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“This whole affair stinks of a bad made-for-TV,” states an opportunistic commentator midway through the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, he’s being dismissive in a calculated way toward an interviewee whose outlandish story he previously said he trusted. Yet his description of what’s happening in the movie isn't inaccurate. Superficially, two streaming movies about a young woman who worms her way into the lives of social media stars and then murders them feels like a modern-day version of a lurid but network-approved Movie of the Week. The wild thing regarding Influencers remains just how superior it proves to be compared to much of the competition, regardless of screen size. It’s the kind of suspense film that should give its peers a serious bout of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Establishing the Scene

The 2022 film Influencer tracks the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she quietly chooses traveling alone influencer targets, lures them to their doom, and conceals those deaths (at least temporarily) by taking control of their socials. The movie concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, after her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables against her.

This provides 2025's Influencers a degree of ambiguity, as returning filmmaker Kurtis David Harder picks up with CW happily living with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip to celebrate their one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW's attention and ire.

CW comments to her partner that someone should try leaving a device-obsessed online personality in a place with no technology and see whether they can survive. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the preferential treatment given to a single fame-seeker?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, eventually clarifying those early scenes’ chronological position. The story revisits Madison, now cleared of carrying out CW’s crimes, but still faces suspicion regarding her recounting of the events, including the murder of Madison’s boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali attempting to juice his career as part of a conservative-influencer duo with Ariana (Veronica Long), though his chosen platform involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the Instagram photos that normally attract CW's interest.

The actor continues to be terrifically magnetic in the part, a role that appears especially tailor-made for her talents. (She also designed CW's striking outfits.) Although the follow-up's screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the first film seemed more balanced between the two women — it still functions as a story of dueling amateur detectives, with both women employ fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and an apparently limitless travel fund to pursue or evade each other. Then again, perhaps the vast resources isn’t necessary. Online personalities possess a talent for getting to explore posh places at little cost, an ability which CW mirrors through her more blatant scamming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The creative team for Influencers appear equally ingenious in locating beautiful places to visit, though they were likely more legitimate in their methods. The vast majority of the film appears to be filmed in real places, giving it an authentic gravity that lingers even as numerous sequences involve a relatively small cast of people staring at digital devices.

It’s the same principle which allowed the James Bond movies look so persistently lavish over the years: Indeed, explosive action and special effects can show off large spending, however simply offering a travelogue of sorts for the audience also seems inherently cinematic. This is particularly appropriate for a story so dependent on the coexisting superficial glamour and try-hard grind of creating envy-inducing digital content.

Every character visiting Bali, like those who were in Thailand in the first film, seem to have access to unbelievably stylish contemporary villas; films exist concerning beach rescuers which don't feature as much aerial pool footage. These individuals have to convincingly occupy these luxurious, far-flung locations to emphasize the uncomfortable paradox of how frequently each person — even the woman wreaking vengeance on the influencers’ self-centered phoniness — nonetheless devotes much time under the light of their devices.

Nuanced Portrayals and Tech-Savvy Tension

At the same time, the director has not crafted a screed targeting the emptiness of online fame. While it can be satisfying to watch CW manipulate various online personalities, and a Hitchcockian sense of alignment allows us to hope she evades capture, Harder is somewhat understanding of the major influencer characters. In the first movie, he keyed into the loneliness Madison experienced during ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. In this film, the director appears confident that merely watching Jacob at work will make it clear that he’s peddling snake-oil masculinity to other doofuses; he avoids caricaturing the character. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity through depicting his true devotion to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, yet Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not someone exploited by it.

The flip side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it can sometimes appear that he’s nodding at elements of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them further. This is especially true regarding how he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, an intriguing development that lacks the psychological edge it deserves. The retitled sequel for the film could offer devotees of the original hope for a larger-scale ante-upping, and the film does eventually provide exactly that, with a suitably wild final act. However, initially, it resembles more a sleek Alfred Hitchcock movie than a frenzied, technology-obsessed Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations might also be what keeps it from seeming like utter horror. Our society might be saturated with content-churning influencers, online fraud, and exploitative travel, but reality itself is still here, for now.