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“Everything about this stinks like a cheap made-for-TV,” observes a cynical podcaster during the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, he’s being manipulatively dismissive of a guest with an outlandish story he once said he trusted. Yet his assessment of the events on screen isn’t wrong. On its face, two films on demand about a woman who worms her way into the lives of online influencers 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 is how much better it is compared to much of the competition, regardless of where you watch it. It is precisely the thriller capable of giving other movies a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the First Film and Setting the Stage

The 2022 film Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) while she methodically selects solo-traveling social media targets, entices them to their deaths, and covers up those murders (for a time) by seizing control of their socials. The film concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on an uninhabited island off 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 mystery, as returning filmmaker Kurtis David Harder resumes with CW contentedly residing alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey marking their one-year anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW’s eye and ire.

CW comments to Diane that a person ought to attempt stranding a device-obsessed online personality somewhere without any devices and see if they can survive. Is this a backstory prequel? Was CW radicalized by seeing the preferential treatment given to one fame-seeker?

Evolving Viewpoints and International Chases

The story’s perspective shifts several more times, eventually clarifying those early scenes’ chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, now exonerated for carrying out CW’s crimes, yet still encounters doubt regarding her recounting of the events, including the killing of Madison’s boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to juice his career as part of a right-wing-influencer power couple alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), though his chosen platform involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the curated images that typically attract CW's interest.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in the part, a role that appears particularly tailor-made for her talents. (She also designed CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) Although the follow-up's focus leans heavily into CW — the first film seemed more balanced between the two women — it still works as a tale of rival amateur detectives, as Madison and CW both use fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to pursue and/or escape each other. Then again, perhaps the vast resources isn’t necessary. Online personalities possess a talent for gaining access to posh places without paying much, a skill which CW mirrors through her more blatant scamming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers appear equally ingenious in locating stunning locations to film, though they were presumably less nefarious about it. Most of the film appears to be shot on location, providing it an authentic gravity that lingers even as numerous sequences consist of a relatively small cast of people looking at digital devices.

It follows the same logic which allowed the James Bond movies look so consistently opulent over the years: Yes, explosive action and special effects can show off a big budget, but just providing a travelogue of sorts to viewers also feels inherently cinematic. It’s also particularly appropriate for a story so rooted in the simultaneous superficial glamour and desperate hustle involved in producing jealousy-worthy digital content.

Every character in Bali, similar to those who were in Thailand in the original, seem to have access to impossibly chic modern bungalows; films exist concerning beach rescuers which don't feature this much aerial pool video. These individuals have to convincingly occupy these luxurious, far-flung locations to emphasize the uncomfortable paradox of how frequently everyone — including the woman exacting revenge upon the online stars' self-centered phoniness — nevertheless spends plenty of time under the light of their devices.

Balanced Depictions and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, Harder hasn’t authored a screed targeting the vacuousness of the influencer industry. While it is gratifying to watch CW exploit different internet celebrities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of alignment lets us to hope she doesn’t get caught, the filmmaker is relatively sympathetic to the key influencer figures. Previously, he keyed into the loneliness Madison experienced while on ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. Here, Harder seems to trust that merely watching Jacob at work will make it clear that he’s peddling snake-oil masculinity to other doofuses; he resists caricaturing the character. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect through depicting his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he is two-faced, but Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not a victim of it.

The flip side of this balanced approach is that it can sometimes appear as if he is acknowledging elements of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them further. This is particularly evident of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, an intriguing development that lacks the psychosexual kick it should have. The retitled sequel for the film could offer fans of the first movie hope for a larger-scale ante-upping, and the film does eventually provide that, with a suitably chaotic climax. However, initially, it resembles more a sleek Hitchcock thriller than a wild-eyed, tech-addled Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations may also be what prevents it from coming across like utter horror. The world may be overrun with always-online creators, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but the world itself is still here, for now.