Reading and Writing Skills

Movie Review
Name: Andrian C. Donado Strand: STEM
Date: February 19, 2018 Score:
Title of the Movie: Bad Genius Genre: Heist Thriller

Bad Genius
Bad Genius is a Thai movie that was mostly shot in Thailand
and a part from Sydney, Australia. The movie runs from the first year
in high school of the main character until her 12th grade.
The main figure of the movie is Lynn. Lynn is a genius honor
student who’s been granted scholarship so she can attend a
prestigious high school. She doesn't care about her physical
appearance. She could perfect all the test but she has a zero social
skill. There she meets Grace, a failing student who needs to pass so
she can participate in her extracurricular activities. Lynn takes pity
on her new friend and helps her cheat on a math test. Grace’s
boyfriend Pat finds out and offers to pay for her services so he and
the rest of his crew of rich kids can get higher marks. Lynn, who’s
struggling financially, is forced to take the offer so she can help her
father pay for the miscellaneous school expenses. Unfortunately,
Lynn met a new guy classmate who is the same as her. He is Bank,
a socially awkward but a genius guy. Like Lynn, Bank is also one of
the scholars of the school, but he was so unkind with his stuffs when
it comes to exams because he has so much hate in cheating.
Though Lynn, already had experienced many problems, one
of the most thrilling dilemma of her character was the STIC exam,
where in they have to answer the prestigious exam first in Australia.
They have to memorize their answers then send it back to their
classmates in Thailand.
Lynn, a top secondary school student living with her public
school teacher father, is accepted into a prestigious school, earning
a scholarship for her academic achievements. There, she befriends
the good-natured but academically challenged Grace. Lynn begins
helping Grace cheat in exams after finding out that their teacher has
been leaking questions in private tutoring sessions. She is then
approached by Grace's rich boyfriend Pat, who offers payment in
exchange for also helping him and his friends. Although at first
reluctant, Lynn agrees when she finds out that the school took
payments of "tea money" from her father, who earns a modest
income as a teacher. She creates a system of hand signals, based on
certain piano pieces, and uses them to send answers during exams.
Her base of clients eventually grows. However, her cheating is
inadvertently revealed by Bank, another top student. She is
reprimanded by her father and the school, which suspends her
scholarship, as well as her chance to apply for an international
scholarship at the university level.
Lynn returns to the cheating business when Pat and Grace ask
her to help them cheat in the STIC—an international standardized
test for university admissions—a scheme which will earn them
millions of baht. However, Lynn tells them that she can only do it
with Bank's help, and honest Bank would never join them. Bank,
however, is from a poor family and is staking his future on the same
university scholarship. When he is attacked by thugs in the street
and misses the exam, Lynn approaches him with the offer and Bank
reluctantly agrees.
Together, they make preparations for the final operation.
Lynn and Bank will fly to Australia in order to get a head start on the
exams, which are held globally on the same day, and send back
answers for Pat and Grace to distribute to the clients. However, on
the eve of their flight, Pat let slip that it was he who ordered the
thugs to beat up Bank, in order to force him to join their scheme.
Enraged, Bank attacks Pat and leaves. Lynn, shocked at the
revelation, begins rethinking her actions. However, Bank returns to
confront Lynn, telling her to take responsibility for the situation and
finish what she started. Lynn and Bank's relationship further
develops as they fly to Sydney.
Bad Genius is a movie which depicts the current situation not
only about how some students perform at school but also what
problems they are battling against. This makes the whole story a
great, catchy and relatable. It shows about friendship and family
matters and how the love and trust between each other would last
in times of strong dilemmas. The whole movie was so exciting and
nerve wracking. From the sounds created by ticking of clock and
pencil gave the cheating scenes so much thrill. One of my favorite
part was the STIC exam scene in Sydney. The scene was the most
heart pumping situation played by the two genius students, Lynn and
Bank. Though the scene hasn't that much action and there's an
absence of dialogue because they're just getting an exam the tension
was so high that even I myself felt a great nervousness. Bad Genius
is a very realistic movie cause as what I've experienced and observed
on my own, a person will surely make a way in order to surpass an
obstacle even if it’s wrong. From students who are aiming high to
get higher remarks and those who just rely from the others. Lynn’s
story is not only about the questionable morality of helping others
cheat to succeed, but also an eye opener on how unlikely the current
educational system is. The problem about rising tuition fees,
unnecessary expenses, and the unfair advantages of the upper class
are easily relatable in the Filipinos today. Rich kids Pat and Grace
throw money to resolve problems while the working class Lynn and
Bank grab every opportunity to earn money for their families. The
movie depicts the extreme pressure and high expectations imposed
on students as they are pushed into a position of dishonesty in order
to survive. The person who was the head in creating thrills in the
movie is Nattawut Poonpiriya. Nattawutt mixed many flavors a movie
could have, drama, suspense, thrill and even comedy. He created a
great concept which doesn't need any technological tools and
processes, just a smart storyline which many can relate to. The few
flaws of the movie are just about the thought that studying is just
about memorizing the lesson and not using it in real life especially it
was done by the main figures who are great influencers to the
audience.
I will highly recommend the movie Bad Genius to all the
audience for it will be so relatable to everyone, from younger, older,
single, couples, students, teachers and to all of the family members.
I would also give 5-star rating to the movie for it contains a lot of
lessons in life. There is a line said by the lead character that says,
"Even if you don’t cheat, Life will cheat on you”, though sounds
negative there’s still a point on it. Sometimes a person should take
an advantage from others to survive from the challenges in life. The
thought was still countered at the last part where Lynn decided for
herself which is to do the right thing.