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“This whole affair stinks like a bad made-for-TV,” remarks an opportunistic podcaster during the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way toward an interviewee whose outlandish story he previously said he trusted. Yet his description of what’s happening on screen isn't inaccurate. On its face, a pair of streaming movies about a woman who insinuates herself into the lives of online influencers and then murders them feels like a modern-day version of a lurid but cable-ready Movie of the Week. 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 mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she quietly chooses traveling alone influencer targets, lures them to their deaths, and covers up those deaths (for a time) by taking control of their online accounts. The film concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand, following her most recent mark, 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 alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey to celebrate their one-year anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW's attention and ire.

CW remarks to Diane that a person should try leaving a device-obsessed online personality in a place without any devices and see whether they can make it. Are we witnessing an origin-story prequel? Did CW become extremist by seeing the special treatment given to a single clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and Global Pursuits

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those early scenes’ chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, now exonerated for carrying out CW’s crimes, yet still encounters suspicion regarding her version of the events, including the killing of Madison’s boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to boost his profile as half of a conservative-influencer duo with Ariana (Veronica Long), though his preferred medium involves masculine-focused livestreams, as opposed to the curated images that typically attract CW's interest.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in her role, a role that appears particularly tailor-made to her strengths. (She also designed CW's eye-catching outfits.) Although the follow-up's focus tips heavily toward CW — the original seemed more balanced between her and Madison — it still works as a story of dueling amateur detectives, with both women both use fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and a seemingly unlimited travel budget to chase and/or escape each other. Then again, perhaps the vast resources aren't needed. Influencers have a talent for gaining access to luxurious locales without paying much, an ability which CW mirrors with her more overt scheming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The creative team for Influencers seem similarly resourceful about finding stunning locations to visit, although they were presumably less nefarious about it. Most of the film appears to be filmed in real places, giving it an authentic gravity that remains even as many scenes involve a handful of actors of characters staring at computer or phone screens.

It’s the same principle which allowed the Bond franchise appear so consistently opulent for decades: Yes, explosive action and special effects can display large spending, however simply offering a kind of visual tour for the audience also seems deeply filmic. This is particularly appropriate for a story so dependent on the coexisting superficial glamour and try-hard grind of creating jealousy-worthy digital content.

Every character in Bali, like those who were in Thailand in the first film, seem to have entry to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; films exist about lifeguards that don’t show off as much overhead swimming-pool video. The characters must believably inhabit these lush, remote places to emphasize the uncomfortable paradox of how often everyone — even the woman wreaking vengeance upon the online stars' self-centered phoniness — nonetheless devotes much time under the light of their screens.

Nuanced Portrayals and Tech-Savvy Tension

Simultaneously, Harder hasn’t authored a rant against the emptiness of the influencer industry. Though it is satisfying to watch CW manipulate various online personalities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification allows us to hope she evades capture, Harder is relatively understanding of the major influencer characters. Previously, he keyed into the loneliness Madison felt during ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. Here, the director appears confident that just observing Jacob at work will make it clear that he is selling false masculinity to other gullible men; he resists caricaturing the character. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect through depicting his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he is two-faced, but Ariana is a collaborator in his double standards, not someone exploited by it.

The other side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it may occasionally seem that he’s nodding at bits of modern online life without deeply exploring them further. This is especially true of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the story, an intriguing development which misses the psychosexual kick it should have. The retitled sequel of Influencers could offer devotees of the original hope for an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the film ultimately delivers exactly that, with a suitably chaotic climax. But before that, it’s more like a polished Hitchcock thriller than an wild-eyed, technology-obsessed De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations might also be what keeps it from coming across like utter horror. Our society may be overrun with content-churning influencers, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but reality itself is still here, at least for now.