The Influencer Project (2026) | Film Review
Right, let’s get one thing out of the way straight off the bat. Turns out I am absolutely NOT the audience for The Influencer Project. I’m going to be brutally honest here when I say I loathe influencers with pretty much the same passion I have for horror, so sitting through a film centred around one was always going to be a bit of a bloody challenge. But even putting my personal hatred of influencers aside, I went in with an open mind hoping to see something at least enjoyable. Sadly, this film is, without a doubt, one of the worst things I’ve watched in a while. And believe me, I’ve watched some absolute shit.
The Influencer Project follows Chiara, an influencer whose carefully fabricated online persona and increasingly chaotic life become the focus of a rather messy horror story. And honestly, the premise has a lot of potential. There’s certainly something to be said about the obsession with social media, the desperate need for validation and the lengths people will go to for a few extra followers. Unfortunately, whatever potential this film had is buried under an absolute mountain of nonsense.
Let’s start with Chiara herself. I don’t think I’ve disliked a lead character this much in quite some time. She’s fake, unbelievably tone-deaf, completely out of touch and so utterly insufferable that I found myself wanting to reach through the screen and launch her phone into the nearest body of water. And the really depressing thing? She’s not even particularly far removed from the sort of people you see plastered all over social media every day.
The supporting cast are considerably more enjoyable, with some characters actually feeling somewhat relatable in comparison. Although that brings us to Chiara’s manager, who is every bit as delusional as she is. Watching the pair of them stumble through their increasingly ridiculous situations was an experience in itself. In fact, I’ll be honest, I spent the majority of this film rooting for the killer. And I genuinely don’t think that says anything particularly good about the film’s character development.
Now, one of the biggest problems with The Influencer Project is that it seemingly has absolutely no idea what sort of film it wants to be. Is it a documentary-style film? A found footage horror? An out-and-out slasher? A social commentary on the wonderful world of online narcissism? Apparently, the answer is all of the above, because why not?!
The film constantly jumps between different styles and storytelling techniques, cutting from horror sequences to phone footage, livestreams and documentary-style segments in a way that is genuinely jarring. Rather than creating tension or adding anything meaningful to the story, it just feels like the filmmakers kept throwing different ideas at the screen in the hope that something would eventually stick. And it really doesn't.
The constant switching between subgenres becomes incredibly frustrating, making the entire thing feel disjointed and messy. Just when you think the film might finally settle into something resembling a coherent horror movie, we're suddenly back to watching another bloody livestream or some other social media nonsense. Honestly, it feels less like a carefully constructed horror film and more like somebody desperately trying to shoehorn every vaguely relevant idea about influencers into one movie. And yet, there is one thing this film actually gets right.
The Influencer Project (2026) | Film Review
For all its many, MANY problems, The Influencer Project does a surprisingly decent job of highlighting just how false and fabricated the lives of influencers can be. Everything is about appearances, engagement, followers and maintaining some carefully curated online persona. Reality becomes secondary to whatever is going to get the most likes, and authenticity seems to be about as welcome as a fox in a hen house.
The film certainly doesn't paint a particularly flattering picture of influencer culture (par the insane amount of money for minimal work), and I can't say I disagree with the general sentiment. The vanity, narcissism and sheer desperation for attention on display are genuinely ridiculous and often cringe worthy. It's a world where people seem perfectly happy to manufacture entire personalities and fabricate their lives just to convince strangers on the internet that they're living some sort of perfect existence.
And perhaps that's the most horrifying thing about the entire film. Not the killer, not the violence, but the fact that so much of this behaviour feels entirely believable. These are not the sort of people we should be putting on pedestals or encouraging others to look up to. And yet, here we are...
If anything, the film has given me a newfound appreciation for putting my phone down and switching off. And speaking of things I enjoyed, my favourite part of the entire film was the ending. I'm not going to spoil anything here, but let's just say that by the time the credits rolled, I was more than happy to see the back of it.
I usually don't like completely shitting over a film. Even when something doesn't quite work for me, I can generally find something to appreciate (unlike my Mr. Murphy), whether it's a decent performance, decent camerawork, some interesting practical effects, a surprisingly effective score or at least a few moments of entertainment. But The Influencer Project? I'm genuinely struggling to find anything that makes the experience worthwhile.
The concept had potential, which makes this even more disappointing when you stop to think about what could have been. The supporting cast are reasonably enjoyable and the underlying message about social media is certainly something I can get behind, but none of that is enough to save a film that feels so messy, irritating and fundamentally unpleasant to sit through.
If anything, it's encouraged me to stop doomscrolling through endless brain rot on social media, so at least something positive has come out of this experience. Maybe I'll finally reclaim a few hours of my life that would otherwise have been spent watching some random influencer explain why drinking a £20 mushroom coffee has changed their entire existence. Small victories, folks.
Look, I know this film will probably appeal to some people. If you're massively into influencer culture, enjoy watching social media personalities and fancy a horror film that takes a few swings at the world of online fame, you might actually get a kick out of it. But for me? Absolutely not.
The Influencer Project is an incoherent, frustrating mess that never quite figures out what it wants to be, with an insufferable lead character and a story that becomes increasingly difficult to care about as it goes along.
Maybe give this one a miss, folks. Unless, as I said above, you're weirdly fond of influencers and enjoy that sort of thing, in which case, knock yourself out. As for me, I think I'll stick to watching anything that doesn’t involve an influencer.
