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“This whole affair stinks of a bad TV movie,” remarks an opportunistic commentator during the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, he’s being dismissive in a calculated way of a guest whose bizarre tale he previously claimed he believed. Yet his assessment of what’s happening on screen isn't inaccurate. On its face, two streaming movies chronicling a young woman who worms her way into the worlds of online influencers before killing them feels like the 21st-century equivalent of a tawdry but cable-ready Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect about Influencers remains just how superior it proves to be compared to much of its competition, regardless of screen size. It is precisely the thriller capable of giving other movies a serious bout of FOMO.

Revisiting the First Film and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she quietly chooses solo-traveling influencer targets, entices them to their deaths, and conceals those deaths (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their online accounts. The movie concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on an uninhabited island near the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles on her.

This provides 2025's Influencers some early mystery, when returning filmmaker the director resumes with the character CW happily living with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip to celebrate the couple’s first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW's attention and ire.

CW remarks to Diane that someone should try stranding a phone-addicted influencer in a place without any devices and see if they can make it. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist by seeing the special treatment given to a single clout-chaser?

Evolving Viewpoints and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, ultimately revealing those early scenes’ chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, now cleared of committing CW’s crimes, yet still encounters suspicion regarding her recounting of the events, which includes the killing of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali attempting to boost his profile as part of a conservative-influencer power couple with Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the curated images that typically attract CW's interest.

Naud remains immensely captivating in her role, a role that appears especially tailor-made to her strengths. (She even created CW's striking wardrobe.) Although the sequel’s screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the first film felt more equally divided between her and Madison — it still works as a tale of rival investigators, with both women both use fabricated profiles, Insta-stalking, and an apparently limitless travel fund to pursue and/or escape one another. Of course, maybe the unlimited budget isn’t necessary. Influencers have a knack for getting to explore posh places without paying much, a skill which CW mirrors with her more overt scheming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Visual Wanderlust

The filmmakers behind Influencers appear equally resourceful about finding beautiful places to film, though they were likely less nefarious about it. The vast majority of the film appears to be filmed in real places, giving it an authentic gravity that lingers even when many scenes consist of a relatively small cast of characters staring at computer or phone screens.

It’s the same principle which allowed the James Bond movies appear so consistently opulent for decades: Yes, explosive action and visual effects can show off large spending, however simply offering a kind of visual tour for the audience also feels inherently cinematic. It’s also especially fitting for a story so dependent on the coexisting superficial glamour and desperate hustle involved in producing jealousy-worthy digital content.

All of the characters in Bali, similar to those who were in Thailand in the first film, appear to enjoy access to unbelievably stylish contemporary villas; there are movies about lifeguards which don't feature this much overhead swimming-pool footage. The characters have to convincingly occupy these lush, far-flung locations to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how often everyone — even the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ self-centered phoniness — nevertheless devotes much time in the glow of their screens.

Nuanced Portrayals and Tech-Savvy Tension

Simultaneously, the director has not crafted a screed targeting the emptiness of online fame. While it is gratifying to watch CW exploit various online personalities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of alignment allows us to hope she doesn’t get caught, Harder is somewhat understanding of the key influencer figures. In the first movie, he tapped into the loneliness Madison experienced during supposedly dream getaways. Here, Harder seems to trust that merely watching Jacob at work will make it clear that he is selling false masculinity to other doofuses; he resists turning into a caricature the character further. He even grants Jacob a measure of dignity through depicting his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he is two-faced, but Ariana is a collaborator in his hypocrisy, not someone exploited of it.

The flip side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it can sometimes appear that he is acknowledging elements of modern online life without deeply exploring them further. This is particularly evident regarding how he introduces artificial intelligence into the story, a fascinating turn which misses the psychological edge it deserves. The retitled sequel for the film could offer fans of the first movie hope for an Aliens-style escalation, and the movie does eventually provide exactly that, with a suitably chaotic climax. But before that, it resembles more a sleek Alfred Hitchcock movie than an wild-eyed, technology-obsessed Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations may also be what keeps it from coming across like utter horror. Our society might be saturated with content-churning influencers, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself is still here, at least for now.