Influencer

Well, I have to admit that with a title such as "Influencer", then I wasn't really harboring much of any hopes or expectations to director Kurtis David Harder's 2022 movie. Why? Well, simply because I find the whole term 'influencer' laughable and utter ridiculous. Yet, with it being a horror movie that I hadn't seen, of course I opted to give the movie the benefit of the doubt.

And while the movie is carrying a laughable title, then I will say that writers Tesh Guttikonda and Kurtis David Harder actually put together an entertaining script and storyline for the movie. Thankfully there isn't much focus on the ridiculous social media aspect of the influencer career and the hunt for likes from random strangers, and that definitely worked in favor of the movie that it wasn't a focal point. Instead, "Influencer" felt like a good old fashioned stalker thriller.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie. And while the movie has a very small cast ensemble, it should be noted that they were nicely cast for their individual roles, and they all performed quite well and brought their characters and the story to life on the screen in a good way. Especially Cassandra Naud (playing CW) carried the movie quite well with her performance.

"Influencer" is definitely worth taking 92 minutes to sit down and watch. I was genuinely entertained throughout the course of the movie. And if you enjoy thrillers, then give it a chance. "Influencer" is listed also as a horror movie, but don't get your hopes up on that account.

Well, the 87 minutes of the movie was great, while the ending and the last 5 minutes were so predictable that even a blind person would go 'you got to be kiddng me'. It was a very, very generic ending to the movie.

My rating of "Influencer" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Influencer, the title alone made me already having very low expectations. Needless to say I don't have a high opinion of influencers, the wannabe starlets, even lesser for their mindless followers, brainwashed puppets. But since it was a horror movie I watched it in the hope the influencer would get her comeuppance. Emily Tennant played the wannabe diva and she did a good job. But the main star of the movie was Cassandra Naud who was most convincing in her performance. Overall not a bad movie at all. It could all happen in real life, where too much people trust everything and everybody on social media. A modern horror/thriller that I enjoyed watching.

I rounded up from a 7.5/10 but I think this is closer to an 8 than a 7 if I had to pick. I watch A LOT of movies and TV, I travel for work and also bring my iPad every time I hit the treadmill etc, if you look my background I'm def not a shill and I'm not someone who goes around giving out high ratings to everything (nothing annoys me on IMDb more than the overuse of 1s & 10s lately). I feel the need to say all of this because despite being critically acclaimed the IMDb score on this movie now sits at a 6.0/10 which is just absurd to me!

Sure this wasn't a perfect movie, but for someone who knew absolutely nothing about it going into it, I was pleasantly surprised in a way I hadn't been in a really long time. Part of that is probably bc 90%+ of the time I know what to expect, so there aren't a lot of opportunities for surprise, but regardless it was a really rewarding experience.

A few things I really enjoyed: -Sound & Score: someone else here complained about the score (some of it seemed like real techno music but it was mostly original from what I can tell via Shazam) which was really great in helping to create a lonely but something is kind of off feeling. My fav movie of all time is 1979 Alien, and while ofc this movie isn't close to that, one thing they do is use the score perfectly to create the mood and sounds to build tension and keep you off kilter. It's just something I love in a movie personally and you don't get a lot of it, it's very hard to pull off even if it might sound Easy.

-Setting: this movie is set in Thailand but they used it in a really unique way. I've seen movies and shows (especially travel non fiction) set in Thailand and it always feels the same for the most part - hectic Bangkok at night, food stalls, seedy bars with prostitution, etc. Here we see a different side of Thailand though - the high-end resorts and beaches in less populated areas, luxury, the way they shot some of of the tourists transport to make it feel more lonely/ominous..really cool stuff.

-Plot: since I watch a lot and read a lot I think I'm usually pretty good at predicting what's going to happen. I have to admit, I did predict the very last thing that happens in the movie, since the clues were laid out for that to happen. Just about everything else though I did not see coming. Kind of a genre bender at times between Horror, Thriller, and Travel which I thought the tonal shifts really worked, again something that usually doesn't.

-Acting: I personally thought most of the acting was ok nothing great or bas - except for the girl who played CW (birth mark face) I thought she was fantastic. Especially early on when we see her Modulate her personality with the second influencer she meets. I think we will see her again.

So what are the negatives then? I would say the one thing I could've used even a couple of more pieces of exposition about, and I think they easily could've been weaved in through us seeing something on the laptop screen or subtext from an out of context comment by CW to someone - is to know a little more about her backstory. Unless I missed it I really didn't feel like I knew anything about why she did what she did or how she started doing it or why she was in Thailand or if she had any hard lessons in the past etc. It seems like she had being doing this for a long time but then other clues make it seem like she hasn't while other other clues make it seem like she is super experienced and even just like 2-3 more min total run time in this movie, you could still maintain the mystery but with a couple of details to make the character more compelling. I think what some writers forget sometimes is that over explaining or too much exposition is bad and kills the viewers imagination and the mystery in a story like this - but not enough can make the character feel less compelling and a little more flat, generic, or archetypical but not in a good way - more like a cartoon bad than a real person forged from lived experience.

Anyway, I definitely recommend this to anyone who likes unsettling movies, movies shot in atypical locations, etc. Worth a watch

I would compare it to the movie Drive with Ryan Gosling in its feel. Drive is a better movie but they definitely share some DNA especially when it comes to the use of sound and music.

Actually, i was expecting a movie like heyyy i have come here to sit and have a snack while watching this chill movie. But hell no !

The first thing that caught my interest is how tyland is wonderful but it's not the main thing. Also, the movie actually starts around the middle.

I'm not the person that usually finish every movie like that. Because when my snacks over, my eyes suddenly want to be closed. But no no no sir. I didn't need well rested eyes. My eyes want to be know whats next, whats next ?

So i doubled my snacks then concentrate. ( Yea i'm fat ) but totally worth it.

My rate is not 10 but nice 7.

It was entertaining and good fun to watch. The Cinematography was brilliant . It captured the beautiful side of Thailand . We are normally shown the dirty , seedy side of Thailand in films . All the directors ever show us are young backpackers from the UK Europe and Australia because according to the directors no-one with money visits or exists in Thailand ! Lol! So it was refreshing to see the real Thailand which has beautiful hotels , apartments and houses!

The film was well acted . The lead female 'baddie' was excellent . The plot was good too! It showed how fake influencers are and a lot of money can be made by inventing an online character . The ending was great too ( Even though most of us would have guessed the ending , it was still fun ! . This movie is worth a watch! .