Under the Influence (2022 | USA | 100 minutes | Casey Neistat)
A great way to feel ancient is to watch a very thorough documentary about someone who is incredibly famous whose existence you were nevertheless unaware. In this case, it was Casey Neistat’s account of the the rise and fall and rise of an incredibly popular YouTube personality called David Dobrik. Having himself achieved a high degree of notoriety through his own marathon presence on the social networking service, Neistat’s familiarity with the platform, fame, and Dobrik himself ideally positioned Neistat to get an insider’s view of a young star’s stratospheric ascent. When he began filming interviews with him in 2018, neither had any idea what was yet to come.
As the film opens, Dobrik, a cherub-faced floppy-haired twentysomething with big brown eyes greets his interviewer at the door with a flamethrower. He’s made an improbable career (and accumulated tremendous “influence” and wealth) by convincing people that he’s having fun on video. Neistat opens the interview by saying, “I’ve never seen someone as adored and loved … yet after the scandal it’s become fashionable to fucking hate you”. Internet-aware viewers will certainly know what they’re talking about, but the blissfully naive among us will have to wait.
Using the tools of the online trade, the documentary gives a refresher. Dobrik has something like four billion views on YouTube and double-digit millions of followers across multiple social media platforms, an audience built from seemingly spontaneous videos of his coterie of friends and acquaintances (“the Vlog Squad”) having fun, being dumb, and carrying off stupid and often dangerous stunts. Along with a whirlwind tour of the extremely extravagant life of one of the world’s top YouTube stars and some clips of the content that got him here, Neistat also captures the actual meaning of the nebulous concept of “influence”. Certainly, online fame has brought David tremendous wealth (early in the film he contemplates buying a $13M new house), but his gravitational field extends well beyond himself, to the members of his squad, whose celebrity and life-changing income is derived from proximity to their friend. Communicating a clear sense of their interdependence and gratitude, the film establishes a picture of how no one wants to say “no” to the ethos of non-stop, profitable, fun.
With candid interviews from most of the players, superfans of his content, and an investigative reporter who broke a dark story about one of their videos, the film finds surprising depth as it considers the consequences of their idiotic hijinks, both in terms of the real-world consequences of people harmed in the making of the videos as well as to the reputation of the star at the center of it all. Tracking Dobrik through the a pandemic pause, a consideration of new directions, and following him as public opinion turned against him, Neistat was ideally positioned to witness, firsthand, what happens with a universally beloved character has to reckon with the consequences of their influence. With contemporaneous behind-the-scenes looks at how Dobrik fumbles through the act of public regret and understanding his place in this universe he has created, the eye-opening documentary is as compelling as the viral content that made it’s subject a star. Whether that suits the agenda of its subject is another matter, entirely.
Under the Influence premiered at SXSW Film 2022 in the Documentary Spotlight section. Be sure to check out all the SXSW 2022 Sunbreak Coverage