'Into the Dark': 'New Year, New You' paints a very dark and toxic picture of social media influencer culture

Friends turn against each other as a result of the social media pressure that we are shrouded by in the 82-minute long episode directed by Indie filmmaker Sophia Takal
PUBLISHED DEC 31, 2018

Horrifying twists to popular festivals have been a favorite trope of the horror genre for a while now, but Hulu's new anthology series, 'Into the Dark,' does a beautiful job of clubbing those festive horrors together in monthly thematic episodes.

Releasing once a month, these episodes focus on a terrifying twist to the festival that best represents  the month it release in, which meant that the one releasing on December 28, 'New Year, New You,' had a lot riding on it.

First of all, there haven't been many New Year centric horror on TV or even films for that matter. Secondly, the episode focuses on the booming social media 'influencer' culture, a relevant and ubiquitous modern phenomena that is just being mined for its cinematic possibilities. 

But the fourth episode of 'Into the Dark' does not disappoint, bringing out the vices that the desperate hunger to climb the social media ladder entails, and with its signature satirical twist to it, 'New Year, New You' is spot on, crisp, and relatable in ways that's often creepy.

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