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 among 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, there was nothing to predict 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 scripts for A Monster in Paris, Pattaya or even Jour D, this film was written and performed by the comedy duo Eric and Quentin, then at peak of their glory thanks to their interventions in Le Petit Journal then Quotidien.
This comedy which aims to be “trash 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 is dismantled by the press, banned from seeing the film before its theatrical release. For Télérama, it was a “severe test” when Les Inrocks trashed 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 vanities [which] often fall flat."
Bad Buzz also failed to attract audiences in theaters. The latter are not more lenient on the Allociné review aggregator. One internet user speaks of "psychological torture" and "unspeakable worthlessness", another mentions that "the room didn't laugh once", while many advise avoiding "the film. "It's heavy, vulgar, not funny", finally deplores a user of the site specializing in cinema.
In 2021, BFM TV was trying 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 were 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. Those who are curious can, however, give it a try, since Bad Buzz is available for free streaming on TF1.
