Influencer (2022 film)

Influencer is a 2022 American psychological horror film directed by Kurtis David Harder, who co-wrote the movie with Tesh Guttikonda. It stars Cassandra Naud, Emily Tennant, Rory J. Saper and Sara Canning.

Plot
Madison is a influencer who has been using her vacation in Thailand as a way to promote herself and several advertisers online. The reality is that Madison spends most of her time in her hotel eating food and upset that her boyfriend Ryan did not come with her.

Madison is befriended by CW, who takes her on a tour of hotspots. They return to find that someone had broken into Madison's room and stolen her passport. CW suggests that Madison extend her vacation while waiting for a replacement. She agrees and CW takes Madison to a island, where she abandons the influencer. CW then returns so that she can enjoy living Madison's lifestyle, with Madison's passport. This enjoyment is short lived, as CW becomes dissatisfied. She then decides to approach another influencer. CW breaks into Jessica's room in order to steal her belongings. The two women later travel back to Madison's room. They discover Ryan waiting for Madison, as he had been hoping to surprise her with a proposal. CW lies and says that Madison allowed her to stay. Jessica becomes more suspicious as they tour. She attempts to leave and confronts CW, who beats the woman to death.

CW then proceeds to trick Ryan into believing that Madison broke up with him and began sleeping with other men. Ryan reminisces and begins investigating his suspicions. The lies are disproven and Ryan discovers that CW abducted Madison and was behind the post on media. He tries to force CW to take him to Madison, only for the woman to murder him and post lies about him online using Madison's account. CW then returns to the island to dump the bodies, in the process discovering that Madison is still alive. Madison manages to overcome CW while she is searching for the influencer and steals the boat, which she rides back to civilization. The film ends with CW watching the influencer ride off with a smile.

Cast

 * Cassandra Naud as CW
 * Emily Tennant as Madison
 * Rory J. Saper as Ryan Evans
 * Sara Canning as Jessica Tiegan
 * Paul Spurrier as Rupert
 * Justin Sams as Jay

Music
The following songs were featured in the film.


 * 1) "Skeleton" by Dan Kanvis
 * 2) "Peach" by Jason Nolan
 * 3) "Door Shutter" by Brokenchord
 * 4) "Happy to Be Here" by Mascott
 * 5) "Bullit" by Elephanz
 * 6) "Party" by Orlando Angelo
 * 7) "Reckless" by Orlando Angelo
 * 8) "Beat Back" by Bowlz
 * 9) "Next To You" by Bowlz
 * 10) "Dancing On My Glock" by Attar
 * 11) "Like Ugh" by Attar
 * 12) "1992" by YNG Martyr
 * 13) "Something in the Water" by Szlenderman
 * 14) "Bossa De Amazones" by Konteks
 * 15) "Getup" by Nicholas Franchise

Release
Influencer had its world premiere on October 16, 2022 at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. The film went on to screen at other film festivals and was picked up by the streaming service Shudder, which released the movie as one of its Shudder Originals in May 2023.

Reception
Brandon Yu of The New York Times wrote, "Harder has made good and entertaining use of a premise that could have become a simple gimmick, and Naud and Saper prove strong leads as their characters try to read each other between the likes." Phil Hoad of The Guardian gave the film 3/5 stars, calling it a "smartly arranged thriller" and writing, "Harder and co-writer Tesh Guttikonda don't delve beneath the skin of their characters enough to fully flesh out their critique and bring Influencer into full psychological thriller territory... But the four-part shuffle keeps it lively, and Naud is an imposing black hole." Noel Murray of the Los Angeles Times said the film "has the same kind of crafty plot as a Patricia Highsmith novel, taking audiences so deep inside the machinations of not-so-nice people that we're left wondering where our sympathies should lie."