INFLUENCER (2022) is an excellent horror/thriller that recently came to Shudder. A friend recommended it and I watched it blind, which was a good way to go. I’ll try to set the stage and then I’ll warn you when I’m going to get into specifics of the structure and plot that you might prefer to experience first hand.

It’s set in Thailand, but all the characters are westerners, most of them on vacation. The opening introduces us to Madison (Emily Tennant, SNIPER: ASSASSIN’S END), who narrates in the form of an Instagram video or social media post about her love of travel and adventure, of meeting new people and learning about new places. But we see she’s doing none of that – she’s almost entirely alone at a luxury resort, floating in the pool, getting a massage, lounging on scenic overlooks, occasionally smiling for selfies.

We don’t know for sure if she’s always like this. She’s going through something with her boyfriend Ryan (Rory J. Saper, 18-year-old Tarzan in THE LEGEND OF TARZAN), who was supposed to go on the trip with her, now plans to meet up later, and is being a dick on video chat. So here she is drinking a martini alone at a mostly empty resort bar, taking a picture of herself, then having to politely make conversation with an older British guy named Rupert (Paul Spurrier, Brice from MAX HEADROOM [original movie version]) after he offers to take her selfie for her. He’s probly harmless, but it’s a relief when another young woman named CW (Cassandra Naud, HOT STREET) intervenes and invites her on a walk.

I’m sure I’m not alone in that the first thing I noticed about CW is the large birthmark on one side of her face. The first few times we see her around, noticing Madison, her head is turned the other way so that we just catch glimpses of the mark as she reveals just the edge of it. When she talks to Madison we see it in full, and it’s mysterious – what is it exactly? What does it mean about the character? It doesn’t stop CW from being strikingly beautiful, even if it’s distracting at first. But it could be the reason she makes a point of staying out of Madison’s photos, and says she doesn’t like social media. Could be.

I was wondering if it could be the case, and it turns out it is, that this is not a character or plot point. It’s just the real birthmark the actress was born with, and has chosen not to have removed. It works as a contrast to the surface and image obsessed world of influencers that this character, and real person, would prioritize their own natural born uniqueness over rigid traditional ideas of beauty. But thankfully it’s not something the characters ever discuss. It’s only mentioned once, as an identifying feature, as it obviously would be.

CW is local, or at least has been living here for a few years, so she’s able to take Madison around Bangkok on her motorcycle. She immediately seems much cooler than her, but the fact that she would hang out with Madison makes Madison seem a little cooler. When Madison’s hotel is broken into and her passport is stolen, CW helps her file for a replacement and brings her to stay at her amazing house. This movie’s locations – both of natural beauty and of rich people extravagance – really make it transporting in a way that’s rare for indie horror.

This world of young women who live a life of luxury and perceived importance just by posting about themselves and endorsing products is one I only know from INGRID GOES WEST and TRIANGLE OF SADNESS, two movies I enjoyed. The unreliable narrator here made me expect another satirical take, but this turns out to be something different. I like the neutral position the movie takes. It certainly doesn’t think the influencer racket is cool at all. It’s also not “my life is so empty, woe is me” about it. But seeing Madison make a new friend humanizes her, and when we start to suspect she’s gonna be the target of the horror movie scenario here, we can’t help but identify with her. I think that’s still an underrated aspect of horror movies, despite being part of Carol Clover’s premise of the “final girl”: their ability to call upon your empathy any time a character who’s not a total asshole is being terrorized. It becomes less important what’s different about us (she’s an influencer, I think that’s a stupid job) and more important what we have in common (we’re both mortal humans who don’t want to die), so we’re on the same team.

We sense the metaphorical storm clouds forming over this vacation paradise when CW tells Madison she has surprise plans for the day and brings her on a little motorboat to a small, uninhabited island. Sitting at a campfire, Madison reminisces about scary stories her friends used to tell each other growing up, and jokes that CW brought her out here to kill her.

The awkward silence after that joke says everything, it seems. But not quite everything. CW says she’s not going to kill her… she’s going to leave her here. Madison thinks she’s joking, of course. She laughs and dances around, gets drunk, and CW leaves while she’s asleep.

I think we’re about a half hour in now, and the credits start. So that’s the set up, and I will consider this SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON, because the unexpected shifts and turns are what I loved most about the story. There’s more than one point where I felt settled into what the movie seemed to be, and suddenly there would be sort of a new chapter that wasn’t what I expected. Always a thrill. Kind of novelistic.

The first big change is this shift in perspective. I thought I was watching a movie about Madison, turns out it’s about CW. She told Madison no one would come looking for her, “just like all the other girls,” so this wasn’t a one time thing – this is what she does. And now, with the truth about her revealed, we follow along as she covers her tracks (including by making fake posts on Madison’s accounts, attacking her fake online life along with her real one) and as she plans and executes her next one. We know the broad strokes of how she lured in Madison, and now it fills in more of the details, becoming a procedural. For example we realize that the beautiful place she was staying in must’ve belonged to her last victim, because now she’s taken Madison’s place.

In a way it becomes a much prettier version of the MANIAC or ANGST type of horror movie, where you’re stuck hanging out with the cat instead of the mouse. And because CW is a generally compelling character and has become the protagonist, I instinctively get nervous for her when she has a close call or hits an unexpected dead end. I do not approve of her activities but I’m morbidly curious to see them pan out, see how deep she can dig this hole before it all collapses on her. I feel complicit.

She searches Instagram for solo travelers in Bangkok, zeroes in on another influencer named Jessica (Sara Canning, WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES). Jessica seems a little more with it than Madison, also a little less likable, and a little more full of shit judging from her scammy-sounding inspirational posts about “joining her team.” The way CW gets her to talk is to pretend to be a fan, and Jessica mentions “my team of girls.” CW is a psycho trying to stalk this poor woman, but we find ourselves rolling our eyes along with her. Again – complicit.

The next big shift is when she’s nearing the “take her out to the island” finale, having stolen Jessica’s passport and driven her out to “her” place. But the door is open and there’s a trail of rose petals, because Madison’s boyfriend Ryan showed up trying to win her back. Oh shit!

I guess on second thought maybe it’s more like a noir than a MANIAC. The lies CW told Jessica don’t fit with the things Ryan knows, but she tries to juggle them, make it seem like the story makes sense, change the subject when they question it. And Jessica’s personality actually makes her a better match for CW than Madison was, more likely to figure out what’s going on. But even when they get suspicious, neither Jessica or Ryan can really imagine what her sick plot is. They just assume she’s trying to get their money.

There are more perspective shifts, and I found myself able to concede that as much as I wouldn’t personally want to hang out with some of these people, they are the party to root for. But it kept me in suspense til the end. This is a really good one. It’s directed by Kurtis David Harder (SPIRAL [2019]), who also wrote the screenplay with Tesh Guttikonda (SUMMERLAND). It seems I might have to look into a couple movies I had previously ignored.