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“This whole affair reeks like a bad made-for-TV,” remarks an opportunistic commentator during the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way toward an interviewee with an outlandish story he once said he trusted. But his description of the events in the movie isn’t wrong. On its face, a pair of streaming movies about a woman who insinuates herself into the worlds of social media stars and then murders them seems like the 21st-century equivalent of a tawdry yet cable-ready Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect about Influencers remains how much better it is compared to much of the competition, irrespective of where you watch it. It’s the kind of thriller capable of giving other movies a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Establishing the Scene

The 2022 film Influencer follows the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) while she methodically selects traveling alone influencer targets, entices them to their deaths, and covers up those deaths (at least temporarily) by taking control of their socials. The film leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables against her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers some early ambiguity, when returning writer-director the director picks up with CW contentedly residing with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey to celebrate the couple’s one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW's attention and anger.

CW remarks to Diane that someone should try leaving a device-obsessed online personality somewhere without any devices and see whether they can survive. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist by seeing the special treatment afforded a single fame-seeker?

Shifting Perspectives and Global Pursuits

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, now exonerated for carrying out CW's offenses, yet still encounters suspicion over her recounting of the events, including the murder of Madison’s boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali attempting to juice his career as half of a right-wing-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), though his chosen platform is bro-heavy streams, rather than the Instagram photos that normally attract CW’s attention.

The actor continues to be terrifically magnetic in the part, which seems particularly custom-fit for her talents. (She also designed CW's striking wardrobe.) Although the follow-up's focus tips heavily toward CW — the first film felt more equally divided between the two women — it still functions as a tale of rival amateur detectives, as Madison and CW both use fake accounts, Insta-stalking, and an apparently limitless travel fund to chase and/or escape each other. Of course, maybe the vast resources isn’t necessary. Influencers have a knack for gaining access to posh places at little cost, a skill which CW mirrors with her more overt scamming.

Resourceful Production and Visual Wanderlust

The filmmakers behind Influencers appear equally resourceful in locating beautiful places to film, although they were likely less nefarious about it. The vast majority of the film seems to be shot on location, giving it a real-world weight that lingers even when many scenes involve a handful of actors of characters looking at digital devices.

It’s the same principle which allowed the Bond franchise appear so consistently opulent over the years: Indeed, explosive action and special effects can show off large spending, but simply offering a kind of visual tour for the audience also feels inherently cinematic. It’s also particularly appropriate for a story so rooted in the coexisting superficial glamour and desperate hustle of creating jealousy-worthy digital content.

Every character visiting Bali, like those staying in Thailand in the first film, seem to have access to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; there are movies about lifeguards which don't feature as much aerial pool footage. The characters must believably inhabit these lush, remote places to emphasize the uncomfortable paradox of how often everyone — including the woman wreaking vengeance upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — 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 against the vacuousness of online fame. While it is satisfying to watch CW exploit different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense of alignment allows us to wish she evades capture, the filmmaker is relatively understanding of the key influencer figures. Previously, he keyed into the loneliness Madison experienced during supposedly envy-worthy vacations. Here, Harder seems to trust that just observing Jacob in action will make it clear that he is selling snake-oil masculinity to other gullible men; he avoids turning into a caricature the character. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity by showing his true devotion to his partner; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a collaborator in his hypocrisy, not someone exploited of it.

The flip side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it may occasionally seem as if he is acknowledging bits of contemporary digital culture without investigating them further. This is particularly evident of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the story, an intriguing development which misses the psychological edge it deserves. The pluralized title for the film could offer devotees of the original expectations of an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the film ultimately delivers exactly that, with an appropriately wild final act. However, initially, it’s more like a polished Hitchcock thriller than a frenzied, technology-obsessed Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations might also be what keeps it from coming across like utter horror. The world might be saturated with content-churning influencers, digital deception, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself remains present, at least for now.