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“This whole affair smells of a cheap made-for-TV,” remarks an opportunistic podcaster midway through the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, he’s being manipulatively dismissive toward an interviewee with an bizarre tale he once said he trusted. Yet his description of what’s happening on screen isn't inaccurate. Superficially, two films on demand chronicling a young woman who insinuates herself into the lives of social media stars before killing them feels like a modern-day version of a lurid but network-approved weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers is just how superior it proves to be than plenty of its competition, irrespective of where you watch it. It is precisely the suspense film that should give its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer follows the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects traveling alone social media targets, entices them to their doom, and conceals those murders (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their socials. The movie leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This provides 2025's Influencers a degree of mystery, when returning writer-director the director picks up with 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) draws CW’s eye and ire.

CW remarks to her partner that a person should try leaving a device-obsessed influencer somewhere with no technology and see if they can make it. Is this a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist by seeing the preferential treatment afforded a single clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those early scenes’ chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been cleared of committing CW’s crimes, but still faces doubt regarding her recounting of what happened, including the killing of her boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to juice his career as part of a conservative-influencer power couple with Ariana (Veronica Long), though his chosen platform involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the curated images that normally capture CW’s attention.

Naud remains immensely captivating in her role, a role that appears especially custom-fit to her strengths. (She even created CW's striking outfits.) Although the follow-up's focus leans heavily into CW — the first film felt more equally divided between her and Madison — it still functions as a tale of rival amateur detectives, with both women employ fake accounts, Insta-stalking, and a seemingly unlimited travel budget to pursue and/or escape one another. Of course, maybe the vast resources isn’t necessary. Online personalities possess a talent for getting to explore luxurious locales at little cost, a skill which CW mirrors with her more overt scamming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Visual Wanderlust

The filmmakers behind Influencers appear equally resourceful about finding beautiful places to visit, though they were presumably more legitimate in their methods. The vast majority of the movie appears to be shot on location, providing it a real-world weight that lingers even when many scenes involve a relatively small cast of characters looking at computer or phone screens.

It follows the same logic which allowed the James Bond movies look so consistently opulent for decades: Yes, explosive action and special effects can display a big budget, however just providing a travelogue of sorts for the audience also feels inherently cinematic. This is particularly appropriate for a narrative so dependent on the coexisting surface-level allure and desperate hustle involved in producing envy-inducing digital content.

Every character in Bali, like those staying in Thailand in the first film, appear to enjoy entry to unbelievably stylish contemporary villas; films exist about lifeguards which don't feature as much overhead swimming-pool footage. The characters have to convincingly inhabit these lush, far-flung locations to emphasize the uneasy irony of how frequently everyone — including the woman wreaking vengeance upon the online stars' self-centered phoniness — nonetheless spends plenty of time in the glow of their devices.

Balanced Depictions and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, the director has not crafted a screed against the emptiness of online fame. Though it is gratifying to see CW exploit different internet celebrities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of alignment lets us to hope she doesn’t get caught, Harder is relatively sympathetic to the key influencer figures. In the first movie, he tapped into the loneliness Madison experienced during ostensibly dream getaways. In this film, the director appears confident that just observing Jacob at work will reveal that he is selling false masculinity to other doofuses; he avoids caricaturing the character further. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect through depicting his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, yet Ariana is a collaborator in his double standards, not a victim by it.

The flip side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it can sometimes appear as if he’s nodding at bits of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them further. This is especially true of the way he brings AI into the plot, a fascinating turn which misses the psychological edge it deserves. The retitled sequel of Influencers might give devotees of the original hope for an Aliens-style escalation, and the movie ultimately delivers that, with a suitably wild final act. However, initially, it resembles more a polished Hitchcock thriller than an wild-eyed, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ heavy use of actual places might also be what keeps it from seeming like utter horror. Our society may be overrun with always-online creators, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself remains present, at least for now.