Director: Victoria Vertuga
Year: 2022
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
After she goes missing, a group of friends and fellow influencers discuss the strange circumstances about a popular positivity influencer who goes missing after posting a slew of weird content and the gradually darker nature of what happened to her is soon revealed.
Review:
On the whole, there's a lot to like here. One of the strongest features of this one comes from the wholly impressive setup that manages to tie up a rather intriguing setup for an engrossing mystery. The first half here deals with the idea of the normal part of her life that focuses on her positive outlook on life for her followers with enough of an impact on their lives with the testimonials that they give detailing how they manage to improve themselves after taking her advice that serves to get everything going rather nicely here. The slow-burn build to get an idea of what’s going on with her as the few bits posted about the culture she’s trying to establish with her fans creates a highly effective look at modern influencer culture as the whole personality she had built up is slowly shown to be sending up the obsession with these types of public figures’ lives that are currently all the rage to add just enough of a hint of topicality to what’s going on.
That goes a long way to what’s going on here as the investigation into her past starts to get revealed before the disappearance. That there’s a solid slew of potential outcomes for what’s the cause, as this goes from a potential stalker trying to infiltrate her life to a prank being committed to gain viewers or to being subjected to a supernatural entity preying upon her that lived in the house she just bought. As each of these scenarios is given plenty of time to work and feels realistic as the series of leaked security camera footage of her around the house shows someone trying to mess with the girl, and the interviews with the rival influencers point handily to the potential for her to be pulling everything off for a joke, and the discussions involving the deteriorating mental health that can easily be the result of a supernatural figure coming for her. This is an impressive factor of what’s going on and helps to make this one incredibly fun.
There are some minor drawbacks to be had here. Among its main issues is an open-ended finale that won't appeal to everyone with how it all plays out. The idea behind this one is somewhat solid as the whole setup seems to provide the concept that with no one really knowing what happened to her or what the actual cause of the haunting afflicting her was about, the sense of not knowing what's going on is somewhat frustrating. That could've been resolved had the film chosen a cause of what was affecting her all along since there are several possibilities floated about so settling on a definitive cause could've alleviated this feeling. As well, there's also the expected low-budget origins of what's going on to contend with as the limitations imposed on it due to its means of production are quite apparent and can make for a disappointing experience even though this isn't that bad and doesn't harm it all that much.
Overview: ***.5/5
A generally fun and effective mockumentary effort, this one has a lot to like about it with a few minor drawbacks keeping it from being any higher than what it currently is. Those who are intrigued by the concept or don’t mind any of the flaws displayed here will want to like this one while most others out there should heed caution.
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