Bad Genius (2024) Production Notes

ad Genius is a high-intensity thriller, starring Benedict Wong, Callina Liang, Jabari Banks. The film follows Lynn, who wins a full scholarship to a prestigious high school, as she joins her new friends in "helping" a few students with their exams. As their cheating ring grows, Lynn is presented with the opportunity of a lifetime: helping hundreds of kids cheat and giving the middle finger to the entire American education system.

Please note: Some production notes may contain spoilers.

The story opens with a tense scene in an interrogation room, where a nervous LYNN KANG (17), a Chinese-American girl, is questioned about a cheating scandal. She insists that she doesn't need to cheat. We flashback to Lynn at the start of her junior year of high school: she has just been accepted into Exton Pacific, a prestigious and elite private school in Seattle. Lynn’s father, MENG (50s), a single parent ever since the death of Lynn’s mother, runs a laundromat and is determined to find a way to afford the school’s steep tuition so that Lynn can fulfill his goal of her being admitted into MIT. But Lynn’s rapid mental calculation of all the costs quickly tells her that it would be impossible for her father to afford this without making major sacrifices, so she declines the offer. The Headmaster, IRENE WALSH (50s), informs Lynn that she is being offered a full ride due to her stellar grades and extracurriculars.

At home, in a low-income, predominantly Chinese-American neighborhood in Seattle, Lynn helps her father at his laundromat and dreams of attending Juilliard for her piano playing. This is a desire she shared with her late mother ever since she was young that conflicts with her father’s own dreams for her future. Still, admission at Exton has made all of these dreams possible for her now.

When Lynn begins school, her peers are cold and unwelcoming, save for GRACE (17), a good-natured but academically challenged classmate and an aspiring actress. When Grace learns that Lynn is a math prodigy, she asks Lynn to tutor her, explaining that if she doesn’t maintain a 3.0 GPA, her parents will bar her from auditions. Lynn is unsure due to her busy schedule, but ultimately agrees. Prior to a math exam, Grace is still panicking, despite the tutoring. Lynn watches Grace struggle through the test and makes a split-second decision to write the answers to the exam, which she has already completed, on her eraser. While the teacher is distracted, she passes the eraser to Grace using her shoe. The results allow Grace to keep a 3.4 GPA for the semester. Elated and wanting to celebrate, Grace convinces Lynn to play hooky. Lynn is taken to meet Grace’s jock- boyfriend PAT (17) at his mansion in Medina, a wealthy enclave in Seattle. Grace introduces Lynn to her exorbitantly wealthy boyfriend PAT (17), who takes Lynn by surprise with his offer of payment in exchange for also helping him and his friends. Although hesitant, Lynn agrees, spurred on after learning that Pat’s father is on the board at Juilliard. She devises a code system of hand signals, based on certain piano pieces that correspond to multiple choice answers, and teaches the code to Pat, Grace, and three of Pat’s friends, including CHAPIN (17), the type of person who is destined for a lifetime of failing upward. Lynn’s system quickly proves to be seamless, and she finds herself loving the thrill of cheating–and the thrill of a challenge, something hard to come by for her.

Meanwhile, BANK (17, African-American), the other top scholarship student at Exon, who matches Lynn in academic prowess, is dealing with his own struggles. One night, he arrives at the storefront of his mother’s cafe and is confronted by a group of hostile men loitering in front. He pretends to call the police on them, and they angrily disperse. Bank and Lynn are both selected by Headmaster Walsh to compete for a scholarship sponsored by the Cartwright family. They attend an event hosted by the school and both feel tokenized. Lynn’s feelings of ostracization are compounded on when she arrives home to find her father using extravagant skin care products that he was pressured to buy at the event, and Lynn reminds him that they do not have the money to make big purchases like that, as they do not have the same financial privileges as the other families at Exton.

During the semester exam, Lynn is concerned when the teacher announces that he will be handing out two different exams because of cheating concerns. Lynn has no choice but to swap her completed exam with Chapin’s different exam, managing to give the correct answers for both tests in the knick of time. Her triumph is short lived, though, as she and Chapin are called to Headmaster Walsh’s office. Bank is in the office too–he came to the Headmaster after he witnessed Chapin cheating off of Lynn following Chapin’s offer to him of money in exchange for help with the test. Not knowing that Lynn was helping Chapin, Bank inadvertently reveals her cheating scandal once Chapin reveals the entire operation. Headmaster Walsh has no choice but to reprimand Lynn in some way, despite her father's pleas. Lynn is stripped of her scholarship and is declared ineligible for the Cartwright award.

