British influencer, singer and content creator Chiara King plays a parafictional version of herself in The Influencer Project, a quease-inducing thriller exercise. The unease comes less from the gore that erupts in the final reel than from the tacky weirdness of the film's imitation of social media reels and streaming content, which both satirises the ugly side of the business and exploits it simultaneously. On one level, it is an eerily clever exercise in bad faith – a poor Michael Haneke film (think Funny Games) for gen-Z kicks – on another, perhaps just a crappy ripoff of overexposed online tropes. Or both.
A Copenhagen trip turns sour
Influencer Chiara is invited to Copenhagen by a tourist organisation, a deal arranged by her avaricious manager Alice (Jazmine Summer). Nearly every waking moment is filmed, either by Chiara on her smartphone or by a camera crew led by director Mike (played by Mike Nybroe, who also directs the film), supported by sound man Daniel (Daniel Parmo) and cameraman Victor (Luca Storm). Early sections deliver all the influence-slop expected: shopping trips to trendy vendors such as Baum und Pferdgarten, meals at fancy local restaurants, and a livestreamed visit to a “haunted house” – a big thing on Instagram and TikTok these days.
Threats and dilemmas
The product placement is interrupted by moments of real fear when Chiara receives threatening direct messages from someone calling themselves KingSlayer, who demands she stop talking or face being killed and raped, not necessarily in that order. This casts a pall over her trip, but quitting means losing $100k in deals, so that is not an option.
The film raises questions about whether viewers should despise Chiara for her greed or applaud her girl-boss fortitude in not being intimidated by a stalker, and what to make of claims that it was partly inspired by real stalking incidents. Nybroe and co work the debate into the endless stream of comments scrolling alongside Chiara's livestream – a river of chat that continues even as credits roll, offering ersatz dialectics for an age of digital proliferation.
The Influencer Project is in UK and Irish cinemas from 16 October.
