Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story — review

Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story — review

True-crime has always sold itself as a public service: a genre that promises insight, accountability, and—occasionally—justice.  Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story asks us to accept that promise again, even as it pushes the form to its most uncomfortable edge.  The result is a slick, unsettling documentary that forces viewers to confront not only one woman’s abuse of authority, but also our own appetite for stories that turn harm into spectacle. The film’s hook is obvious.  Hildebrandt built a public platform by presenting herself as a moral guide, positioning discipline and “truth” as pathways to personal growth.  The documentary charts how that influence expanded, how followers deferred to her certainty, and how that power was ultimately abused.  The story is disturbing not because it reveals a single shocking act, but because it traces a pattern: charisma paired with ideology, amplified by the attention economy . As filmmaking, Evil Influencer is efficient and glossy. Interviews a…