Heartland: Follow Her

"Follow Her" is a delightfully disturbing film that is terrifying in its timeliness.

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Social media can be a slippery slope regarding content and consent and lines are becoming blurrier. What's acceptable and to what length will someone go for a subscribe or like click? "Follow Her" uses those blurred lines to craft one of the best films regarding social media I've seen and craft one of my favorite watches of late.

Struggling actress Jess (Dani Barker) has turned to social media to gain the celebrity she desires. Secretly recording her "interactions" with men and posting them online, she sees her rank ticking higher as she sits just outside of the top 10 in views on Live Hive. The job provides her with a bit of money, but it is soon a big headache when the software used to blur her companion's face malfunctions during one of her encounters and his identity is blasted out on the internet.

The video is getting tons of views and has her positioned to crack the top 10 and begin making money from her content. Now she's faced with a dilemma – does she delete the video to protect the other person's privacy or does she leave it up in hopes of reaching her goal of internet fame and fortune? She chooses the latter and will soon learn that the line between famous and infamous is very thin.

She also learns her father (Mark Moses) is set to sell the apartment she lives in, hoping to help her get her life together and leave behind her current hobby. Needing money, she accepts a job to help write an erotic thriller screenplay and heads to northern New York to make things happen.

There she meets up with Tom (Luke Cook), with whom she will write the screenplay. Tom is tall, handsome and as charming as they come. They retreat back to his secluded home in the woods to talk about the script, and that's when all breaks loose.

Tom's charm never diminishes, but when Jess is given the screenplay, it only contains a few lines and it's a play-by-play of her arrival up to the current moment. Freaked out, she tries to leave but learns that Tom has other plans for her. The story he's to create will be improvised between the two and will ultimately show Jess that her lust for fame impacts many more than just herself.

At one point, Tom teases her that their names sound like the cartoon characters "Tom and Jerry," which foreshadows the game of cat and mouse that's to come. Tom is unrelenting in his torment of Jess. It's unclear what Tom's motives are until he finally proclaims, "Social media stars – you think the world is all about your shitty fucking content. No, it's about people's lives!" He reveals that his friend Bryan (Justin L. Wilson) was the man from the video, and this is the catalyst for Jess to be taught a lesson.

But what if Tom isn't who he claims to be and his motives are not as righteous as he claims?

"Follow Her" is an excellent psychological thriller that fires on all cylinders throughout and is driven by two powerhouse performances from Cook and Barker. The two actors are phenomenal in their roles, with Cook putting together an impressively unhinged performance.

 The film doesn't break any new ground with its story, but it just kills it on every level. Every time you think you'll get a chance to relax, director Sylvia Caminer working from a script by Barker, has other plans, leaving you gasping for air by the end.

Every element of the film plays perfectly off each other, from the lighting to sound to the set design. There's not a weak link in the chain and it all comes together to craft a film that will keep you guessing and give you pause the next time you get ready to click the send button on a social media post.

"Follow Her" is a delightfully disturbing film that is terrifying in its timeliness. Cook and Baker deliver performances not to be missed.