FOLLOWERS (2024)

New streaming on Shudder!
Directed by James Rich.
Written by James Rich, Za Hersh.
Starring Revell Carpenter, Molly Edelman, Gigi James, Annika Foster, Michael Bonini, Zac Hersh, Walker Edelman, Jackson Jones, Sean Regan, James Rich, Chris Scarciotta
Check out the trailer here!!

FOLLOWERS follows a trio of women (played by Revell Carpenter, Molly Edelman, and Gigi James) who survive an attack when their live posting hiking adventure resulted in obsessed masked fans tracking them down. One year later, one of the gals sold their story to Netflix, while one gal seems to have moved on, and the last is still coming to terms with the attack. The group decide to go on a weekend getaway since the close friends have drifted apart over the last year and one decides this is the right time to ask permission of the others to sell the rights to the ordeal to make a movie. But before they decide, the members of the masked group who attacked last year return to finish the job.

FOLLOWERS has a timely premise. With everyone’s obsession with their online personas these days, attempting to capture and post every experience they have, of course, someone with enough motivation and mania would be able to track down people because of these posts. Part of me is paranoid when I post pics or comments while out of town in fear that this is a clear indication that I am not home and my personal items are unguarded. FOLLOWERS flips that fear and has a group of tech savvy stalkers track down an influencer with horrible intent. And it captures the horror of obsession decently, as these three girls have three very different reactions to the attack. One is over it and is back to being obsessed with social media, one seems to have distracted herself from thinking about it by throwing herself into her relationship, and finally, one is not over the whole thing and still has PTSD from the attack. This is handled decently and really helps differentiate the three main gals, making their reaction to the second attack intriguing.

That said, FOLLOWERS is a jam-packed movie and as it clocks in just under a breezy hour and fifteen minutes, it really doesn’t allow for much time to delve into these personal reactions and further investing in this story and these characters. The first half hour plus is the initial attack, where we are introduced to these characters. Then the second half, the film reintroduces the characters as they have different reactions to the attack, which again, takes a lot of time, this leaves just about twenty minutes for the actual final attack, which I think just isn’t enough time. This results in one of the main characters getting killed rather hastily, a revelation that lacks the punch I think the film intended, and a finale leaving me wanting more.

FOLLOWERS isn’t a bad movie, but I think if another fifteen minutes were used to amp suspense and build investment in the characters it, it would have been a much more impactful film. As is, it has some moments of gruesome home invasion and stalking, but it lacks the time to care about whose home these masked monsters are invading. The makeshift masks of the stalkers are effectively creepy and makes the stalkers all the more monstrous. Though the trailer may suggest this is a found footage film, FOLLOWERS is not. It incorporates aspects but is a traditionally shot film. I think had this been a found footager, it might have actually made things a bit more compelling and leaned more into the themes of online obsession. At the end of the day, I was entertained by FOLLOWERS but felt unfulfilled by the time the credits rolled by.