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“This whole affair smells like a cheap made-for-TV,” remarks an opportunistic podcaster during the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, he’s being dismissive in a calculated way of a guest whose outlandish story he previously said he trusted. Yet his description of what’s happening on screen isn’t wrong. Superficially, a pair of films on demand about a woman who insinuates herself into the lives of social media stars before killing them feels like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid but cable-ready weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers is just how superior it proves to be than plenty of the competition, regardless of screen size. It is precisely the thriller that should give its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Revisiting the First Film and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer tracks the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she quietly chooses traveling alone social media targets, entices them to their deaths, and conceals those deaths (at least temporarily) by taking control of their online accounts. The film concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on an uninhabited island near the coast of Thailand, after her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This provides 2025's Influencers a degree of ambiguity, as returning writer-director Kurtis David Harder resumes with CW happily living with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey marking their first anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW's attention and ire.

CW remarks to her partner that someone ought to attempt stranding a phone-addicted online personality somewhere with no technology and see if they can survive. Are we witnessing an origin-story prequel? Was CW radicalized after witnessing the special treatment given to one clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and Global Pursuits

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, eventually clarifying those introductory moments' place in the timeline. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been exonerated for committing CW’s crimes, but still faces suspicion regarding her version of the events, including the killing of her boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali and trying to juice his career as half of a right-wing-influencer power couple with Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium involves masculine-focused livestreams, as opposed to the curated images that typically attract CW’s attention.

The actor continues to be terrifically magnetic in her role, which seems especially custom-fit for her talents. (She even created CW's striking wardrobe.) While the sequel’s screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the original seemed more balanced between the two women — it still works 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. Of course, perhaps the unlimited budget isn’t necessary. Online personalities possess a knack for gaining access to luxurious locales at little cost, an ability which CW mirrors with her more overt scamming.

Resourceful Production and Visual Wanderlust

The filmmakers behind Influencers seem similarly resourceful in locating stunning locations to film, though they were presumably more legitimate in their methods. Most of the movie seems to be filmed in real places, giving it a real-world weight that lingers even when numerous sequences consist of a relatively small cast of characters staring at computer or phone screens.

It’s the same principle which allowed the Bond franchise look so consistently opulent over the years: Yes, 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 particularly appropriate for a story so dependent on the coexisting superficial glamour and try-hard grind of creating envy-inducing online content.

All of the characters in Bali, similar to those who were in Thailand in the first film, appear to enjoy access to impossibly chic contemporary villas; there are movies about lifeguards which don't feature as much aerial pool video. The characters have to convincingly occupy these luxurious, far-flung locations to emphasize the uncomfortable paradox of how frequently each person — including the woman wreaking vengeance upon the online stars' self-centered phoniness — nevertheless spends plenty of time under the light of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, the director has not crafted a screed targeting the vacuousness of online fame. Though it can be satisfying to watch CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense of alignment allows us to wish she evades capture, the filmmaker is relatively understanding of the major influencer characters. In the first movie, he tapped into the loneliness Madison experienced during supposedly envy-worthy vacations. In this film, the director appears confident that just observing Jacob at work will reveal that he is selling false masculinity to other doofuses; he avoids caricaturing the character. 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 is that 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 plot, an intriguing development that lacks the psychosexual kick it should have. The pluralized title for the film could offer devotees of the original hope for a larger-scale escalation, and the film ultimately delivers that, with an appropriately chaotic climax. However, initially, it resembles more a polished Alfred Hitchcock movie than a wild-eyed, technology-obsessed Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ extensive use of actual places may also be what keeps it from seeming like utter horror. Our society may be overrun with always-online creators, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but the world itself remains present, at least for now.