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“The entire situation reeks like a cheap made-for-TV,” observes an opportunistic podcaster during the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way toward an interviewee whose outlandish story he previously claimed he believed. But his description of the events in the movie isn’t wrong. Superficially, a pair of films on demand about a young woman who worms her way into the lives of social media stars before killing them feels like a modern-day version of a lurid yet network-approved Movie of the Week. The wild thing about Influencers remains how much better it is than plenty of its competition, regardless of where you watch it. It is precisely the suspense film that should give other movies a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Setting the Stage

The 2022 film Influencer follows the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she quietly chooses solo-traveling social media targets, lures them to their deaths, and conceals those murders (at least temporarily) by taking control of their online accounts. The film concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on an uninhabited island off the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables against her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers some early ambiguity, when 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 attention and anger.

CW comments to her partner that a person ought to attempt stranding a device-obsessed online personality somewhere with no technology and see if they can survive. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the preferential treatment afforded a single fame-seeker?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, now exonerated for committing CW’s crimes, yet still encounters suspicion over her version of what happened, including the killing of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to boost his profile as part of a right-wing-influencer power couple with Ariana (Veronica Long), although his chosen platform is bro-heavy streams, rather than the curated images that typically attract CW’s attention.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in the part, a role that appears particularly tailor-made for her talents. (She even created CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) Although the sequel’s screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the original seemed more balanced between the two women — it still works as a tale of dueling investigators, as Madison and CW both use fake accounts, social media surveillance, and an apparently limitless travel fund to pursue and/or escape one another. Of course, perhaps the unlimited budget aren't needed. Influencers have a talent for gaining access to posh places at little cost, an ability which CW mirrors with her more overt scheming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers seem similarly resourceful about finding beautiful places to film, although they were likely more legitimate about it. The vast majority of the movie appears to be filmed in real places, providing it a real-world weight that lingers even as many scenes involve a relatively small cast of characters looking at digital devices.

It follows the same logic which allowed the Bond franchise look so persistently lavish over the years: Yes, explosive action and visual effects can show off a big budget, however just providing a kind of visual tour for the audience also feels deeply filmic. It’s also particularly appropriate for a story so dependent on the coexisting superficial glamour and desperate hustle involved in producing jealousy-worthy digital content.

Every character visiting Bali, similar to those who were in Thailand in the original, seem to have access to impossibly chic contemporary villas; there are movies about lifeguards that don’t show off as much overhead swimming-pool video. The characters must believably occupy these lush, far-flung locations to emphasize the uneasy irony of how often each person — including the woman wreaking vengeance on the influencers’ self-centered phoniness — nevertheless devotes much time under the light of their screens.

Nuanced Portrayals and Tech-Savvy Tension

At the same time, the director has not crafted a rant targeting the emptiness of the influencer industry. Though it can be satisfying to watch CW manipulate various online personalities, and a Hitchcockian sense of identification lets us to wish she doesn’t get caught, the filmmaker is relatively understanding of the key influencer figures. Previously, he tapped into the loneliness Madison experienced during supposedly dream getaways. In this film, the director appears confident that just observing Jacob in action will make it clear that he’s peddling snake-oil masculinity to other gullible men; he resists turning into a caricature the character further. He even grants Jacob a degree of respect through depicting his genuine loyalty to his partner; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a collaborator in his hypocrisy, not someone exploited by it.

The flip side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it may occasionally seem that he’s nodding at elements of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them further. This is especially true of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the story, a fascinating turn that lacks the psychological edge it deserves. The pluralized title for the film could offer fans of the first movie hope for an Aliens-style escalation, and the film ultimately delivers that, with an appropriately chaotic climax. But before that, it’s more like a polished Alfred Hitchcock movie than an wild-eyed, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations may also be what keeps it from coming across like utter horror. The world may be overrun with content-churning influencers, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but the world itself is still here, at least for now.