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“The entire situation smells like a cheap TV movie,” remarks a cynical commentator during the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, he’s being dismissive in a calculated way of a guest whose outlandish story he once said he trusted. But his assessment of what’s happening in the movie isn’t wrong. Superficially, two films on demand chronicling a woman who worms her way into the lives of social media stars before killing them feels like the 21st-century equivalent of a tawdry but network-approved Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers is how much better it proves to be than plenty of the competition, irrespective of screen size. It is precisely the suspense film capable of giving its peers a serious bout of FOMO.

Revisiting the Original and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer follows the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) while she quietly chooses traveling alone social media targets, lures them to their deaths, and conceals those deaths (for a time) by taking control of their online accounts. The movie leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on an uninhabited island near the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This lends 2025's Influencers a degree of mystery, when returning writer-director the director resumes with CW contentedly residing alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip to celebrate the couple’s one-year anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW's attention and ire.

CW comments to Diane that a person ought to attempt stranding a phone-addicted influencer somewhere with no technology and see whether they can make it. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Was CW radicalized after witnessing the special treatment afforded a single clout-chaser?

Evolving Viewpoints and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, eventually clarifying those early scenes’ place in the timeline. The story revisits Madison, now exonerated for committing CW's offenses, yet still encounters suspicion over her version of what happened, including the murder of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali attempting to boost his profile as half of a right-wing-influencer power couple alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), though his chosen platform involves masculine-focused livestreams, as opposed to the curated images that normally attract CW's interest.

Naud remains immensely captivating in the part, which seems especially custom-fit to her strengths. (She also designed CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) Although the follow-up's screentime balance leans heavily into CW — the original felt more equally divided between the two women — it still functions as a story of dueling amateur detectives, with both women both use fabricated profiles, Insta-stalking, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to pursue and/or escape one another. Then again, perhaps the unlimited budget aren't needed. Online personalities possess a knack for gaining access to posh places without paying much, a skill which CW mirrors through her more blatant scamming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Visual Wanderlust

The creative team for Influencers appear equally resourceful in locating stunning locations to film, although they were likely less nefarious in their methods. Most of the film seems to be shot on location, giving it an authentic gravity that lingers even when many scenes involve a relatively small cast of people looking at digital devices.

It follows the same logic which allowed the James Bond movies appear so persistently lavish over the years: Indeed, explosive action and visual effects can display large spending, but simply offering a travelogue of sorts for the audience also feels inherently cinematic. It’s also especially fitting for a narrative so rooted in the coexisting superficial glamour and desperate hustle of creating jealousy-worthy online content.

All of the characters visiting Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy access to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; films exist concerning beach rescuers which don't feature as much aerial pool video. These individuals have to convincingly occupy these lush, far-flung locations to highlight the uneasy irony of how often each person — including the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ self-centered phoniness — nevertheless spends plenty of time in the glow of their devices.

Balanced Depictions and Tech-Savvy Tension

At the same time, the director has not crafted a rant against the emptiness of the influencer industry. While it can be satisfying to see CW manipulate various online personalities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of alignment lets us to hope she doesn’t get caught, the filmmaker is somewhat understanding of the key influencer figures. In the first movie, he keyed into the isolation Madison experienced while on supposedly envy-worthy vacations. In this film, Harder seems to trust that just observing Jacob in action will make it clear that he is selling false masculinity to other gullible men; he avoids turning into a caricature the character. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect by showing his true devotion to his girlfriend; he is two-faced, but Ariana is a collaborator in his double standards, not a victim by it.

The other side of this balanced approach means it may occasionally seem that he is acknowledging bits of contemporary digital culture without investigating them. This is particularly evident of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, a fascinating turn that lacks the psychosexual kick it deserves. The pluralized title of Influencers could offer devotees of the original hope for an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the film ultimately delivers that, with a suitably wild final act. However, initially, it’s more like a polished Hitchcock thriller than a wild-eyed, technology-obsessed De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ heavy use of actual places might also be what keeps it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. The world might be saturated with content-churning influencers, online fraud, and exploitative travel, but reality itself remains present, at least for now.