Influenced tries to offer a comedic look at the world of social media influencers, but ultimately does very little with that subject. The movie is certainly not boring and, thanks to its comedy and a number of entertaining characters, regularly manages to put a smile on your face. However, the movie lacks a clear sense of direction for much of its runtime. The first half in particular feels rather messy, while the second half suddenly feels far too rushed.
The result is a movie that is entertaining enough to watch once, but at the same time leaves a lot of its potential unused.
Influenced Lacks a Clear Sense of Direction
One of the biggest problems with Influenced is that the story seems to struggle to figure out exactly what it wants to be. The first half jumps from one event to another without ever establishing a clear narrative direction. As a result, it often feels like you are watching a collection of separate events that are eventually supposed to lead somewhere.
This becomes especially problematic because the movie does ultimately want to deliver a particular message. In order for that message to have an impact, you would expect the story to gradually build towards it throughout the movie. Unfortunately, that rarely happens.
In the second half, Influenced suddenly seems to realize that there is still a story to tell. Several developments are consequently pushed through at a rapid pace. While the first half suffers from a lack of direction, the second half feels like it is moving far too quickly.
Not Enough Background for the Characters
The characters also fail to fully convince. Quite simply, we are given too little information about who these people actually are.
Where do they come from? Why are they popular in the first place? What makes them interesting to their followers? And perhaps most importantly, why do they do the things they do in the movie?
Influenced barely provides answers to any of these questions. As a result, there is a certain distance between the viewer and the main characters. When they go through difficult situations or undergo certain changes throughout the story, it is difficult to genuinely connect with what they are experiencing.
That is unfortunate, because the movie does try to give certain developments some emotional weight. However, in order for that to work, you first need to feel invested in the characters. And that is precisely where Influenced falls short.
A Movie About Influencers That Says Very Little About Influencers
Based on its title and premise, you would expect Influenced to actually have something to say about the world of social media influencers. Ultimately, that is hardly the case.
The movie does make jokes about influencers and their lifestyles, but many of these situations feel more like caricatures than a believable look at the world of social media. It becomes difficult to take the premise seriously when the movie seems to do so little with the reality behind its subject matter.
In fact, at times you get the feeling that the filmmakers simply did not know enough about the world they were trying to turn into a comedy. As a result, many of the jokes remain fairly superficial.
That would not necessarily have been a problem if Influenced had fully committed to being an absurd comedy. However, because the movie eventually tries to deliver a more serious message as well, its lack of depth becomes even more noticeable.
The Message of Influenced Feels Forced
Without giving too much of the story away, Influenced ultimately tries to make the point that there are more important things in life than popularity, online attention and the image you try to present to the outside world.
There is, of course, nothing wrong with that message in itself. The problem is mainly the way the movie builds towards it.
Because the story barely develops this idea beforehand, the eventual message feels rather forced. It is almost as if the movie suddenly decides near the end that it needs to have something meaningful to say. As a result, the message does not have nearly as much impact as the filmmakers probably intended.
A good message does not automatically become an effective message when it is not properly integrated into the story. With Influenced, it often feels as though the movie only tries to make its point at the very end.
The Comedy Keeps Influenced Afloat
Fortunately, Influenced is not entirely disappointing. The comedy and the characters ensure that there is always something entertaining to enjoy throughout the movie.
Not every joke works equally well, but there are enough amusing moments to make the movie fairly easy to sit through. Despite its problems, the movie never feels completely devoid of entertainment.
The characters, as superficial as some of them may be, also provide a certain lightness. This prevents the movie from completely falling apart whenever the story loses its direction.
Ultimately, it is the kind of movie you can put on for a light evening of entertainment, as long as you do not expect too much from it.
Conclusion
Influenced is a movie with an interesting premise, but ultimately fails to do enough with it. The first half in particular feels messy because the story lacks a clear sense of direction. In the second half, this is replaced by a rushed pace, which means that several developments and the eventual message are not given enough time to properly develop.
The characters also lack the necessary background, making it difficult to genuinely connect with them. On top of that, the movie disappoints as a satire of the world of social media influencers. You would expect Influenced to have something interesting to say about influencer culture, but ultimately it mainly relies on superficial jokes and situations that seem to have little to do with the reality of being a social media influencer.
Still, the movie is certainly not a complete failure. The comedy and characters ensure that Influenced remains entertaining enough throughout and, as a result, it is an easy movie to watch.
Unfortunately, that is ultimately not enough to compensate for the weak narrative structure and superficial execution.
Rating: 4/10
