George and Josh Bate
It’s amazing how quickly the real-life context surrounding a movie influences its perception. When Influencer was released in 2023, ChatGPT was brand new and the nefarious ways in which AI could be exploited were only beginning to be explored. Just two years later and the entire landscape of AI has rapidly changed. Identity theft through AI and deepfake technology isn’t a heightened, fantastical concept—it’s an unfortunate reality for many who have fallen victim to the downside of the 21st century’s most promising and terrifying technological revolution. In Influencers, writer/director Kurtis David Harder once again leans into the unsettling nature of this technology, while also topically exploring other elements of the current online zeitgeist, in a psychological thriller that retains the winding and ever-changing narrative of its predecessor.
Influencers begins in the picturesque south of France, where the murderous and identity-thieving CW (Nassandra Naud) from the previous film now lives an idyllic life with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar). During a getaway to commemorate their one-year anniversary together, the couple cross paths with Charlotte (Georgina Campbell), an eccentric influencer whose intrusive nature begins to irk CW. When she acts on a violent impulse, CW finds her quiet life and relationship with Diane under threat.
Like many great sequels, Influencers preserves the components that made the original film so enthralling, while simultaneously going grander and more ambitious with the story it tells and the themes it explores. Harder imbues every scene of the 110 minute movie with remarkable unpredictability and subversion. This is clear from the get-go, as the filmmaker drops the audience into a successor that unexpectedly feels and plays like a prequel. Already, Harder invites the viewer to contemplate questions of his story, starting with whether what we are watching is a sequel (as the title and promotional material suggest) or is actually a prequel. Paralleling the start to Influencer, the sequel features an extended, 20+ minute beginning before the opening credits even begin to roll, at which point it transforms into a markedly different movie.
The subversion embedded in this opening act sets the stage for a delightfully twisty narrative to unfold. Key characters drop in and out of the story, constantly raising questions as to who the true protagonist of this tale is. The film often appears to be heading in one direction before pivoting sharply to characters and even entirely different countries we have yet to see. Just when you think you have a handle on what (and even who) the movie is really about, Harder switches it up, ensuring that the viewer never knows what’s around the corner. Countless movies have unpredictable endings, but Influencers stands out with a unique unpredictability to each and every scene.
Heading into its final act, however, Influencers stumbles with the many twists of its winding journey. While the film thankfully never devolves into incomprehensible territory, its narrative becomes somewhat convoluted by the ending, with double-crossings, hidden motives, and questionable character decisions that collectively hinder enjoyment fostered by the once captivating story structure. A brilliantly choreographed action set-piece, however, ensures that the film retains its tension and suspense amidst these narrative missteps.
Through its expansion of previously explored themes and introduction of new themes, Influencers feels arguably more timely than its extremely topical predecessor. Harder takes audiences’ potential fears surrounding AI and deep-fake technology to their extreme by showing the destruction wrought when this now easily accessible technology is wielded by the wrong hands. The story is heightened enough that these fears are kept somewhat at a distance and don’t exactly feel like they could fully materialize in real life (unlike Appofeniacs, another recent thriller with AI at its center). However, there’s enough here to create an unsettling viewing experience, especially for those with pre-existing anxieties about AI and deepfake technology.
In addition to novel technologies, Harder also examines the growing Red Pill subculture in his film. Fitting with the variety of influencers in real life, Influencers features a range of online figures, including a new, Andrew Tate-inspired character Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell). Through Jacob spouting opinions about the supremacy of males over females to his millions of followers and, eventually, taking his character in an unexpected direction, Influencers has something interesting to say about the insecurities and inauthenticity that underlie Red Pill proponents. In turn, Harder’s film not only serves as a critique of AI encased within a psychological thriller but also a critique of the rise in and hypocrisies of male supremacists.
Beyond its use of characters as devices for poignant commentary, however, Influencers features fairly weak development of its characters. Madison (Emily Tennant), CW”s first victim from Influencer, returns here in a role that, at first, seems like it will be more substantial and explore the psychological consequences of AI manipulation. Disappointingly, Madison drops in and out of the film, which leaves little room to explore the potentially interesting story of a former influencer’s rejection of online culture in light of exploitation. Meanwhile, the film expands our understanding of CW’s capacity for good and evil, but, like its handling of Madison, falls short in evolving her into a more complex, substantive character, despite a compelling turn from Cassandra Naud. Admittedly though, a wild ending to a wild story affords Naud and Harder an interesting and subversive foundation to work from—that is, if we end up getting a trilogy of Influencer movies.
Ultimately, Influencers may work as a topical psychological thriller in its approach to AI, deepfake technology, and Red Pill subculture, but it proves most effective as a winding psychological thriller with scene-to-scene unpredictability and a twist around every corner. Hopefully, audience reception to this sequel influences writer/director Kurtis David Harder to mastermind a third installment, which, by the time of its release, will likely have ample new AI and deepfake-related subject matter to play with.
