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“This whole affair reeks like a bad made-for-TV,” states an opportunistic podcaster during the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, he’s being dismissive in a calculated way of a guest whose bizarre tale he once said he trusted. But his assessment of what’s happening in the movie isn't inaccurate. On its face, two films on demand about a young woman who insinuates herself into the worlds of social media stars and then murders them feels like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid but cable-ready weekly TV movie. The wild thing about Influencers remains just how superior it proves to be compared to much of the competition, irrespective of where you watch it. It is precisely the thriller capable of giving its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the First Film and Establishing the Scene

The 2022 film Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) while she methodically selects solo-traveling influencer targets, lures them to their doom, and conceals those murders (for a time) by seizing control of their online accounts. The movie concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on an uninhabited island near the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This provides the 2025 Influencers some early mystery, as returning filmmaker Kurtis David Harder resumes with the character CW happily living with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey marking the couple’s first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW’s eye and anger.

CW remarks to Diane that a person ought to attempt stranding a phone-addicted online personality somewhere without any devices to see if they can survive. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the preferential treatment given to a single fame-seeker?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, eventually clarifying those introductory moments' chronological position. The story revisits Madison, now cleared of carrying out CW’s crimes, but still faces doubt regarding her recounting of the events, including the murder of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali attempting to boost his profile as part of a right-wing-influencer power couple with Ariana (Veronica Long), though his chosen platform is bro-heavy streams, as opposed to the Instagram photos that typically attract CW's interest.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in her role, which seems particularly custom-fit for her talents. (She also designed CW's striking wardrobe.) Although the sequel’s screentime balance leans heavily into CW — the original seemed more balanced between her and Madison — it still functions as a tale of dueling investigators, as Madison and CW both use fake accounts, social media surveillance, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to chase or evade each other. Then again, maybe the vast resources isn’t necessary. Influencers have a knack for gaining access to luxurious locales without paying much, a skill that CW echoes with her more overt scheming.

Resourceful Production and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers seem similarly resourceful in locating beautiful places to visit, although they were likely more legitimate about it. Most of the film seems to be shot on location, providing it a real-world weight that remains even when numerous sequences involve a handful of actors of characters staring at digital devices.

It’s the same principle which allowed the Bond franchise look so persistently lavish for decades: Indeed, big action and visual effects can show off a big budget, but just providing a kind of visual tour to viewers also seems inherently cinematic. This is especially fitting for a narrative so dependent on the coexisting surface-level allure and desperate hustle involved in producing jealousy-worthy online content.

Every character in Bali, similar to those who were in Thailand in the first film, seem to have entry to unbelievably stylish contemporary villas; films exist about lifeguards that don’t show off this much overhead swimming-pool video. These individuals have to convincingly inhabit these luxurious, remote places to emphasize the uncomfortable paradox of how frequently everyone — including the woman wreaking vengeance upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — nevertheless spends plenty of time under the light of their screens.

Nuanced Portrayals and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, Harder hasn’t authored a screed targeting the vacuousness of the influencer industry. While it is satisfying to see CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of alignment allows us to hope she evades capture, the filmmaker is relatively understanding of the key influencer figures. Previously, he keyed into the loneliness Madison felt during supposedly envy-worthy vacations. In this film, Harder seems to trust that just observing Jacob at work will reveal that he’s peddling snake-oil masculinity to other gullible men; he avoids caricaturing the character. He even grants Jacob a measure of dignity by showing his true devotion to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a partner in his hypocrisy, not a victim of it.

The flip side of this balanced approach means it can sometimes appear that he’s nodding at elements of modern online life without deeply exploring them further. This is especially true of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, an intriguing development that lacks the psychosexual kick it should have. The retitled sequel of Influencers could offer devotees of the original hope for an Aliens-style escalation, and the movie does eventually provide exactly that, with a suitably chaotic climax. However, initially, it resembles more a polished Hitchcock thriller than an frenzied, technology-obsessed Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations might also be what keeps it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. Our society might be saturated with content-churning influencers, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself remains present, for now.