their careers and reverse the trend. A priori, the different elements came together for a schoolboy comedy which could have enjoyed its small success in French cinemas. And yet, Bad Buzz gets dismantled by the press, banned from seeing the film before its theatrical release. For Télérama, it was a “severe test” when Les Inrocks destroyed this comedy, described as “a mediocre sketch film which, instead of being trashy, just inspires embarrassment”. Le Parisien, for his part, deplores “trash, scat and very provocative valves [qui] often fall flat.”
Bad Buzz also fails to attract spectators to theaters. The latter are not more lenient on the Allociné review aggregator. One Internet user speaks of “psychological torture” and “nameless worthlessness”, another mentions that “the audience did not laugh once”, while many advise to “avoid” the film. “It’s heavy, vulgar, not funny”, finally deplores a user of the site specializing in cinema.
In 2021, BFM TV tried to understand how this crash could have happened: the weaknesses of the scenario and the lack of preparation which led to a lot of improvisation are pointed out. On set, the team itself is no longer convinced of the merits of the project and certain sequences. Scenes are ultimately shortened and cut during editing, the ending is changed at the last minute.
In total, the film generated only 49,323 admissions, such a flop that it was neither released on DVD nor on blu-ray. The curious can, however, try the experience, since Bad Buzz is available for free streaming on TF1+.