SINFLUENCER

Script: Adam Morse and Alberto Lopez

Reader: Larissa Guerrini-Maraldi

Format: Feature, Original

Genre: Social Horror, thriller, mystery

Setting: Contemporary, London, UK

Budget/Casting

-As a contemporary narrative, with developments in social media that are feasible enough for our modern standards, with specific locations involving a boat, a cottage, and a secluded island, and the reoccurring setting of the apartment and dance studio, the budget for this feature appears to be mostly manageable.

-This film is intended for an adult audience, arguably in the 18-35 year old bracket (sex and nudity, language, disturbing violence). Horror fans in particular I think would or could get a thrill out of this, especially in the second half.

-The cast can be played by anyone (multi-racial, though do consider the privilege and platform that Adam and Eve hold as influencers, and the impact of the voyeuristic gaze on a white couple as opposed to a BIPOC couple), and multiple extras needed for crowd scenes

-Licensed music used frequently (pages 5, 8, 89, 90 as examples) (consider for budget)

-Gory effects (Adam’s wound and particularly toward the end when Adam’s lump in his arm emerges as a tree branch)

Concept/Premise/Theme Exploration and Character Arcs

The careful what you wish for narrative (referenced explicitly page 19), especially in its second half with its natural landscape, cultish aspect, and hallucinations or unreliable perspective, is similar to films like The Wickerman (a film referenced in the script as what the characters Adam and Eve are watching, evidently foreshadowing the end of the film where Adam will become secluded on an island and killed in a similarly brutal way), or The Ritual (2017) and The Witch (2015). The crumbling, unhealthy romantic relationship element parallels the likes of Midsommar (2019), The Invitation (2015), and even last year’s Infinity Pool (2023) by director Branden Cronenberg. The focus on the role of technology felt like an extended episode of Black Mirror.

It was interesting having this natural world contrast with the first half’s dominant slick, concrete, urban environment. The woodland where the couple make out to the onlookers acts as a step or nudge toward the full transition into the wild environment of the island and helps to not feel like a complete tonal whiplash, easing the genre transition (the gradual appearance and worsening of violence or gore, like with Adam’s wound, around the midpoint also helps this). The Gregorian monk chant as a reoccurring musical motif also aids to indicate to the viewer that something is off or wrong, even if they don’t know quite what it is. The tree with faces, introduced around the midpoint and continued from there, is also a memorable, haunting image. It does feel like one of those films where you would tell the viewer that they will not be able to predict the ending.

The theme of voyeurism is explored clearly, with the opening scene POV providing a memorable sense of intrigue and dread (and setting up the visual of the China Doll mask figure, which is built on and paid off by the end). Whether it be Adam’s audition scene before the director, or the doggers observing Adam and Eve having sex in the car, I particularly appreciated the examination of how blurred the boundaries are regarding consent on spectating private lives for the sake of pleasure. How even if one is supposedly in control of the situation, whether it be for the goal of achieving their dreams as a film actor or earning money from sexual content, the loss of authority over one’s image and safety is still a present danger. And what really is the difference, as suggested on page 39, between strangers watching you online and strangers doing it in person.

The state of addiction that social media, and in turn the profit gained from said platforms, places us in is investigated through Adam’s arc, and similar to the act of voyeurism, a growing relevant theme to today. Sex, gratification, and the search for validation are very much entangled with this as well. The classic “just one more time and then it will be over, I promise” that Adam employs is a classic but effective reflection of this condition, granting a degree of sympathy but equal frustration toward his character.

Money as a constant motivator, and contributor to one’s self-absorption and selfishness, is highlighted through Adam’s character and flaws, especially in his emotional distance from Eve and his pessimistic, cynical attitude, and awareness arguably, of what it takes to achieve one’s dreams. Eve in contrast for the most part is able to have a life outside of that drive, able to have self-control and in turn connect with people through her day job – I do appreciate the detail, intended or not, that when we see Eve and Adam working out at the beginning in the intercut montage, Eve is surrounded by her dance crew, whereas Adam is isolated while working out alone. Even if he has his friend Scott, his activities are done less out of a desire to truly connect with people, outside of a monetary purpose, and instead out of care for one’s appearance. Greed vs gratitude, whether it be with one’s position or the relationships one possesses, is certainly something to emphasise which I think the script mostly does.

The mystery as to who The Nightwatchman and the hooded man are contributes to the tension and suspense, and I think would likely keep the audience engaged and invested, wanting to find out what will happen or what is going on.

