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“Everything about this smells of a bad made-for-TV,” remarks an opportunistic podcaster during 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 description of the events in the movie isn't inaccurate. Superficially, a pair of films on demand about a young woman who insinuates herself into the worlds of social media stars and then murders them feels like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid but network-approved weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers remains just how superior it proves to be compared to much of its competition, regardless of where you watch it. It is precisely the thriller that should give its peers a serious bout of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Setting the Stage

The 2022 film Influencer follows the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) while she quietly chooses solo-traveling social media targets, entices them to their doom, and covers up those murders (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their online accounts. The movie concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on an uninhabited island near the coast of Thailand, after her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles on her.

This provides 2025's Influencers some early ambiguity, when returning writer-director Kurtis David Harder picks up with the character CW happily living alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip to celebrate the couple’s one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW's attention and ire.

CW remarks to Diane that a person should try leaving a phone-addicted online personality in a place with no technology to see if they can make it. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist by seeing the special treatment afforded a single clout-chaser?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, ultimately revealing those early scenes’ place in the timeline. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been cleared of committing CW's offenses, yet still encounters doubt over her version of what happened, which includes the murder of her boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali attempting to boost his profile as half of a right-wing-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), though his preferred medium is bro-heavy streams, rather than the Instagram photos that typically attract CW's interest.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in her role, which seems particularly custom-fit to her strengths. (She even created CW's striking outfits.) While the follow-up's focus leans heavily into CW — the original seemed more balanced between the two women — it still works as a story of dueling investigators, as Madison and CW employ fabricated profiles, Insta-stalking, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to chase and/or escape each other. Then again, perhaps the unlimited budget aren't needed. Online personalities possess a talent for gaining access to posh places without paying much, an ability which CW mirrors with her more overt scamming.

Resourceful Production and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers seem similarly resourceful in locating beautiful places to film, although they were likely more legitimate about it. The vast majority of the film appears to be filmed in real places, providing it a real-world weight that lingers even as numerous sequences involve a relatively small cast of characters staring at digital devices.

It’s the same principle which allowed the Bond franchise appear so persistently lavish over the years: Indeed, big action and visual effects can show off large spending, however just providing a travelogue of sorts for the audience also seems deeply filmic. This is particularly appropriate for a narrative so rooted in the simultaneous superficial glamour and try-hard grind of creating envy-inducing online content.

All of the characters in Bali, like those staying in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy entry to impossibly chic modern bungalows; there are movies concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off as much aerial pool video. These individuals must believably occupy these luxurious, far-flung locations to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how often everyone — including the woman wreaking vengeance on the influencers’ self-centered phoniness — nevertheless devotes much time in the glow of their devices.

Nuanced Portrayals and Tech-Savvy Tension

At the same time, the director has not crafted a rant against the vacuousness of online fame. While it can be gratifying to see CW exploit different internet celebrities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of alignment lets us to wish she evades capture, the filmmaker is somewhat understanding of the major influencer characters. Previously, he tapped into the loneliness Madison experienced during ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. In this film, the director appears confident that just observing Jacob in action will make it clear that he is selling snake-oil masculinity to other doofuses; he resists turning into a caricature the character. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect through depicting his genuine loyalty to his partner; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a collaborator in his hypocrisy, not a victim by it.

The other side of this balanced approach means it can sometimes appear that he is acknowledging bits of modern online life without investigating them. This is especially true of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, an intriguing development which misses the psychosexual kick it should have. The pluralized title for the film could offer fans of the first movie expectations of an Aliens-style escalation, and the movie ultimately delivers that, with a suitably chaotic climax. But before that, it resembles more a polished Hitchcock thriller than a wild-eyed, technology-obsessed De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations may also be what keeps it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. The world may be overrun with always-online creators, online fraud, and exploitative travel, but reality itself remains present, for now.