Movie Review: INFLUENCER

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: May 30th, 2023 / 08:18 PM

Rating: Not Rated
Stars: Cassandra Naud, Emily Tennant, Rory J. Saper, Sara Canning, Paul Spurrier, Justin Sams
Writers: Kurtis David Harder & Tesh Guttikonda
Director: Kurtis David Harder
Distributor: Shudder
Release Date: May 26, 2023

INFLUENCER begins with a shot of what looks like a small forested island. The island looks larger as we zoom in on a young woman lying face-down on the beach. Who is this, and how did she get here?

Flash back to Madison (Emily Tennant), a young travel vlogger in Thailand, whose online persona is having a much better time than she is. Madison’s boyfriend Ryan (Rory J. Saper) was supposed to accompany her, but he bailed, and she’s lonely.

Consequently, Madison is happy to meet fellow ex-pat CW (Cassandra Naud), who is about Madison’s age. CW takes Madison for a ride on her motorcycle to see the sunrise. When Madison’s hotel room is burglarized and her passport is stolen, CW offers to let Madison stay at her wonderful home.

Then CW takes Madison to a beautiful, secluded island, which we recognize. At a campfire, CW tells Madison, and us, exactly what’s going to happen. Madison thinks CW is joking; we know she’s serious.

At this point, we’re twenty-five minutes into a ninety-two-minute movie. We wonder where it’s going to go from here. For a few extra minutes, we worry that it may meander.

Then the screenplay, by director Kurtis David Harder & Tesh Guttikonda, begins piling on the plot twists, and we’re increasingly intrigued.

Despite its title, INFLUENCER isn’t really concerned with the dichotomy set up at the start, where people make money off presenting an image that’s not real. This is certainly a metaphor for what’s happening in the rest of the film, but it doesn’t affect the story overall (everything here could conceivably happen to anyone with a cell phone, a laptop, and a bank account).

Often, not knowing much about characters is a writing flaw. In INFLUENCER, it’s to throw us off, so that we see possibilities retroactively without getting ahead of the action.

Naud is excellent as the determined, alluring and uncommon CW. Tennant and Sara Canning both score as influencers of differing temperaments, and Saper does well as Ryan.

Director Harder makes the most of some eye-catching locations, including CW’s mansion and the Thai hotel. We don’t, however, get a travelogue feel, partly because we are very engaged by how events are unfolding, but also because we never feel like any of the characters are truly enchanted by where they are.

There are some areas that require suspension of disbelief. These can largely be explained by several characters’ adherence to their own points of view. The finale feels like it ought to have a little extra impetus for what happens, but it makes enough sense to be acceptable.

INFLUENCER isn’t likely to make anyone want to become a vlogger or go on an exotic vacation, but it holds our attention and keeps us guessing throughout.

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