Adam and Eve’s separate dreams, of becoming a film actor and making his own films, and opening a dance academy, are established well, though I find that Eve’s goal is not really resolved by the end. This isn’t helped by the way that Clay seems to be set up as a major part of her story, only for him to be killed later on (I thought he could have been part of the harvest cult like the director). If this is intended on the point of shock I get it, though I think it gets a bit lost in the second half.

Adam’s end is particularly poetic, with the gouging of his eyes reflecting his overall blindness toward his own flaws of selfishness, greed, and the inability to listen, and tying back into the story of the blind girl told by Janet at the midpoint of the narrative (page 50).

The choice of names for both main characters, Adam and Eve, certainly plays into or subverts the connotations with their names. For Adam it’s more subversive; with his name alluding to the first man, and therefore a sense of specialness. Yet despite the presence of his voiceover centring him as the narrator, the narrative highlights, and cements with the conclusion, that he is just an everyman, that he is no different as he is aware from every other phone-addicted individual. Eve’s however adheres to the notion of betrayal linked with her name, something confirmed by the way she ends Adam after he betrays her through lying to her. It is interesting that nothing is subverted in Eve’s case, even if the audience is potentially more likely to root for her rather than Adam. It may play into the femme fatale trope, but I think there’s more to Eve than that, and I want her to be messy, I want her to be rightfully mad at her boyfriend for letting her down where it mattered.

Dialogue Notes and Suggestions

The presence of Adam’s voiceover is peppered through specific points in the narrative, both at the beginning and the end, as opposed to being used once and never again. It provides exposition as to the role that Sinfluencer serves and how it differentiates from other app services, his anonymity online, and reinforces Adam as very much in his own head, egotistical and self-absorbed, faults that will lead to his downfall by the end of the film. Voiceover can also help to inform how unreliable the narrator’s perspective is, with Adam’s nightmares and hallucinations arguably playing into this. I do perhaps question the need to have parts of that dialogue exposit the themes of the film or qualities of the characters which can otherwise be inferred by the visual storytelling, the characters, and the direction their story unfolds, but it does at least affirm to the viewer what this story will focus on and involve.

There is absolutely one line on page 45 that I would suggest cutting: ‘Inside all of us there are two wolves fighting for control’. The phrase ‘inside you there are two wolves’ is often a meme (thank my internet familiar/poisoned brain for this information), so it took me out of the narrative upon reading/hearing it, making me laugh rather than tense as the story clearly intends.

There is a small thread introduced around page 15 regarding female beauty and the fear of ageing with Eve, when she angrily pulls out the grey hair she finds. It doesn’t really get investigated further than that, and granted there are already multiple themes at work and require the focus placed on them, but this could potentially be furthered. It highlights, like with her first scene with Clay where Eve’s sexual identity is more of a threat to her career ambitions than Adam’s, the impossible standards that exist for women that are magnified through the existence of social media.

I would suggest potentially incorporating more of/focusing a bit more on the mirror imagery that is present in the film (the dance studio space, the mobile phone screens of course, and the fact that many cameras use mirrors in order to capture someone’s image!). It is a symbol that can carry multiple meanings, especially in this narrative, whether it be reflective of one’s ego and self-absorption like with Adam, the concern for appearances, the existence of duality, the inability to recognise one’s flaws within one’s self, and the inescapability of being watched and judged.

There is a thread regarding old vs young generations, or generational differences, which is introduced with the old woman scolding Adam at the beginning for his overuse of his phone, as a temptation, and later brought up with Neil and Janet in the second half, the former especially refusing to help Adam and criticizing him and his kind for being entitled (both are complicit in enabling the Harvest cult’s activities though). It may be worth fleshing out a bit more, even if it works somewhat now (Neil and Janet’s relationship, like Scott and Joy’s, acts as a parallel or foil to Adam and Eve’s relationship)

Conclusion and Verdict

Overall, I can see this film having a creepy, unsettling effect on viewers, especially those who are familiar with the addictive nature of technology and social media, the cycle of greed, the unfair reality of living in a late-stage capitalist world where money and social capital reigns supreme, and difficult relationships that fall apart as a result of one’s selfishness and unwillingness to change one’s flaws. As a horror feature, I think it works for recommendation, though on my personal end, and perhaps some bias, I think like I’m missing a bit more of the emotional weight that would haunt and stay with me. If the intent of the script is to disorient and perturb, then I would say it succeeds, but if there are further ambitions for the narrative, then I think they may need to b