Should you meet your heroes? Oh god, no – that’s the takeaway from Starsuckers (2026), a new entrant in the understandably-growing new subgenre of social media horror, even if it only ever really dabbles with horror elements. It’s about how vulnerable people now venerate dreadful Influencers, and possibly about the moment of realisation that the lifestyle package being sold isn’t all it seems. The film does suffer, however, by trying to switcheroo into ever-more meta elements, which dilutes some of the wry comedy and winning lines it offers along the way.
We start with a voiceover (at least for some of the runtime) seemingly there to let us know, in no uncertain terms, that washed-up actor George, sorry, Bjorg (James Alex) and his partner, wellness empire founder Sasha (Manon Ens-Lapointe) are there to be loathed. Now at the end point of their five-year relationship contract, they’ve ended up with a newborn baby; Baby is profoundly disappointing, cries a lot and doesn’t promise good content generation. Content and comebacks are what motivate Sasha and Bjorg respectively. Luckily, Sasha’s new plans for a weekend wellness retreat could offer at least some good, shareable material. She has opened it up to ‘civilians’, and Sasha’s quite looking forward to mingling with the winners, whoever they might be. About that: step forward, Eileen (Jersey Anderson) and Chuck (Jacob Stickles), whose very real recent traumas and backstories seem to pale into insignificance when it comes to their adoration of the Influencer couple. Bjorg and Sasha loved their laudatory video message, and decide to invite them to the retreat (actually an Airbnb rental) so they can all get to know one another.
After the initial meet-up, during which Eileen in particular seems ridiculously starstruck, it isn’t long at all before Sasha and Bjorg reveal that they have a lot more lined up than just meditation and smoothies. In fact, they have a big task for their ‘guests’ to perform in order to move on to whatever else they have in mind. It’s a big test of that devotion, but it’s key to the kind of trauma work-through which these hapless civvies need in their lives.
As above, in recent years we’ve had a steady number of new films mocking the social media generation with varying levels of seriousness – and no wonder. It’s all so mockable. But what you’re probably wondering – or reflecting on, if you’re reading this after seeing the film – is how Starsuckers (2026) fits into the genre, and what it offers which is particularly commendable, or stand-out in some way. It’s certainly very dialogue-heavy, a choice which it maintains throughout the runtime, but it sets up an engaging enough first act, right before tantalising a shift into far more grisly fare, which suggests a totally different gloss to proceedings.
This is the moment, probably, where the film either grabs you or loses you, as despite tantalising an about-face, that surprise violent twist doesn’t, in the end, firmly establish a new, concerted style. Starsuckers promises a big kick-off, but then dithers, and its characters do a lot of dithering, too, with Eileen and Chuck first horrified, then accepting, then adulatory, then critical, then right back to feeling a different way. Of course budgetary restraints probably did some damage to what was possible here, and ditto the odd moment of rather jarring CGI, but that isn’t it. The problem here is that the film doesn’t really seem like it’s set on an approach, and despite having a final act, it’s arguably used to try to do too much, adding in different metatextual elements in places and resorting to heavy-handed bloviation and ‘did they get that?’ satire in others. It also hints at some violence to come which never makes it to the screen, and if this is an invitation for horror fans to reconsider their generic expectations, then I fear that it may fall flat. Ditto, the possibility of a purely metaphorical reading of all that goes on.
Nonetheless, there are some very funny lines here, and the lead actors (in this micro-cast) show that they’re very willing to commit to the bit. The better scenes are the live action scenes with some practical effects thrown in, and Starsuckers‘s acceptance that parasocial relationships can either make you angry or make you laugh – choosing the latter, by and large – is fine. The more serious point, the exploitation of hapless consumers by a dreadful nouveau riche, can always take development and there are certainly crowd-pleasing moments during the course of the film. No one can accuse the Butler Brothers – whose previous films Unfriending (2023) and Purgatory Jack (2023) have both been reviewed at Warped Perspective – of seeking to pigeonhole their filmmaking styles or themes, and both sharp scripts and engaging ideas have featured in all of their films so far, but perhaps a stronger sense of pace and more emphasis on action would just lift their work that little bit higher moving forward. Starsuckers has the bones of a great idea and a few hints at how that great idea could have been – and has been – developed, but at points it spins off into places which pull our attention away from the more successful elements.
Starsuckers (2026) received its world premiere at FrightFest 2026.