Fashion influencer Olivia Golden (Lara Silva, The Chosen) has always been a bit self-absorbed, but after throwing herself a big 29th birthday bash, reality comes crashing down on her. She loses her job after accidentally posting a negative rant about her boss, is cut off financially by her parents who want to push her out of nest and make her fly solo, is evicted from her apartment after using her rent money to pay for clothes, and her car gets impounded. Liv turns to brand manager Andrew Geller (Jesse Metcalfe) for help, but he turns her down, seeing that she is just another vapid influencer just chasing followers. Unsure what to do with her life, Liv unexpectedly runs into an old high school classmate, Ryan (Jason Burkey). She never gave him the time of day in high school, but now he’s grown into quite an attractive young man. Ryan is the director of the Harvest Rescue Mission, and he invites her to volunteer at the homeless shelter—though a distracted Liv just hears an invite for dinner, not that she’ll be serving it. It quickly becomes evident that Liv has never really done a real hard day’s work in her life. However, she needs the job, and a place to stay. As she starts to help people, and hears their stories, she starts to realize that the real influencer in life is God. As she opens her mind up to faith, she starts to change, and becomes determined to find a way to use her own influencer experience to help the shelter, which faces closure if it doesn’t find a way to increase donations at its upcoming annual gala.
Divine Influencer is a PureFlix release, and has the company’s usual positive, uplifting message and story with a bit of a faith-based slant. This film follows Liv’s journey of self-realization as she learns to focus less on herself and her follower count, and more on how she can use her influence to help others. Early on we see Liv pass by a homeless woman on the street, not really caring or wanting to help, and constantly worrying about her image and follower count. She would hock any product on her livestream even if she didn’t really like or believe in it. Her life really had no meaning, it was all just fake acting for her camera and followers. When she first meets the others at the homeless shelter, she can’t understand why someone like the famous Chef Zara (Princess Elmore) would quit her high-paying job at a five-star restaurant to cook meals for the Harvest Rescue Mission. It’s not until Liv loses everything and must rely on the kindness of others that she truly starts to get it—that true wealth is the joy of helping others, not money or a high follower count.
I quite enjoyed this film, through all of its (sometimes a bit predictable) twists and turns. It has an interesting story and positive message. Liv starts off a bit unlikable and shallow, but we see her grow and change over the course of the movie. The film never feels heavy-handed with the God aspect, we just see the other characters telling Liv that it was prayer that got them through the hard times, so as Liv starts to face her own seemingly-impossible obstacles, she decides to give this a shot.
Mill Creek Entertainment has released Divine Influencer only on DVD format for physical media, but it is also available digitally in HD. The SD picture looks quite good, but lacks that little bit of extra clarity and sharpness that a Blu-ray would provide. This was only really noticeable in the scenes where we see Liv livestreaming. As she talks there are small text comments flowing down the side of the screen, which are a little tough to make out—I suspect this text would be a little more legible on an HD version. The audio track provides clear dialogue throughout, and a slightly immersive general ambiance in the shelter and at the gala. The DVD disc comes packed in a standard DVD keepcase. Our copy did not include any slipcover. The disc is barebones, offering no bonus material—not even the film’s trailer.
What’s Included:
Film: (1:45:16)
- 480i / Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
- Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital
- Subtitles: English SDH
Extras:
-
No bonus material included.
Final Thoughts:
Divine Influencer is pretty standard PureFlix fare, and biblical-like story of a wealthy influencer who loses her job, home and money and is forced to reexamine herself and priorities. As she discovers the joy in helping people, she starts to find and appreciate faith. That said, I wouldn’t really call this a religious movie—the faith aspect is just a very small piece, and the film plays out more like a Hallmark rom-com/drama. Mill Creek’s DVD provides pretty solid picture and sound, but is barebones when it comes to bonus material. It’s worth checking out for fans of PureFlix entertainment or Hallmark/Lifetime style films with a slight faith-based slant.
