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“The entire situation smells like a cheap made-for-TV,” remarks a cynical commentator during the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, his tone is manipulatively dismissive of a guest with an bizarre tale he once claimed he believed. But his description of what’s happening in the movie isn’t wrong. Superficially, a pair of streaming movies chronicling a woman who worms her way into the lives of social media stars before killing them feels like a modern-day version of a lurid but network-approved weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers is how much better it is than plenty of its competition, irrespective of where you watch it. It’s the kind of suspense film capable of giving other movies a serious bout of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) while she methodically selects solo-traveling influencer targets, entices them to their deaths, and conceals those murders (for a time) by seizing control of their online accounts. The movie leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand, following her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles against her.

This lends 2025's Influencers some early ambiguity, as returning writer-director the director resumes with the character CW happily living with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking their first anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW's attention and ire.

CW comments to her partner that someone ought to attempt leaving a phone-addicted influencer in a place without any devices and see whether they can make it. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the special treatment given to a single fame-seeker?

Evolving Viewpoints and International Chases

The story’s perspective shifts several more times, ultimately revealing those early scenes’ chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, now cleared of committing CW's offenses, but still faces suspicion regarding her recounting of what happened, which includes the murder of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali attempting to boost his profile as part of a right-wing-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium is bro-heavy streams, as opposed to the Instagram photos that normally attract CW's interest.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in her role, a role that appears particularly tailor-made for her talents. (She also designed CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) While the sequel’s screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the first film seemed more balanced between the two women — it still works as a story of rival investigators, as Madison and CW employ fabricated profiles, Insta-stalking, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to pursue or evade each other. Of course, perhaps the unlimited budget isn’t necessary. Online personalities possess a talent for getting to explore luxurious locales at little cost, a skill which CW mirrors through her more blatant scheming.

Resourceful Production and Cinematic Travelogue

The creative team for Influencers seem similarly resourceful in locating beautiful places to visit, although they were likely less nefarious about it. The vast majority of the film appears to be shot on location, providing it a real-world weight that lingers even as many scenes involve a handful of actors of characters looking at computer or phone screens.

It follows the same logic that made the James Bond movies look so persistently lavish over the years: Indeed, explosive action and visual effects can show off a big budget, but simply offering a kind of visual tour for the audience also seems inherently cinematic. This is particularly appropriate for a story so dependent on the coexisting superficial glamour and desperate hustle of creating jealousy-worthy online content.

All of the characters visiting Bali, like those staying in Thailand in the first film, seem to have entry to impossibly chic contemporary villas; there are movies concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off this much aerial pool video. These individuals must believably 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 — nonetheless spends plenty of time in the glow of their devices.

Balanced Depictions and Tech-Savvy Tension

Simultaneously, Harder hasn’t authored a rant targeting the vacuousness of the influencer industry. While it is satisfying to watch CW manipulate various online personalities, and a Hitchcockian sense of alignment lets us to wish she doesn’t get caught, the filmmaker is somewhat understanding of the major influencer characters. Previously, he tapped into the loneliness Madison felt while on ostensibly dream getaways. Here, the director appears confident that merely watching Jacob in action will reveal that he is selling false masculinity to other doofuses; he avoids caricaturing the character further. He even grants Jacob a measure of dignity by showing his true devotion to his girlfriend; he is two-faced, but Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not someone exploited by it.

The flip side of this balanced approach means it can sometimes appear that he’s nodding at elements of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them further. This is particularly evident of the way he brings AI into the story, an intriguing development which misses the psychosexual kick it should have. The pluralized title of Influencers could offer devotees of the original expectations of an Aliens-style escalation, and the movie ultimately delivers exactly that, with a suitably chaotic climax. However, initially, it’s more like a sleek Hitchcock thriller than a frenzied, tech-addled Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations might also be what prevents it from coming across like utter horror. Our society may be overrun with always-online creators, digital deception, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself remains present, for now.