Back at home, Lynn's father, Meng, discovers her ledger detailing the money she has earned from her classmates. Ashamed, he orders her to return the money and stay away from Grace and Pat.

As the school year turns into Summer, Lynn helps her father with his laundromat business while keeping up with her schoolwork, but she is crushed knowing that, without the scholarship, she will not be able to afford Juilliard. Hinting at a potential solution to this problem, Grace brings Lynn to dinner with Pat's parents, TED (50s) and ELIZA (50s). The conversation reveals that Pat has started an internship at Google, thanks to Ted's connections. Feigning admiration for Lynn’s academic achievements, Ted and Eliza hint at their desire for her to help Pat get into Columbia University by finding a way to take the SAT for him. They even offer her a place in a luxury New York apartment if she agrees to tutor Pat. However, Lynn is hesitant, and Grace steps in to explain that Lynn is focused on her own studies and doesn't want to risk her grades.
Later, Lynn and Grace discuss the Stones' proposition. Grace is excited about the prospect of living together in New York, but Lynn insists that cheating the SAT is impossible. However, a news report about time differences in international negotiations sparks an idea in Lynn's mind to take the test in Philadelphia and send the answers back to Seattle. By the next day, Lynn, Grace, and Pat arrive at home base, an abandoned print shop, to plan their SAT scheme. Pat questions how they would get the answers into the exam, and Lynn suggests using barcodes on pencils to represent the answer choices. They agree they need around thirty clients to make enough money without getting caught, and Chapin volunteers to recruit from his study group.

Meanwhile, Lynn visits Bank, who was recently beaten up by the guys who antagonized him outside of his mother’s café, causing him to miss his scholarship interview. Knowing he is now in a similarly tough spot, she proposes that he join their SAT scheme in exchange for $50,000 from Pat each, but Bank is resistant. Bank is attacked while on his way to the Cartwright interview, losing out on his opportunity to pay for his education. He eventually reconsiders and joins the team at the print shop.

With Bank now involved, he suggests that they sign up for the SAT as foreign students using counterfeit passports with fake identities. They practice memorizing the answers to SAT practice tests and plan how to leave the test early by pretending to be sick.

Cutting back to the opening scene in the interrogation room, we see that this wasn’t a real interrogation, but rather the team rehearsing their cover stories in the event that they get caught. The budding excitement and thrill of the plan coming to head takes a disastrous turn when Pat reveals knowledge of Bank’s beating that Bank had never shared with anyone. Realizing Pat set him up to force him to miss his interview and have no choice but to agree to the cheating, Bank storms out, leaving the team in disarray. Enraged, Lynn confronts Grace about Pat's actions, questioning the authenticity of their friendship and declaring the operation over. However, Bank returns, determined to reclaim what he believes he deserves. He and Lynn fly to Philadelphia. The night before the test, they share a moment while opening up with each other. This is interrupted when they receive an alert that the location of the test has been changed to a more secure venue due to cheating concerns. Despite the increased risk, they decide to proceed with the plan.

The next morning, Lynn and Bank arrive at the new location and begin the test after successfully making it through with their passports. During a break, they rush to the restrooms to send their answers to Pat and Grace on flip phones, during which time Bank demands an additional $100,000, threatening to withhold the answers otherwise. Pat manages to transfer $50,000 and promises to figure out the rest. Satisfied, Bank sends the answers, which Pat and Grace use to print barcode stickers onto pencils. Bank and Lynn rush out of the men's and women's restrooms simultaneously and head back into the exam hall just in time to begin the next section of their test. The tension is palpable as they race against the clock, quickly shading in their answers. The proctor announces the end of each section and the start of the next, and the students are given a short break.

During the break, Bank and Lynn rush back to the restrooms. Bank locks himself in a stall and retrieves his phone from the toilet tank lid, while Lynn waits in a long line for her stall. As Bank types in the answers to the test, a College Board Representative and an associate begin violently banging on his stall door telling him to exit, causing him to panic. He quickly sends his answers, deletes the messages, and tries to destroy his phone by flushing it down the toilet, which of course, does not go as planned. Meanwhile, Lynn finally gets into her stall and retrieves her burner phone from the toilet tank. She is interrupted by a female security guard, who tells her to leave or risk forfeiting her test score. Lynn manages to hide her phone in a water dispenser. Back in the exam hall, Lynn quickly writes down all the answers she memorized on her test booklet. She then begins the next section of the test, working quickly to complete it. Bank is concurrently questioned by the College Board Representative and the associate, who have discovered that his home address is an empty field.

