Social media influencer Abbie Rose is a glorious disaster of a person.
Covering her exterior with glamor and glitter, she seemingly lives for the camera. Eventually, an embattled major corporation, beset with internal human rights issues and external environmental disregard itself, proposes an offer that she - as an online personality - both despises and desires. On the tentative edge between accepting their lucrative deal and retaining her own arbitrarily-selected life values, Abbie goes all in and accepts the deal.
What happens next literally changes her life forever - and to some degree, Abbie herself.
This film has many laudible aspects to it. For example, during one critical scene, Abbie delivers a monolog in the form of a culturally-relevant anecdote as the shot gradually creeps in tighter on the character. The focus becomes Abbie's own realization of self; the first sign that, though through trauma, Abbie is capable of redemption.
Too, the film's color palette can best be described as contemporary and fabulous. From the wardrobe to the sets, not a detail is overlooked.
Also, the actors were believable in their respective roles; Kasia Szarek made me believe that she *was* Abbie Rose. Each of the primary players breathed the air of life into the characters, of course, but equally notable were the brief appearance by skilled actors such as Dylan Wayne Lawrence, channeling the late Tommy Sexton (of "Wonderful Grand Band" and "CODCO" fame) in his role as Abbie's professional contact person.
The film's denouement might have left room for further plot resolution (for instance, perhaps an explanation of what drew this highly specific collection of strangers together to play the film's presumed antagonists would have stated the film's theme even more strongly).
In the end, this was a masterfully-crafted indie film, and viewed through this lens, "The Influencer" is an engaging story with intriguing, multi-dimensional characters I'd like to have gotten to know a lot better.
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