First, we had the movie Spree starring Joe Keery. That film was something onto itself. And it definitely will be covered here.
Then Ryan Murphy gave us a look at it with the Christmas episode of American Horror Stories "Bro House". That story could have been stronger but it gave us a look at how easy it could be to hate social Influencers if they are complete douchebags. By the end, we were rooting for them to get their come uppance.
Now, we have Superhost. It was written and directed by Brandon Christiensen. It stars Sara Canning, Osric Chau and Gracie Gillam. If you are interested in this film, it can be found to stream on Shudder. And prepare yourself as the 61 Days of Halloween has begun.
First of all, Superhost is not a long movie. It is one that has a short running length of an hour twenty-two. That's definitely not a knock against the film. It allows the story to move at a brisk pace.
Superhost is about travel vloggers Teddy and Claire. They have been noticing a trend of their follower count dwindling. So they pivot to creating viral content around their most recent "superhost," Rebecca, who wants more from the duo than a great review.
Now, this is a small film. Small cast. Pure indie fuel. And it's definitely part of it that makes it good. Osric Chau and Sarah Canning are great as Teddy and Claire. Teddy's whole world is Claire. It seems like he's only doing this because she wants to keep doing it. Claire however is a good example of a vlogger gone awry. She is focused on the numbers game more than the content they are producing. It's definitely a shame cause if they had been on the same page, well things could be better. As a critic, I can definitely find myself getting lost a little bit in the numbers game from time to time. But then I take that step back and remember what was working - when it was enjoyable doing it. The thing that kept me intrigued was seeing Chau and Canning playing off each other.
Grace Gillam. She is a force in this film. At first, Rebecca is very sweet and likeable. Well, she comes across as too likeable. She's the image of the good person doing things out of the goodness of her heart. There's also a bit naiveness that comes across. But when it takes a turn (heads up: this is a slow burn), does it take a turn. It doesn't take Malignant level turn. But it's still a pretty big turn as we just see a much darker side to Rebecca. She's a bit of a force of nature with such rage. It's super intimidating and makes me glad that she's a movie character. But there's the thing - this is such a solid slasher character. I'm personally hoping that we will see more with her. Because there is more that could be done with her.
Now, there's also a small cameo in this flick. It's our lovable Barbara Crampton. She continues to deliver great performances. In the small time we have with her, she is really good. Honestly, her part feels like it's pure Karen fuel.
Superhost will be one that some people may like or not. It won't be as divisive as Malignant was. But it's still a solid entry to the genre. It's also a bit or breath of fresh air as we haven't been over saturated with content about social Influencers.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Superhost can be found on Shudder.
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