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“This whole affair smells of a bad made-for-TV,” states a cynical podcaster during the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, he’s being manipulatively dismissive toward an interviewee with an outlandish story he previously claimed he believed. Yet his assessment of what’s happening on screen isn't inaccurate. Superficially, two films on demand chronicling a young woman who insinuates herself into the lives of social media stars and then murders them seems like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid but network-approved weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers is just how superior it is than plenty of its competition, irrespective of where you watch it. It’s the kind of suspense film that should give its peers a serious bout of FOMO.

Revisiting the Original and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer follows the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects solo-traveling social media targets, entices them to their deaths, and covers up those deaths (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their socials. The movie leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, following her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles against her.

This provides the 2025 Influencers a degree of ambiguity, as returning filmmaker Kurtis David Harder picks up with CW contentedly residing with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey marking the couple’s one-year anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW's attention and anger.

CW remarks to Diane that a person ought to attempt leaving a device-obsessed online personality somewhere without any devices to see if they can survive. Are we witnessing an origin-story prequel? Did CW become extremist by seeing the preferential treatment given to a single clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and Global Pursuits

The story’s perspective shifts several more times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' chronological position. The story revisits Madison, who has been exonerated for committing CW's offenses, but still faces doubt over her recounting of the events, including the murder of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali attempting to juice his career as part of a right-wing-influencer power couple alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his chosen platform involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the curated images that normally attract CW’s attention.

The actor continues to be terrifically magnetic in the part, which seems especially tailor-made to her strengths. (She even created CW's eye-catching outfits.) Although the follow-up's focus tips heavily toward CW — the first film seemed more balanced between her and Madison — it still works as a story of dueling investigators, with both women both use fake accounts, social media surveillance, and a seemingly unlimited travel budget to pursue and/or escape each other. Then again, maybe the vast resources aren't needed. Influencers have a talent for getting to explore luxurious locales without paying much, a skill which CW mirrors with her more overt scheming.

Resourceful Production and Visual Wanderlust

The filmmakers behind Influencers appear equally resourceful about finding beautiful places to film, although they were presumably more legitimate about it. The vast majority of the film seems to be filmed in real places, giving it a real-world weight that remains even as many scenes involve a handful of actors of characters looking at digital devices.

It’s the same principle which allowed the James Bond movies look so persistently lavish over the years: Indeed, big action and visual effects can display large spending, however just providing a travelogue of sorts for the audience also feels inherently cinematic. It’s also particularly appropriate for a narrative so dependent on the coexisting superficial glamour and try-hard grind involved in producing jealousy-worthy digital content.

All of the characters visiting Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the first film, seem to have access to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; films exist about lifeguards which don't feature this much aerial pool footage. These individuals have to convincingly inhabit these lush, far-flung locations to highlight the uneasy irony of how frequently everyone — including the woman exacting revenge upon the online stars' self-centered phoniness — nonetheless spends plenty of time under the light of their screens.

Nuanced Portrayals and Tech-Savvy Tension

At the same time, Harder hasn’t authored a rant targeting the vacuousness of online fame. Though it can be satisfying to see CW exploit various online personalities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of alignment allows us to wish she evades capture, the filmmaker is relatively sympathetic to the major influencer characters. In the first movie, he keyed into the loneliness Madison felt while on ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. Here, the director appears confident that merely watching Jacob at work will make it clear that he’s peddling false masculinity to other doofuses; he resists turning into a caricature the character further. He even grants Jacob a degree of respect by showing his genuine loyalty to his partner; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not a victim by it.

The other side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it can sometimes appear as if he is acknowledging elements of modern online life without investigating them further. This is especially true regarding how he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, a fascinating turn which misses the psychosexual kick it should have. The retitled sequel for the film might give devotees of the original expectations of a larger-scale escalation, and the movie ultimately delivers that, with an appropriately wild final act. However, initially, it resembles more a polished Hitchcock thriller than an frenzied, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of actual places might also be what prevents it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. Our society might be saturated with always-online creators, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself remains present, at least for now.