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“Everything about this stinks of a cheap TV movie,” remarks an opportunistic commentator midway through the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way toward an interviewee with an outlandish story he once claimed he believed. But his assessment of what’s happening in the movie isn't inaccurate. On its face, two films on demand about a woman who worms her way into the lives of online influencers 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 compared to much of the competition, irrespective of screen size. It’s the kind of thriller that should give its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Establishing the Scene

The 2022 film Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) while she methodically selects solo-traveling influencer targets, entices them to their deaths, and covers up those deaths (at least temporarily) by taking control of their socials. The movie leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on an uninhabited island off the coast of Thailand, after her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This provides 2025's Influencers a degree of mystery, when returning writer-director the director picks up with CW happily living with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey to celebrate their first anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW’s eye and anger.

CW comments to Diane that someone ought to attempt leaving a device-obsessed online personality in a place with no technology and see if they can survive. Is this an origin-story prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the special treatment afforded a single clout-chaser?

Evolving Viewpoints and International Chases

The story’s perspective shifts several more times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' place in the timeline. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been cleared of committing CW's offenses, but still faces suspicion regarding her recounting of what happened, including the killing of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to juice his career as part of a right-wing-influencer power couple alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), though his preferred medium involves masculine-focused livestreams, as opposed to the curated images that normally capture CW’s attention.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in the part, which seems especially tailor-made to her strengths. (She also designed CW's eye-catching outfits.) While the follow-up's screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the first film seemed more balanced between her and Madison — it still works as a story of dueling amateur detectives, as Madison and CW employ fake accounts, social media surveillance, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to pursue or evade one another. Of course, perhaps the vast resources aren't needed. Influencers have a knack for gaining access to luxurious locales at little cost, a skill which CW mirrors with her more overt scheming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers appear equally ingenious in locating beautiful places to film, although they were likely more legitimate about it. Most of the film appears to be shot on location, providing it a real-world weight that remains even when numerous sequences involve a handful of actors of people staring at computer or phone screens.

It’s the same principle that made the James Bond movies appear so persistently lavish for decades: Yes, explosive action and visual effects can display large spending, but just providing a kind of visual tour to viewers also seems inherently cinematic. This is particularly appropriate for a narrative so rooted in the coexisting superficial glamour and try-hard grind of creating jealousy-worthy online content.

Every character visiting Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the first film, seem to have entry to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; there are movies about lifeguards which don't feature as much overhead swimming-pool video. These individuals have to convincingly occupy these lush, far-flung locations to highlight the uneasy irony of how often each person — including the woman wreaking vengeance on the influencers’ narcissistic falseness — nevertheless devotes much time in the glow of their devices.

Balanced Depictions and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, the director has not crafted a screed against the vacuousness of online fame. Though it can be gratifying to watch CW exploit different internet celebrities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification allows us to wish she doesn’t get caught, the filmmaker is somewhat sympathetic to the key influencer figures. In the first movie, he tapped into the loneliness Madison felt during supposedly envy-worthy vacations. Here, Harder seems to trust that just observing Jacob in action will reveal that he is selling snake-oil masculinity to other gullible men; he avoids caricaturing the character further. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity through depicting his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, yet Ariana is a partner in his hypocrisy, not a victim of it.

The flip side of this balanced approach means it may occasionally seem as if he’s nodding at bits of modern online life without deeply exploring them. 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 retitled sequel for the film could offer fans of the first movie expectations of a larger-scale escalation, and the movie does eventually provide that, with a suitably wild final act. But before that, it’s more like a polished Hitchcock thriller than a frenzied, technology-obsessed De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations might also be what prevents it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. Our society might be saturated with content-churning influencers, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but the world itself remains present, at least for now.