Influencers

A sequel to the 2022 film Influencer in which traveller Madison (Emily Tennant) has her identity stolen by CW (Cassandra Naud). Both are back.

However the film opens with a throat slitting suicide before going to France were CW (now Catherine) has settled and in love with Diane (Lisa Delamar).

They decide to get away for the weekend to a luxury chateau where they are interrupted by loudmouth influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell). Charlotte’s constant use of her mobile stirs something in Catherine, which leads to murders and control of Charlotte’s online profile. That’s all before the opening titles.

Meanwhile, in the USA, Madison is still recovering from her experience in Thailand. She returns from her self-imposed online exile to a podcast where she is ambushed by the hosts and challenged about what happened in Thailand – even after she was exonerated. That leads to her receiving threats which then sets her on the trail of CW.

Through use of various social media platforms Madison tracks down CW to Bali. Here CW has made herself comfortable and with a sophisticated IT setup, has pseudo alpha male fool Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell) in her sights. He’s living the life of freeloading luxury with his glamorous partner Ariana (Veronica Long) in public, privately it’s a very different matter.

What then follows is something of a cat and mouse as CW and Madison track each other leading to an inevitable confrontation that is brilliantly setup by writer/director Kurtis David Harder and wildly over the top.

Character wise CW is certainly the better developed and more interesting - Madison while viciously treated is now pretty much a vehicle for vengeance. CW, however evil she is, does manage to elicit a degree of sympathy. This is helped by the fact she ploughs her way through some truly dreadful people, while desperately trying to cling to a calming mental lifeline.

There’s plenty of physical horror and bloodletting in Influencers and on some level quite funny and utterly preposterous.

As a satire it has the subtlety of a tyre iron across the head. Just as blunt but more unsettling is the movie’s assertion that identity theft is fairly easy with malicious perpetrators happy to revel in their ability to wreck lives and reputations.

Influencers is available on Shudder.