When the trailer first dropped for The Tutor, I was initially drawn to it because of Noah Schnapp and the possibility of him playing a deranged stalker in a twist on the erotic thriller. His carefully coiffed hairstyle, slicked to the side and dripping with camp meets Hitler Youth. The presence of an aging but still attractive tutor. The promise of life-changing amounts of money. An isolated mansion…The Tutor had all the makings of an erotic thriller and the trailer teased the viewers in that direction. Unfortunately, the truth is much more basic and predictable that I found myself wondering whether this was in the “so bad it’s good” territory or if it was just bad.

It starts on a strong note, with the titular tutor Ethan (Garrett Hedlund) educating various young, entitled teens while classical music builds in the background. Director Jordan Ross and his team use jump cuts and dramatic bursts of music to create a kitschy-camp soundscape that immediately pulled me in and suggested a different movie than what we got. Ethan’s girlfriend Annie (Victoria Justice) is pregnant and it’s immediately obvious that there’s some lingering tension simmering under the surface. With a child on the way, Ethan needs money and he gets the job opportunity of a lifetime.

The tutoring job is simple. It’s only a week long and it pays $2,500 a day, under the table. His student is named Jackson (Noah Schnapp), he apparently failed his SAT and his mysterious and demanding father needs him to be whipped into shape. But when Ethan arrives at the mostly empty manor, he finds not a slacker, but an astute, if creepily quiet, young man who quickly finishes every task given to him. This is not a kid who should have failed his SATs…he should have aced them completely. When Ethan tries to get some information from Jackson about his family, Jackson evades. His dad’s job is secret. His mom was “sent away.” His equally creepy, dirtbag cousin Gavin (Jonny Weston) eyes him with a knowing smirk. At night, Jackson slinks into Ethan’s room to confess things and rests his head on Ethan’s thigh, telling Ethan, “you must be a really special person” before slinking back out into the darkness.

Soon, Ethan discovers that Jackson might have more on his mind than simply escaping his study sessions and he quickly becomes an object of obsession for the young man. And unfortunately, that’s about the most interesting part of The Tutor because, as the revelations start unfolding, the audience is probably already three steps ahead. Noah’s deadpan performance keeps the film from completely crumbling, but Victoria Justice is poorly utilized, her character a mix of damsel in distress and the bitchy girlfriend trope. Garrett’s downward spiral is initially interesting, but the plot doesn’t really make much sense while watching the film and the details quickly dissipate afterwards. The Tutor feels like it could have been a 90s-era thriller, released to VHS at the same time bigger thrillers hit the theaters.

Ultimately, The Tutor is a snoozy little thriller where fans will be at least a step or two ahead of the narrative. It brings nothing new to the table and the twists are easily telegraphed. From the very beginning it’s obvious where the story is heading, as nuggets are doled out a little too haphazardly. By the time it gets to the violent conclusion, savvy thriller fans will already have checked out.