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- 1 h 40 m
- 1 h 40 m
Summary Casey Neistat's documentary traces the rise and fall of David Dobrik, one of the biggest YouTubers in the world, whose feel-good videos masked the dark and reckless new ethos of online celebrity culture.
Written By: Mark Monroe
- 1 h 40 m
- 1 h 40 m
Under the Influence
66
User Score
User reviews are not available yet
Summary Casey Neistat's documentary traces the rise and fall of David Dobrik, one of the biggest YouTubers in the world, whose feel-good videos masked the dark and reckless new ethos of online celebrity culture.
Written By: Mark Monroe
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 7 Critic Reviews
66
71% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
14% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
14% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 7 Critic Reviews
66
71% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
14% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
14% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
With little-to-no accountability when it comes to the YouTube industry, Under the Influence makes a clear case that mainstream media outlets should be turning a more scrutinizing eye toward the community, and the community itself perhaps needs to differentiate the difference between what is considered 'drama' and what is a criminal offense.
But that’s the interesting thing about Under the Influence: What started out as a puff-piece doc about YouTube’s golden child was forced by circumstance to become a chronicle of the ways the platform facilitates abuse and drives both creator and audience alike to ruin. It’s a blessing that Neistat rises to the challenge.
Under the Influence is a very absorbing, very disquieting, very meaningful-for-our-time documentary.
For many of the extremely online people born after the year 2000, “Under the Influence” offers a closer look at the cultural history that’s already close to their hearts, less valuable for Neistat’s insight than for his access ... For the rest of us ... this film provides a bone-chilling biopsy of the malignant narcissism that’s quietly metastasized across Gen Z’s celebrity-industrial complex, more valuable for Neistat’s perspective than for any of his characters.
"Under The Influence" gets more interesting once the doc shifts focus from Dobrik’s rapid rise to fame to peel back the performative layers of his act.
What initially starts as a light-hearted look at YouTube star David Dobrik and his “Vlog Squad” evolves into a portrait that doesn’t quite know what to make of him and his enablers.
Viewers who’ve never seen a Dobrik video and have only cursory (if any) knowledge of the allegations that briefly interrupted his career will come away feeling they understand the buoyant, boyish 25 year-old’s appeal — but they may be frustrated by the film’s less-than-probing look at behavior that should have caused him much more trouble than he endured.
User Reviews
tbd
Duration 1 h 40 m
Genres
Awards
Hamptons International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination