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“This whole affair stinks like a bad made-for-TV,” remarks a cynical commentator midway through the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, he’s being dismissive in a calculated way toward an interviewee whose outlandish story he once said he trusted. But his description of what’s happening on screen isn't inaccurate. Superficially, two streaming movies chronicling a woman who insinuates herself into the worlds of online influencers and then murders them seems like a modern-day version of a tawdry but network-approved Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect about Influencers remains just how superior it proves to be than plenty of its competition, irrespective of where you watch it. It is precisely the thriller capable of giving its peers a serious bout of FOMO.

Recapping the First Film and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer follows the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) while she methodically selects traveling alone social media targets, entices them to their doom, and conceals those murders (for a time) by seizing control of their socials. The film concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on an uninhabited island near the coast of Thailand, following her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles against her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers a degree of ambiguity, when returning writer-director the director picks up with the character CW contentedly residing with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey to celebrate their first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW's attention and ire.

CW remarks to Diane that a person should try leaving a phone-addicted influencer somewhere without any devices and see whether they can make it. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Was CW radicalized by seeing the special treatment given to one fame-seeker?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, eventually clarifying those introductory moments' place in the timeline. Harder catches up with Madison, now cleared of carrying out CW’s crimes, yet still encounters doubt over her recounting of the events, which includes the murder of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali attempting to juice his career as half of a right-wing-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his chosen platform involves masculine-focused livestreams, as opposed to the curated images that normally capture CW's interest.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in the part, which seems particularly custom-fit to her strengths. (She even created CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) While the follow-up's focus tips heavily toward CW — the first film felt more equally divided between her and Madison — it still functions as a story of rival investigators, with both women employ fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and a seemingly unlimited travel budget to chase or evade each other. Then again, maybe the unlimited budget aren't needed. Online personalities possess a knack for getting to explore posh places at little cost, an ability which CW mirrors with her more overt scamming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers appear equally resourceful about finding beautiful places to film, though they were presumably less nefarious in their methods. The vast majority of the film appears to be filmed in real places, providing it an authentic gravity that lingers even when numerous sequences consist of a relatively small cast of people staring at computer or phone screens.

It follows the same logic that made the Bond franchise look so persistently lavish over the years: Indeed, explosive action and visual effects can show off large spending, however simply offering a kind of visual tour to viewers also seems inherently cinematic. It’s also particularly appropriate for a narrative so rooted in the simultaneous superficial glamour and try-hard grind of creating jealousy-worthy digital content.

Every character visiting Bali, like those staying in Thailand in the first film, seem to have entry to unbelievably stylish contemporary villas; there are movies about lifeguards which don't feature as much overhead swimming-pool video. The characters must believably inhabit these lush, remote places to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how frequently each person — including the woman exacting revenge upon the online stars' self-centered phoniness — nonetheless spends plenty of time under the light of their devices.

Balanced Depictions and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, the director has not crafted a rant targeting the emptiness of online fame. While it is gratifying to see CW exploit different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense of alignment allows us to hope she doesn’t get caught, Harder is relatively sympathetic to the key influencer figures. Previously, he keyed into the isolation Madison felt during ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. In this film, Harder seems to trust that merely watching Jacob at work will reveal that he’s peddling snake-oil masculinity to other gullible men; he avoids caricaturing the character further. He even grants Jacob a degree of respect through depicting his true devotion to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not someone exploited of it.

The flip side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation is that it may occasionally seem as if he is acknowledging elements of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them further. This is particularly evident regarding how he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, a fascinating turn which misses the psychological edge it should have. The retitled sequel of Influencers could offer devotees of the original hope for a larger-scale escalation, and the film does eventually provide exactly that, with a suitably wild final act. However, initially, it’s more like a polished Hitchcock thriller than a frenzied, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations may also be what keeps it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. The world may be overrun with always-online creators, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but the world itself is still here, for now.