Lynn finishes the test section and begins to memorize the answers for the next sections. Once she is finished, she induces herself to vomit using a pencil. She uses her ‘sickness’ as an excuse to leave the exam hall and forfeit her score, racing against the clock. Outside, Lynn retrieves her burner phone from the water dispenser and starts typing in the answers she memorized. However, she is spotted by the College Board Representative and campus security. She manages to evade them by disguising herself in a jacket and hat. As she continues to send the answers, she trips and her phone flies out of her hand and into the middle of a busy street under a car. She manages to retrieve her phone from under the car just in time before it starts moving. At the print shop, Grace and Pat are working on the answers that have already come in when the printer jams. Lynn, now safe on the sidewalk, runs into Bank and they both race through the crowd as Lynn tries to remember the remaining answers. Back in Seattle, Pat finally receives the final answers. On the street, Lynn and Bank manage to evade their pursuers.

When she returns home, Lynn is still feeling the thrill of pulling off the scandal. But her exhilaration is short-lived when she learns that Pat and Grace are taking a gap year, and there will be no NYC apartment for her to stay in. She also sees on the news that a cheating scandal has led to the cancellation of hundreds of SAT scores at the Philadelphia school district. She wants to confess her involvement in the scandal, but Bank reveals that he is undocumented and fears the consequences of her confession. Not knowing what to do, Meng comforts her and advises her to do what she thinks is right. Lynn decides to confront Ted with evidence of Pat's involvement in the scandal. She blackmails Ted into setting up a fund to cover the testing and tutoring costs for the students who had their scores canceled and to help Bank's family with their immigration status. Ted agrees to her demands, and asks if she wants him to assist with her admittance into Juilliard. She declines, and he offers her a job at his firm if he ever needs one. She leaves triumphantly, ready to face her future.

ABOUT THE CAST & FILMMAKERS

Benedict Wong

Benedict Wong came to prominence in Stephen Frears 2002 feature film Dirty Pretty Things in which his acclaimed performance as Guo Yi earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the 2003 British Independent Film Awards. Wong went on to give notable big screen performances in Danny Boyle's Sunshine, the Frank Cottrell-Boyce penned Grow Your Own, The Martian and Prometheus both under the reigns of legendary Director Ridley Scott.

Wong began his stage career at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre under the tutelage of Mark Rylance and would continue to develop his growing reputation as a dramatic actor playing Laertes opposite Michael Sheen's Hamlet at the Young Vic in 2012. The following year Wong would receive critical acclaim for his performance in The Arrest of Ai Weiwei at the Hampstead Theatre (review) and would earn a Best Dramatic Performance nomination at the West End Frame Awards in 2013 for his portrayal of Zhang Lin in Lucy Kirkwood’s 5 time Olivier award-winning Chimerica (reviews).

In 2014 Wong starred as Kublai Khan in Netflix's historical epic series Marco Polo. After 2 years and 20 episodes he would journey from the Mongol Empire to the Marvel Universe when Wong played Wong in Dr Strange, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

In 2019 Benedict was first inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science. In the same year he would reunite with The Russo Brothers when he took command as Master Lin in Deadly Class (Deadly Class trailer) and also appear alongside Will Smith in Ang-Lee’s innovative Gemini Man.

Wong has been seen as Mr Wickfield in Armando Ianucci's, The Personal History of David Copperfield (David Copperfield trailer), Disney’s Oscar nominated Raya and the Last Dragon voicing the formidable giant Tong and Edson Oda’s directorial debut, Nine Days (Nine Days trailer, Benedict Wong Variety). He received a Film Independent Spirit award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role. Benedict also made it onto the list of: The 32 Greatest Character Actors Working Today (vulture.com), voted for by directors, showrunners, casting directors, and critics.

Between Spiderman: No Way Home, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Trailer), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Trailer) and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law on Disney+, Wong has been kept busy completing Phase 4 of the MCU.
He expands on this and his 30 years in the industry during his recent 1883 interview 1883 Magazine.

Wong has just finished working on David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’ highly-anticipated 3-Body Problem, for Netflix Trailer (3 Body Problem announcement - Variety). He’s recently been announced to be starring in, and executive producing, JC Lee’s Bad Genius (Variety Announcement).

