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“The entire situation reeks of a cheap made-for-TV,” remarks a cynical podcaster midway through the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, he’s being manipulatively dismissive of a guest with an outlandish story he previously said he trusted. Yet his assessment of what’s happening on screen isn’t wrong. On its face, a pair of films on demand chronicling 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 cable-ready weekly TV movie. The wild thing regarding Influencers is how much better it proves to be compared to much of the competition, irrespective of screen size. It’s the kind of suspense film capable of giving other movies a bad case of FOMO.

Revisiting the Original and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer tracks the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects traveling alone influencer targets, lures them to their deaths, and conceals those murders (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their socials. The film concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, following her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers a degree of ambiguity, as returning filmmaker Kurtis David Harder picks up with the character CW contentedly residing with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey marking the couple’s one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW's attention and ire.

CW remarks to her partner that someone should try stranding a device-obsessed online personality in a place with no technology to see whether they can survive. Are we witnessing an origin-story prequel? Was CW radicalized after witnessing the special treatment afforded one clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and Global Pursuits

The story’s perspective shifts several more times, eventually clarifying those early scenes’ place in the timeline. Harder catches up with Madison, now exonerated for carrying out CW's offenses, but still faces doubt regarding her version of what happened, which includes the murder of Madison’s boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali attempting to boost his profile as part of a right-wing-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the Instagram photos that normally attract CW’s attention.

Naud remains immensely captivating in the part, which seems particularly tailor-made to her strengths. (She also designed CW's striking outfits.) Although the follow-up's focus tips heavily toward CW — the first film seemed more balanced between her and Madison — it still functions as a story of dueling investigators, with both women both use fake accounts, social media surveillance, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to pursue or evade one another. Of course, maybe the vast resources aren't needed. Online personalities possess a knack for getting to explore posh places at little cost, an ability that CW echoes with her more overt scheming.

Resourceful Production and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers appear equally ingenious about finding stunning locations to film, though they were likely less nefarious in their methods. Most of the movie seems to be shot on location, providing it a real-world weight that lingers even as many scenes involve a handful of actors of people staring at digital devices.

It follows the same logic that made the Bond franchise look so consistently opulent for decades: Indeed, big action and visual effects can show off large spending, however simply offering a kind of visual tour for the audience also seems deeply filmic. It’s also especially fitting for a narrative so dependent on the coexisting superficial glamour and desperate hustle involved in producing envy-inducing digital content.

All of the characters in Bali, like those who were in Thailand in the first film, seem to have access to impossibly chic modern bungalows; films exist about lifeguards which don't feature as much aerial pool video. These individuals have to convincingly occupy these lush, remote places to emphasize the uneasy irony of how frequently everyone — including the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ narcissistic falseness — nevertheless spends plenty of time under the light of their devices.

Nuanced Portrayals and Digital-Age Suspense

Simultaneously, Harder hasn’t authored a screed targeting the vacuousness of the influencer industry. Though it is gratifying to watch CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense of alignment lets us to hope she doesn’t get caught, the filmmaker is somewhat understanding of the major influencer characters. Previously, he keyed into the loneliness Madison experienced while on ostensibly dream getaways. Here, Harder seems to trust that just observing Jacob at work will make it clear that he is selling false masculinity to other gullible men; he resists turning into a caricature the character. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity through depicting his genuine loyalty to his partner; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a partner in his hypocrisy, not someone exploited of it.

The other side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it may occasionally seem that he’s nodding at elements of modern online life without deeply exploring them. This is especially true regarding how he brings AI into the story, a fascinating turn that lacks the psychological edge it should have. The retitled sequel for the film could offer devotees of the original expectations of an Aliens-style escalation, and the film ultimately delivers that, with a suitably chaotic climax. But before that, it resembles more a sleek Hitchcock thriller than a wild-eyed, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ heavy use of actual places might also be what keeps it from coming across like pure nightmare fuel. Our society may be overrun with content-churning influencers, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but the world itself is still here, for now.