Jumping on the recent social media influencer horror train, Influencer is a thriller that centers itself on the phenomena of the celebrity of influencers, and the manner in which followers consume their unique brand of media. When Instagram influencer Madison is abandoned last minute by her boyfriend and is left alone to holiday in a luxury resort in Thailand, she meets fellow American CW who encourages her to explore the country further and learn to live in the moment.
Madison (Emily Tennant) is a social media influencer who keeps all her followers updated on a seemingly exciting and glamorous “backpacking” trip to Thailand, when in reality, she is suffering from loneliness in a luxurious resort, bored from repeatedly visiting the spa and pool, and in true privileged fashion, avoiding experiencing the Thai people and culture. After being rescued by CW (Cassandra Naud) from an overly friendly fellow patron of the hotel, Madison and her new friend explore the locality, and in the process begins to feel like an individual who has cut the cord between herself and her online persona. However, this isn’t a film about finding oneself on a spiritual journey in Southeast Asia. CW isn’t quite the person she projects to be and soon reveals her true nefarious intentions behind befriending Madison.
Heavily influenced by Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960), Influencer directed by Kurtis David Harder (director behind 2019’s Spiral) even contains the infamous main character switcheroo about half an hour into its running time, swapping from Madison’s lens to antagonist CW’s, who also incidentally just like Norman Bates likes wearing wigs and clothes that do not belong to her. Combine this with just a hint of Single White Female (1992), and Influencer is an interesting depiction of how social media influencers and their content are consumed by followers and viewers. Whilst their lifestyle seems to be luxurious, glamorous and the ideal to aspire to, the reality is, it’s all for show and far from the truth.
Whilst the set up and basic plot line of Influencer has some strength and forgoes the typical characterisation of influencers as annoying and entitled, it feels like it never fully reaches its true potential and loses points with a lack of real tension. Instead of delving further into a fully fleshed out villain with raison d’etre, it skittishly skirts around the edges, giving us a more two dimensional mean girl character, with the tiniest sneak peak of gratifying violence. Whilst there is definitely the bones of a taut and conceptual thriller, Influencer seems to be missing the meat to make it a fully worthwhile watch.
Influencer drops on Shudder UK tomorrow (25th May)
Ygraine’s Archive: Influencer (2023)
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