Brett Jutkiewicz

In 2009, he broke out with the Safdie Bros film DADDY LONG LEGS. He shot two films for them. His film THEM THAT FOLLOW sold in less than 24 hours at Sundance and came out August ‘19. He had Searchlight’s READY OR NOT that same summer. On MEN GO TO BATTLE, Brett’s work was highlighted in many articles, including NDIEWIRE, VARIETY, and NEW YORKER, where he was listed as one of the top 5 cinematographers. He wrapped Eddie Huang’s directorial debut BOOGIE for Focus last fall and just wrapped SCREAM with the radio silence dirs. again- all shot during COVID and with zero shutdowns.

Franklin cut the Sundance breakout thriller FAIR PLAY, directed by Chloe Domont and produced by Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman’s T Street, that was acquired by Netflix for $20M. He also cut FX’s FEUD which is being Executive Produced by Gus Van Sant and Ryan Murphy. His other recent work includes the Emmy-nominated GASLIT starring Sean Penn and Julia Roberts. Franklin's credits include a mixture of features and high-end episodic, including the limited series HOMECOMING for Amazon, Netflix’s UMBRELLA ACADEMY, Colin Trevorrow’s debut SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED, James Ponsoldt’s THE CIRCLE, and the 1st and 2nd season of MR. ROBOT, where he helped Sam Esmail create the storytelling rules of the popular series. Most recently he edited the upcoming feature, BAD GENIUS, directed by J.C. Lee and produced by Picturestart.

Callina Liang

Callina Liang was born in Canada before moving to Australia and Singapore and now resides between Toronto and London. She holds a Diploma in Performance from the LASALLE College of Arts and was named a ‘Top of the World’ recipient for IGCSE Drama 2016. Callina attended acting classes and extended courses in New York to include the Stella Adler School of Acting and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She was also a student at The New School, where she was studying for a BFA in Drama pre-Covid before transferring to the Toronto Film School.

Callina has been recently making headlines as one of the breakouts of this year's Sundance for her leading role opposite Lucy Liu in Steven Soderbergh/Neon's PRESENCE. She will next be seen as the female lead in PictureStart's hotly anticipated feature, BAD GENIUS, opposite Benedict Wong and Jabari Banks. Previous credits include ITVX's TELL ME EVERYTHING and Skydance TV/Apple TV+'s FOUNDATION.

Jabari Banks

Jabari Banks is an East Coast native hailing from Philadelphia and Maryland. Banks made his on-screen debut as Will Smith, the star of BEL-AIR - Peacock’s THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR reboot. He has received a BET Award nomination and two NAACP Award nominations for Best Actor for his work in the role. He will be starring in BAD GENIUS alongside Callina Liang and Benedict Wong, which is set for release later this year.Along with his acting, Banks is a classically trained pianist, songwriter, singer, and rapper who released his first single, "Something Else" through Epic Records in December 2023. He will be releasing more music with them in the upcoming year.

Banks' outreach work off-screen focuses on amplifying Black voices in civic spaces through partnerships with the Congressional Black Caucus and The Mandela Project.

He attended The University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

JC Lee (Director)

JC writes for theatre, film and television. His play LUCE received its world premiere in 2013 at LCT3 at Lincoln Center Theatre. His plays have been staged and developed throughout the United States including The Old Globe, The Magic Theatre, The Williamstown Theatre Festival, Next Theatre Company, Marin Theatre Company, Center Theatre Group, Azuka Theatre Company and many others. He's received commissions and/or fellowships from South Coast Repertory, Playwright’s Realm and the National New Play Network. JC is a graduate of The Juilliard School & Bloomsburg University. He is currently a writer & co- producer for “Looking” on HBO, where he previously wrote for “Girls.” He’s also in development at HBO on his dark comedy “Bad Kids” with Peter Berg and writing a screenplay for Imagine Entertainment.

Franklin Peterson (Editor)

Franklin cut the Sundance breakout thriller FAIR PLAY, directed by Chloe Domont and produced by Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman’s T Street, that was acquired by Netflix for $20M. He also cut FX’s FEUD which is being Executive Produced by Gus Van Sant and Ryan Murphy. His other recent work includes the Emmy-nominated GASLIT starring Sean Penn and Julia Roberts. Franklin's credits include a mixture of features and high-end episodic, including the limited series HOMECOMING for Amazon, Netflix’s UMBRELLA ACADEMY, Colin Trevorrow’s debut SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED, James Ponsoldt’s THE CIRCLE, and the 1st and 2nd season of MR. ROBOT, where he helped Sam Esmail create the storytelling rules of the popular series. Most recently he edited the upcoming feature, BAD GENIUS, directed by J.C. Lee and produced by Picturestart.