Let me start by saying The Influencer surprised the heck out of me. I was expecting a film that simply pokes fun at the zoomer/millennial generation. We’ve seen many movies that use these gens as jokes, anywhere from an idea of an influencer and avocado toast to the tried and true “back in my day.” While The Influencer has plenty of jokes at the expense of these groups, but they are actually made for laughs instead of in a cringy way.

Abbie Rose (Kasia Szarek) is an up-and-coming big name social media influencer, who works to build up her brand with the help of unpaid interns. As she spends a night drinking and posting, she gets more and more agitated when Justin doesn’t take no for an answer. Once home she completes her nightly ritual, but it gets interrupted when several masked people invade her house. What follows is the longest night of her life as she’s made to not only create content at gun point but also question her future.

One thing that elevates this movie is the writing. Is it perfect? Not at all, but it does create some laugh out loud moments and also helps create an overall sympathetic cast. You end up not hating anyone, well except maybe Justin. So much so, you end up not sure how you want the movie to end and who to root for. The same can be said for the invaders, all with their own quirks. Though with a shorter run time and so much focused on Abbie, we end up knowing them by those traits instead of by their personalities.

The standout of The Influencer is of course the title character. Kasia Szarek as Abbie absolutely dominates anytime she is on screen. She not only does she make you roll your eyes at how she acts but she also makes it so you can’t help but like her by the end. Not to say that the rest of the cast are slouches. Three (Shantell Yasmine Abeydeera) is one of the standouts though, just like with Abbie, you can’t help but like her.

While the acting and writing are strong, the technical side of things holds its own. Though it may not have the shine of a big budget flick, it does well with what it has. The opening credits alone has a slick style all its own, I wish that kind of imagination was used all throughout. The sound was clear and even, I didn’t find myself straining to hear anything on screen.

The Influencer was a pleasant surprise. I went in thinking that it was going to be a substandard slasher aimed towards making fun of younger generations. Instead, we’re treated to a smarter film that doesn’t take itself seriously but still has heart. By the end of it, I wasn’t sure who I was supposed to root for. And maybe that’s the point, maybe it’s a matter of us being more than what we show online or even to other people. And honestly, that’s a message I can get behind.

7.5 out of 10