Thai Horror ‘Rinrada: The Influencer’ Lands International Deals Around Screamfest Premiere
Thai supernatural horror Rinrada: The Influencer is expanding its international reach as the film prepares to make its North American debut at Screamfest.
According to Variety, the Thai horror film has secured distribution across several Asian territories and the Middle East, building on its domestic success and bringing star Yoshi Rinrada to international horror audiences in her first leading role in the genre.
Directed and co-written by Artistaya Arriyawongsa, Rinrada: The Influencer turns the darker side of social media culture into the foundation for a supernatural revenge story.
The film follows an influencer whose life is destroyed by an online pile-on and the public shaming that follows. Returning as a ghost with only a limited amount of time to exact revenge, she sets out after those responsible while developing an unexpected connection along the way.
The role puts Rinrada, who has millions of social media followers herself, inside a story that deliberately blurs the divide between an influencer’s carefully constructed online identity and the consequences of becoming the target of the same digital culture.
“Our star, Yoshi Rinrada, is a true trailblazer in Thai entertainment with millions of followers of her own,” Autumn Sun Films’ Elliott Tong told Variety. “Playing an influencer in her first leading horror role, she brings so much of herself to the part that it’s truly art imitating life.”
Hong Kong-based Autumn Sun Films is handling worldwide sales for the project. The company specializes in Asian genre and arthouse cinema and has already closed a collection of territorial deals surrounding the film’s Screamfest appearance.
Macau will be among the first international markets to receive the film, with a theatrical opening scheduled for Halloween, Oct. 31, at Studio City.
Vietnam will follow in November. Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei are also scheduled for November releases through SB Productions.
PT Cahaya Sinema Nusantara has acquired the film for Indonesia, although a release date has not yet been announced. Dates are also still to be determined for the Philippines and Myanmar.
Moviecloud has picked up distribution rights for Taiwan, while Empire Entertainment has acquired the film for Pakistan and the Gulf Cooperation Council territories.
The international sales activity was unveiled during the Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Contents & Film Market.
For Arriyawongsa, the supernatural elements provide a way to explore something considerably more recognizable: the cruelty that can emerge when online audiences collectively turn against an individual.
“Sometimes the monsters we fear are the ones we create ourselves,” the filmmaker said.
Arriyawongsa serves as an in-house director for producer Tham Studio19 and previously directed the company’s 2024 horror film The Elite of Devils, along with 2020’s Waning Moon.
That intersection between digital celebrity and supernatural horror gives Rinrada: The Influencer a distinctly contemporary premise. Online pile-ons, parasocial relationships and the speed with which a public persona can become the target of mass condemnation provide the film with a modern framework for a familiar ghost story.
Its arrival at Screamfest now gives the Thai production an opportunity to introduce that story to North American genre audiences while its theatrical footprint continues expanding internationally.
The Screamfest screening will mark the North American premiere of Rinrada: The Influencer. Release dates for several additional international territories remain to be announced.
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