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“The entire situation smells like a cheap made-for-TV,” remarks an opportunistic commentator midway through the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, his tone is manipulatively dismissive toward an interviewee with an bizarre tale he previously said he trusted. But his assessment of the events in the movie isn’t wrong. On its face, two films on demand about a woman who worms her way into the worlds of social media stars and then murders them feels like a modern-day version of a tawdry but network-approved Movie of the Week. The wild thing regarding Influencers remains just how superior it is than plenty of its competition, irrespective of where you watch it. It is precisely the thriller capable of giving its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Revisiting the Original and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) while she methodically selects solo-traveling social media targets, entices them to their deaths, and conceals those murders (at least temporarily) by taking control of their socials. The film leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on an uninhabited island off the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles on her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers a degree of ambiguity, when returning writer-director the director resumes with the character CW contentedly residing alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking their one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW's attention and anger.

CW comments to her partner that a person ought to attempt stranding a phone-addicted influencer somewhere without any devices and see if they can survive. Is this an origin-story prequel? Was CW radicalized after witnessing the special treatment given to one fame-seeker?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The story’s perspective shifts several more times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' chronological position. 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 Madison’s boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to boost his profile as part of a conservative-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the Instagram photos that normally attract CW’s attention.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in her role, a role that appears particularly custom-fit to her strengths. (She also designed CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) Although the follow-up's focus tips heavily toward CW — the original seemed more balanced between the two women — it still works as a story of dueling investigators, with both women employ fake accounts, Insta-stalking, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to pursue and/or escape one another. Of course, maybe the vast resources aren't needed. Influencers have a talent for gaining access to posh places without paying much, a skill which CW mirrors with her more overt scamming.

Resourceful Production and Visual Wanderlust

The filmmakers behind Influencers seem similarly resourceful about finding stunning locations to film, although they were likely less nefarious in their methods. The vast majority of the movie appears to be filmed in real places, providing it an authentic gravity that remains even when numerous sequences involve a handful of actors of characters looking at digital devices.

It’s the same principle which allowed the Bond franchise appear so persistently lavish over the years: Yes, explosive action and special effects can show off a big budget, however simply offering a travelogue of sorts to viewers also seems inherently cinematic. This is particularly appropriate for a story so dependent on the coexisting surface-level allure and try-hard grind of creating envy-inducing online content.

All of the characters in Bali, like those who were in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy access to impossibly chic modern bungalows; there are movies concerning beach rescuers which don't feature as much aerial pool video. These individuals have to convincingly inhabit these luxurious, far-flung locations to emphasize the uneasy irony of how frequently each person — including the woman exacting revenge upon the online stars' self-centered phoniness — nonetheless spends plenty of time in the glow of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Digital-Age Suspense

Simultaneously, Harder hasn’t authored a rant against the vacuousness of the influencer industry. Though it can be satisfying to see CW exploit various online personalities, and a Hitchcockian sense of identification lets us to wish she evades capture, Harder is somewhat sympathetic to the major influencer characters. In the first movie, he tapped into the isolation Madison experienced during ostensibly dream getaways. 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 avoids turning into a caricature the character. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity by showing his genuine loyalty to his partner; he is two-faced, but Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not someone exploited by it.

The flip side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation is that it can sometimes appear as if he is acknowledging elements of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them further. This is particularly evident regarding how he brings AI into the plot, an intriguing development that lacks the psychosexual kick it deserves. The retitled sequel for the film could offer devotees of the original hope for a larger-scale escalation, and the film ultimately delivers exactly that, with an appropriately wild final act. However, initially, it resembles more a sleek Alfred Hitchcock movie than a wild-eyed, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations might also be what keeps it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. The world may be overrun with content-churning influencers, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but the world itself is still here, for now.