Director Denis Rovira’s Netflix horror film ‘The Influence’ (original Spanish title: ‘La Influencia’) is one of those many available films on the streaming platform i.e. easily forgettable. After watching a 99-min long film, you will still ask many key questions, including the reason for making such a film with no substance.
Neither ‘The Influence’ has a solid storyline nor has enough scare to keep you engaged throughout its runtime. The film, however, starts well with enough spookiness but somehow could not bring anything creepy, rather seems too long with a predictable climax.
‘The Influence’ – Horror Movie Trailer
So, the film follows Alicia, her husband Mikel, and her child Nora, who moves to her childhood home to care for her comatose mother. There she reconnects with her younger sister Sara. Soon we get the sense that something is not right in the family, owing to the darkness surrounding their childhood.
‘The Influence’ soon establishes that the sisters’ mother is influenced by some supernatural entity, as she was practicing some kind of black magic or devil worship. As expected in most horror movies where a child character has a key role to play, the dark entity here will also have its influence on the young girl.
The film then slowly narrates the disturbing childhood of Alicia and Sara in flashbacks, when their mother tries to apply black magic to them. So, the story revolves around a creepy mother, the distressing childhood of the kids, and a hereditary evil entity.
What is good or bad about the Netflix horror ‘The Influence’?
The story is not the interesting one, however, the performance of its cast, almost everyone, is refreshing to watch. The direction is decent, although the runtime seems lengthy.
If you ask if it is scary, then our answer will be NO. There is not even a jump scare to instill some scare. The costume or the looks of the evil entity is also not at all good. Overall, ‘The Influence’ scores less as we have watched better slow-burn horror movies.
‘The Influence’ – Watch it on Netflix
Genre: Horror
Starring: Manuela Vellés, Maggie Civantos, Alain Hernández, Claudia Placer, Daniela Rubio, Emma Suárez, Ramón Esquinas, Felipe García Vélez, and Mariana Cordero.
Director: Denis Rovira
Writer: Michel Gaztambide, Ramsey Campbell, Denis Rovira
Release Date/Year: Oct 11, 2019
Where to watch The Influence (2019)
