Influencer

dir: Kurtis Davis Harder

2023

With a title like Influencer, it’s not unreasonable having some expectations going in to this experience.

All I initially heard was, there’s a film coming out soon called Influencer, and it’s a horror flick. And I was like “Great! Fucking love the idea”, and I made sure that the second it was available on streaming service Shudder, that I would watch the fuck out of it and review it.

And now I have done so. Perhaps I was a little bit over-amped for it.

Perhaps, like with a lot of horror flicks, the mere thought I had that this would be a hard take on the newly discovered species known as the “influencer”, Latin name narcissus maximus, which would, I dunno, get revenge on them by either showing how awful they are and then maybe torturing them? It’s a horrible place to be coming from, I have to admit.

I don’t think (I hope) that I actually wish harm on anyone, no matter how awful they are, because that goes against my beliefs as a Buddhist, but the whole glory of fiction and movies is that maybe there’s some transgression, some schadenfreude that we can be allowed to experience without anyone actually getting hurt.

The film opens with an Insta influencer called, of course, Madison (Emily Tennant), going through the motions at a Thai resort. She’s American, and takes the right photos, uses the right products, says all the right things, but whenever she’s not taking a tortured selfie or taking snaps of food she doesn’t want to eat, she looks sad.

Fuck you for trying to make me feel sorry for some vacuous influencer. Madison is alone, and sad. The resort looks pretty much abandoned. They don’t make a big deal out of it, but I’m pretty sure this was probably filmed in the covid / shutdown era, hence the many scenes of the vacant resort.

Madison is sad because her boyfriend Ryan (Rory J. Saper) is both, to use the technical term, a doucehbag, and also because he’s not with her like he said he would be. She’s lonely, but she’s also clearly unhappy about having to swan around pretending to be living her best life when its lack of substance is obvious even to her.

But she gets the sponsors, and she gets the likes, just like Ryan set up for her…

During one of her dull moments where she is pretending to enjoy a cocktail for the online masses, a middle-aged British guy of course (Paul Spurrier) tries to get friendly, as we get the weary feeling that he’s one of those “you’ve got to take a swing at every ball” kind of letches.

But hark. Here’s a fellow travelling lady to help her out. She calls herself CW (Cassandra Naud), and she’s friendly, and knows all the cool nearby places. She is fun, and for the first time Madison actually seems to be having fun on this work trip.

She even *gasp* tries some Thai food. And ENJOYS IT!

Who would have thunk that. But it’s not all Mai Tais and high fives. Even after spending some lovely days and nights together, unfortunately, someone breaks into Madison’s room and steals all her important shit, the most important being her passport, which will take weeks to replace.

She is bereft, but luckily CW tells her “chill, come stay with me, all will be well.”

What a relief. Madison is relieved, and I have to admit I felt relieved too. The thought of a pale, feeble Insta influencer having to rough it in Thailand for a couple of weeks at some hostel or under 3 star hotel filled me with terror. She and CW travel to some palatial house with incredible views, and we figure everything will be all right.

CW even surprises Madison with an impromptu boat trip to some beautiful, isolated island off shore from what I’m guessing is Krabi.

The island is beautiful. Not much on the island. Not near any shipping lanes or tourist areas or any people whatsoever. No cell coverage or internet connectivity.

And then CW tells Madison exactly what’s going to happen now.

Cue title and credits. This is about 26 minutes into the film!

I have to admit I love it when they pull this ‘trick’ with credits. Ages after you’ve forgotten you’ve started watching something, which is going to have a beginning, a middle and then an ending, after you’ve hopefully been transported by the narrative, the credits appear, reminding you “oh yeah, these characters are all the puppets of the people making the flick.”

We assumed that Madison was the main character. Turns out, she isn’t.

Probably the first thing a viewer will notice about the flick is that the actor playing CW is young, and she has a significant facial difference. I mention it not to be a prick, and not with any intention of mockery or anything akin to that. I do not have a face that allows me the luxury to comment on or belittle anyone else for whatever configuration their faces have ended up in. But even though it’s barely commented on by any other characters, only getting a few mentions, it’s impossible, at least for this viewer, to wonder what we’re meant to make of it.

CW clearly has a particular loathing for the whole environment created for or by the growth of influencer culture, such that she feels perhaps justified in what she actually does, which seems to be a lifestyle predicated upon preying upon influencers. But other than the financial aspects of it (as in, stealing their money), are we to assume that she bears a grudge against these vapid people because of her appearance?

Because the fact is we watch CW swan around in any environment with utter fearlessness and with no self-consciousness about her facial difference, at all. She seems, in any scene, to be like “This is me, and if it’s a problem for you I don’t give a fuck.” And it’s really hard not to admire the heck out of that.

On the other hand, while I may applaud CW’s forthrightness and girlboss energy, she is a ruthless and sociopathic character, there’s no doubt of that. And if anything the film does not go down the transgressive route at all of making CW a victim of bullying or abusive behaviour online, or the various influencer characters heartless monsters worthy of torture, robbery or death, which is to its credit, I guess?

It does seem that CW has an addiction, or a predilection for going after white American female influencers in Thailand, mostly because it’s easier to take over their social media accounts, but also because she fucking hates them. There is a lot in this flick that, functionally, is very much trying to be a product of its age, in that it’s the technology behind social media that makes it so insidious in our lives, but also an extra complication when it comes to trying to get away with the many and various crimes that the technology has allowed her to commit.

It's the same tech that trips her up, and keeps leading to more and more complications, especially when a) she sets her sights on her next victim, and b) Madison’s boyfriend, who may not be a complete and absolute douchebag, tries to track her down.

I think this flick is clever enough, without being too clever, and an enjoyable ride. CW as a protagonist / antagonist is pretty fascinating, with Cassandra Naud giving a nuanced performance throughout, with an energy that can shift from super-confident and sly to nervous and insecure (seeming) back to murderous and determined in the blink of an eye. She is not to be fucked with, because there isn’t a character in this whole flick who is her match.

Except… she thinks she’s smarter than anyone, and she’s right, but that doesn’t mean she can foresee all possibilities.

And, no, I’m not going to spoil the ending, beyond saying that it makes a lot of sense, fits in organically with the rest of the movie, and still gives credit where it’s due to all those who get to survive, without demonising those who don’t.

So, yeah, instead of watching a hate screed against this scourge of the modern age and how all influencers should die screaming, I got a pretty well done thriller about someone doing some bad shit and thinking they were going to get away with it forever.

Classic hubris.

7 times the only thing I influence is the Earth’s gravity whenever I get out of bed too quickly out of 10

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“Travelling is all about experiencing new things” – like MURDER! - Influencer