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“Everything about this stinks of a bad made-for-TV,” remarks an opportunistic commentator midway through the chilling follow-up Influencers. In the moment, he’s being dismissive in a calculated way toward an interviewee whose outlandish story he previously claimed he believed. But his assessment of the events on screen isn’t wrong. Superficially, two films on demand chronicling a young woman who worms her way into the worlds of social media stars and then murders them feels like a modern-day version of a lurid yet cable-ready Movie of the Week. The wild thing regarding Influencers is how much better it is than plenty of the competition, regardless of screen size. It’s the kind of thriller capable of giving other movies a serious bout of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Setting the Stage

The 2022 film Influencer follows the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects traveling alone social media targets, lures them to their deaths, and covers up those deaths (at least temporarily) by taking control of their online accounts. The movie concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on an uninhabited island off the coast of Thailand, after her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles against her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers some early mystery, when returning filmmaker Kurtis David Harder picks up with CW happily living with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey to celebrate their first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW’s eye and anger.

CW comments to her partner that a person should try leaving a device-obsessed online personality in a place without any devices and see whether they can survive. Is this an origin-story prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the preferential treatment given to a single clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint changes multiple times, eventually clarifying those early scenes’ place in the timeline. The story revisits Madison, now exonerated for carrying out CW's offenses, but still faces suspicion over her recounting of the events, including the killing of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali and trying to boost his profile as half of a right-wing-influencer power couple with Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the Instagram photos that normally capture CW's interest.

The actor continues to be terrifically magnetic in the part, a role that appears particularly custom-fit for her talents. (She also designed CW's striking wardrobe.) While the follow-up's screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the original seemed more balanced between the two women — it still works as a tale of rival investigators, as Madison and CW both use fake accounts, Insta-stalking, and an apparently limitless travel fund to chase or evade one another. Of course, perhaps the unlimited budget isn’t necessary. Online personalities possess a knack for getting to explore luxurious locales without paying much, an ability which CW mirrors through her more blatant scheming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Visual Wanderlust

The creative team for Influencers appear equally resourceful in locating beautiful places to visit, though they were presumably less nefarious about it. Most of the movie appears to be filmed in real places, giving it a real-world weight that remains even when numerous sequences consist of a relatively small cast of characters looking at computer or phone screens.

It’s the same principle which allowed the James Bond movies appear so consistently opulent for decades: Indeed, big action and special effects can show off a big budget, however just providing a travelogue of sorts to viewers also seems inherently cinematic. This is particularly appropriate for a story so rooted in the coexisting surface-level allure and try-hard grind of creating envy-inducing online content.

Every character visiting Bali, like those who were in Thailand in the original, seem to have access to unbelievably stylish contemporary villas; there are movies concerning beach rescuers which don't feature this much overhead swimming-pool footage. The characters have to convincingly inhabit these lush, far-flung locations to emphasize the uneasy irony of how often everyone — including the woman exacting revenge upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — nonetheless spends plenty of time under the light of their screens.

Nuanced Portrayals and Digital-Age Suspense

Simultaneously, Harder hasn’t authored a rant against the emptiness of the influencer industry. Though it can be gratifying to see CW manipulate various online personalities, and a Hitchcockian sense of identification allows us to wish she evades capture, Harder is somewhat understanding of the key influencer figures. Previously, he tapped into the loneliness Madison experienced during ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. Here, the director appears confident that merely watching Jacob at work will reveal that he’s peddling false masculinity to other doofuses; he avoids turning into a caricature the character. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect through depicting his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a partner in his hypocrisy, not a victim by it.

The flip side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation is that it may occasionally seem as if he’s nodding at bits of contemporary digital culture without investigating them. This is especially true of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, a fascinating turn that lacks the psychosexual kick it deserves. The retitled sequel for the film might give fans of the first movie hope for a larger-scale escalation, and the movie ultimately delivers exactly that, with a suitably chaotic climax. But before that, it’s more like a polished Alfred Hitchcock movie than an wild-eyed, technology-obsessed Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations may also be what prevents it from coming across like utter horror. The world may be overrun with content-churning influencers, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but reality itself is still here, at least for now.