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(Review) THE INFLUENCER PROJECT is Incredibly Paint-by-Numbers

 

By. Vanessa Maki

 

During our current decade alone, we’ve gotten a relatively large wave of influencer horror films. Many of which fit in the found footage subgenre and come in all sorts of styles, especially screenlife and mockumentary. THE INFLUENCER PROJECT, directed by Mike Nybroe, takes inspiration from a real-life stalking situation that lead and real-life influencer Chiara King experienced.  Though, the film fails to be as terrifying as it should be and that’s an issue.

THE INFLUENCER PROJECT follows Chiara King, a real-life influencer from the UK, who travels to Copenhagen to film a paid documentary about the everyday experience of being an influencer. But just when she thinks the trip will go without a hitch, she realizes she’s being stalked by an unhinged individual.  THE INFLUENCER PROJECT tries its best to tackle the complicated aspects of being an influencer. Only it’s not a complicated narrative, and the way the film plays out is very  paint-by-numbers.

 

The film opens with a potentially triggering scene, which then leads us to meeting Chiara. She’s not an influencer who breaks the mold, as she’s conventionally attractive and has a substantial following and is relatively successful. However, she has charm and doesn’t come off as egregiously fake and insufferable like many influencers can be. It would’ve been easy to have King play up the satire to exhausting levels, but she thankfully doesn’t.

 

Influencers often filter their lives to make themselves more appealing to people, especially their followers. Their job is to influence, and that doesn’t often breed authenticity. While THE INFLUENCER PROJECT uses a real-life influencer, thus making that part of film come across as more authentic, it still comes across as a redundant approach to the dark side of influencing.

People being in positions where they’re popular or pseudo celebrities, doesn’t mean they’re impervious to the experiences of regular people. Stalking is something that many women in particular experience frequently. And those experiences can lead to very dangerous, even deadly, outcomes. Which is a concept that this film doesn’t touch base on nearly enough.

 

Once Chiara realizes that the stalker isn’t just trying to scare her, she takes as much action as she possibly can. But as the film goes on, it falls flat on its face as far as capturing proper scares. What’s particularly ironic is THE INFLUENCER PROJECT is coming from the folks behind THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999), which would lead viewers to assume there would at least be some well-executed scares. All for the film to rely on low effort attempts to scare you.

Despite how King isn’t an egregious main character to follow, you do reach the point where you’re wanting something to happen. Her experience with stalking is horrible, and it’s not to say that exploring that isn't worthwhile. Ultimately what it comes down to is that THE INFLUENCER PROJECT has nothing new to say. We already know her stalker is deranged, that trolls on the internet have nothing better to do, and that people soak up secondhand tragedy like a sponge.

 

Of course, being an influencer doesn't mean signing away your right to privacy or safety. Kyra Gardner's Slay takes that anxiety in a bloodier direction, with a trans social media star navigating online harassment before a masked killer makes things considerably worse.

 

Chiara’s decision to continue with the documentary because of the money, the opportunities, and her goal of getting to 10 million followers, isn’t one that feels so far-fetched. Influencers and aspiring influencers will step over the lines of personal safety all the time. However, this is a huge part of where THE INFLUENCER PROJECT begins to drag quite a bit.

Approaching the film from another angle like the increasing violence against women would’ve been a wiser decision. While there’s a narrative of “you brought this on yourself” somewhat woven into the film, it’s not executed well. The focus being on a UK influencer is a slight change of pace. However, even with King doing her best to draw you in, there’s nothing to actually cling to.

 

As soon as THE INFLUENCER PROJECT reaches its third act, you’re forced to suspend your disbelief. The decisions being made are enough to make you scratch your head, especially Chiara’s because of everything she endures throughout her Copenhagen stay. There are a few twists that you’ll either see coming or you won’t. Either way, you’ll be rolling your eyes just a tad.

 

 

THE INFLUENCER PROJECT playing it safe doesn’t help what is already an overplayed premise. There’s so little to take away from the film that we didn’t already know, and Chiara’s character arc is more focused on how she capitalizes off her circumstances. Fans of King might be the folks to primarily recommend this film to, instead of folks who aren’t aware of who she is upon viewing. Otherwise? THE INFLUENCER PROJECT isn’t going to make a lasting impression. 

If you’re curious enough to see how the film plays out, then give it a watch when it becomes available on VOD. But if you’re looking for an influencer horror film to immerse yourself in, this won’t be the film for you.

 

Some mysteries are better left unsolved, especially when the answers have teeth. Jordan Downey's The Cycle trades online stalkers for family secrets and a particularly nasty creature, proving that a slow burn can still deliver one hell of a payoff.

THE INFLUENCER PROJECT will be available on VOD in November.