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“This whole affair stinks of a cheap made-for-TV,” observes an opportunistic podcaster during the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, he’s being dismissive in a calculated way toward an interviewee whose outlandish story he once claimed he believed. Yet his description of the events in the movie isn't inaccurate. On its face, a pair of films on demand about a young woman who insinuates herself into the lives of social media stars before killing them seems like the 21st-century equivalent of a tawdry yet cable-ready weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers remains how much better it proves to be compared to much of its competition, regardless of screen size. It’s the kind of thriller that should give other movies a serious bout of FOMO.

Recapping the First Film and Establishing the Scene

The 2022 film Influencer follows the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) while she methodically selects solo-traveling social media targets, lures them to their doom, and conceals those deaths (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their socials. The movie concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers some early mystery, as returning writer-director the director resumes with CW happily living alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking the couple’s one-year anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW's attention and anger.

CW comments to her partner that someone should try leaving a phone-addicted online personality in a place without any devices and see if they can survive. Are we witnessing an origin-story prequel? Was CW radicalized after witnessing the preferential treatment afforded a single fame-seeker?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, eventually clarifying those introductory moments' chronological position. The story revisits Madison, now exonerated for committing CW’s crimes, yet still encounters suspicion regarding her version of what happened, which includes the killing of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali attempting to boost his profile as part of a conservative-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his chosen platform involves masculine-focused livestreams, as opposed to the curated images that typically attract CW's interest.

The actor continues to be terrifically magnetic in her role, which seems especially tailor-made for her talents. (She also designed CW's striking outfits.) Although the follow-up's focus leans heavily into CW — the first film felt more equally divided between her and Madison — it still works as a story of dueling investigators, as Madison and CW employ fake accounts, Insta-stalking, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to chase or evade each other. Of course, maybe the vast resources aren't needed. Influencers have a knack for gaining access to posh places at little cost, a skill which CW mirrors through her more blatant scamming.

Resourceful Production and Visual Wanderlust

The filmmakers behind Influencers seem similarly resourceful about finding stunning locations to film, though they were presumably more legitimate in their methods. The vast majority of the movie seems to be shot on location, providing it an authentic gravity that lingers even as numerous sequences consist of a handful of actors of characters looking at digital devices.

It follows the same logic which allowed the Bond franchise appear so persistently lavish for decades: Indeed, explosive action and visual effects can display a big budget, but simply offering a travelogue of sorts to viewers also feels inherently cinematic. It’s also particularly appropriate for a story so rooted in the coexisting superficial glamour and try-hard grind involved in producing jealousy-worthy online content.

Every character visiting Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy entry to unbelievably stylish contemporary villas; films exist concerning beach rescuers which don't feature as much aerial pool footage. These individuals have to convincingly occupy these lush, remote places to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how often each person — including the woman wreaking vengeance upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — nevertheless devotes much time under the light of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Digital-Age Suspense

Simultaneously, Harder hasn’t authored a screed against the emptiness of the influencer industry. While it is satisfying to see CW manipulate various online personalities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification allows us to hope she doesn’t get caught, the filmmaker is somewhat understanding of the major influencer characters. Previously, he keyed into the loneliness Madison felt during supposedly dream getaways. In this film, the director appears confident that merely watching Jacob in action will make it clear that he’s peddling false masculinity to other doofuses; he resists caricaturing the character further. He even gives 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 by it.

The flip side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it may occasionally seem that he is acknowledging bits of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them further. This is particularly evident regarding how he brings AI into the story, an intriguing development that lacks the psychological edge it deserves. The pluralized title for the film could offer devotees of the original hope for a larger-scale escalation, and the film ultimately delivers exactly that, with a suitably wild final act. But before that, it’s more like a polished Hitchcock thriller than a wild-eyed, tech-addled Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations might also be what prevents it from coming across like pure nightmare fuel. The world might be saturated with always-online creators, online fraud, and exploitative travel, but the world itself is still here, at least for now.