Viralize ou Morra

'Deinfluencer' is one of those 'straight to DVD' films that used to exist back in the days of 'physical media,' only now it's probably more fitting to say 'straight to streaming service.' It's cheap, but whereas that could be considered an insult to some movies, this is 'cheap' simply in terms of it being set in one single place, almost as if it's a stage play that's been adapted for moving pictures.

A masked man kidnaps a social media 'influencer' in an attempt at making her see what - he believes - is the true 'reality' of her lifestyle/profession.

It's heavy on social commentary and is pretty blunt in terms of its 'politics' and perhaps your enjoyment of the overall film will be based on how much you agree with today's obsession of documenting your whole life online for the world to see.

As I say, it's all set in one place, i.e. The secluded place where the hostage is kept. Therefore, you basically know that neither the victim, nor the kidnapper are going to be killed in the opening ten minutes, so you have to wait the full hour and a half before finding out either of their true fates.

Now, both leads perform well, but maybe the main criticism is the film's length. Despite the engaging performances the film does go on a bit too long. About halfway through you're probably going to 'get' all the points being made, so anything else that follows does feel like they're really going overboard with their hatred of social media and the like.

However, I did enjoy the performances and the social commentary made a change. There are a couple of things within the story that you might not see coming, but even me - who doesn't often pick up on 'twists - actually guessed a couple of things that were to come. Overall, not a bad hour and a half if you find it on a streaming service.

This is a very poor attempt at making a thriller movie centred around social media and the dangers of how it affect others. I've been a fan of Simon Phillips for a while (Jack Says, The Last Scout, Stealing Chaplin) but I feel like he has fallen flat a little with this one. Weak storytelling and acting from the girls was a little underwhelming with their performances. I hear that there's going to be a sequel to this thriller which I am surprised to hear about. Can't imagine anyone asking for a continuation with the Charles character and him continuing on with his sick fantasies. Nah it's a miss for me.

So lemme just get this right....

A grown ass middle aged man kidnaps and tortures a teenage girl/influencer in order to teach her a lesson about being a teenage girl/influencer who acts like a teenage girl/influencer.

Copious amounts of torture porn lite, mansplaining, and gaslighting ensue and it's ok it's fine everyone don't even worry because he's doing it all for her own good! He is saving her from herself! Really, he is a man of honor as long as you are a teenage girl he will save you with kidnapping, harassment, abuse, a strong fist, and tough love!

But he'll do it all behind a clown mask of course.

The movie starts off strong but quickly goes downhill with poorly storyline, poor writing and crummy directing.

Early on, it becomes tedious to watch, due to the really bad sense of timing the director has. It's slower than mollasses and I lost total interest before 20 minutes were gone.

It's THAT bad.

The plot is just miserable and unrealistic. The guy who plays the maniac is decent but he has a one dimensional character.

Kelly on th eotherhand is annoying and completely not based in reality.

The peripheral girls areall really bad actors.

In the end the writing is really really moronic. It's like it's written by someone who had a message but not the intellect to translate that into a story.

Forget all reviews, I am a movie freak who has seen well over 10 000 movies. This movie has obvious scenarios but lots of hidden twists. The small cast performs well and believable. Yes I figured out plot twist, so I thought. Great movie because i.was wrong. So basic plot is someone is kidnapped, social media influencer, and has to reach a certain amount of likes to survive, intact, til next like amount. The whole movie is an overexagerated emotional engagement, that if we're not true, wouldn't be as engaging. It makes you reevaluate the importance of fake friends on social media and whether or not social media is good or bad.