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“The entire situation reeks like a cheap TV movie,” remarks a cynical podcaster during the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way of a guest with an outlandish story he once said he trusted. Yet his description of the events on screen isn't inaccurate. Superficially, two streaming movies about a woman who insinuates herself into the lives of social media stars and then murders them feels like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid but cable-ready Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers is how much better it is compared to much of the competition, irrespective of where you watch it. It is precisely the thriller capable of giving its peers a serious bout of FOMO.

Revisiting the First Film and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer tracks the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) while she quietly chooses traveling alone influencer targets, entices them to their doom, and conceals those deaths (at least temporarily) by taking control of their socials. The film concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand, after her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles on her.

This provides the 2025 Influencers a degree of ambiguity, when returning filmmaker the director resumes with CW contentedly residing with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking the couple’s first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW’s eye and anger.

CW comments to Diane that a person should try stranding a phone-addicted online personality in a place without any devices and see if they can survive. Are we witnessing an origin-story prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the preferential treatment given to one fame-seeker?

Shifting Perspectives and Global Pursuits

The narrative viewpoint changes multiple times, eventually clarifying those introductory moments' place in the timeline. Harder catches up with Madison, now cleared of committing CW’s crimes, yet still encounters suspicion over her recounting of what happened, which includes the killing of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali and trying to boost his profile as part of a conservative-influencer duo with Ariana (Veronica Long), although his chosen platform is bro-heavy streams, as opposed to the Instagram photos that typically capture CW’s attention.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in the part, which seems particularly tailor-made to her strengths. (She even created CW's eye-catching outfits.) Although the follow-up's screentime balance leans heavily into CW — the original felt more equally divided between her and Madison — it still works as a story of dueling amateur detectives, 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 aren't needed. Influencers have a talent for gaining access to luxurious locales without paying much, a skill which CW mirrors with her more overt scheming.

Resourceful Production and Cinematic Travelogue

The creative team for Influencers seem similarly resourceful in locating stunning locations to film, though they were presumably less nefarious about it. Most of the movie appears to be filmed in real places, providing it an authentic gravity that lingers even as numerous sequences involve a relatively small cast of characters staring at digital devices.

It’s the same principle that made the Bond franchise appear so consistently opulent for decades: Indeed, big action and special effects can display large spending, but just providing a kind of visual tour for the audience also feels inherently cinematic. It’s also especially fitting for a narrative so dependent on the coexisting surface-level allure and try-hard grind involved in producing jealousy-worthy digital content.

Every character in Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the first film, seem to have entry to unbelievably stylish contemporary villas; films exist concerning beach rescuers which don't feature this much aerial pool footage. The characters must believably occupy these luxurious, far-flung locations to highlight the uneasy irony of how frequently each person — including the woman exacting revenge upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — nevertheless spends plenty of time in the glow of their devices.

Nuanced Portrayals and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, the director has not crafted a screed against the emptiness of the influencer industry. While it is satisfying to watch CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense of identification allows us to hope she doesn’t get caught, Harder is somewhat understanding of the key influencer figures. In the first movie, he tapped into the isolation Madison felt while on supposedly envy-worthy vacations. Here, the director appears confident that merely watching Jacob in action will make it clear that he is selling false masculinity to other gullible men; he resists caricaturing the character further. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect through depicting his true devotion to his girlfriend; he is two-faced, but Ariana is a collaborator in his hypocrisy, not someone exploited by it.

The other side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it can sometimes appear as if he’s nodding at bits of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them. This is especially true regarding how he brings AI into the plot, a fascinating turn which misses the psychosexual kick it deserves. The retitled sequel for the film could offer devotees of the original hope for an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the movie does eventually provide that, with an appropriately chaotic climax. However, initially, it’s more like a sleek Hitchcock thriller than a frenzied, technology-obsessed Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations may also be what keeps it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. The world might be saturated with content-churning influencers, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but the world itself is still here, at least for now.