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“Everything about this reeks of a cheap TV movie,” observes an opportunistic commentator midway through the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, he’s being manipulatively dismissive toward an interviewee whose bizarre tale he once claimed he believed. Yet his description of what’s happening in the movie isn't inaccurate. Superficially, two streaming movies chronicling a woman who insinuates herself into the worlds of social media stars and then murders them seems like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid yet network-approved Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers is how much better it proves to be compared to much of its competition, irrespective of where you watch it. It is precisely the suspense film capable of giving its peers a serious bout of FOMO.

Recapping the First Film and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer tracks the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she quietly chooses solo-traveling social media targets, lures them to their deaths, and covers up those murders (for a time) by taking control of their online accounts. The movie concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand, following her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles on her.

This provides 2025's Influencers some early mystery, as returning filmmaker the director resumes with the character CW contentedly residing alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip to celebrate their one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW’s eye and anger.

CW remarks to Diane that a person ought to attempt stranding a device-obsessed online personality in a place with no technology and see whether they can make it. Is this an origin-story prequel? Was CW radicalized by seeing the preferential treatment given to a single fame-seeker?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The narrative viewpoint changes multiple times, eventually clarifying those early scenes’ chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been cleared of carrying out CW's offenses, but still faces doubt over her version of the events, which includes the killing of Madison’s boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali attempting to boost his profile as half of a right-wing-influencer duo with Ariana (Veronica Long), though his preferred medium involves masculine-focused livestreams, as opposed to the Instagram photos that normally attract CW's interest.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in her role, which seems especially tailor-made to her strengths. (She even created CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) While the sequel’s screentime balance leans heavily into CW — the original seemed more balanced between the two women — it still works as a story of rival amateur detectives, as Madison and CW both use fake accounts, social media surveillance, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to chase or evade one another. Then again, perhaps the vast resources isn’t necessary. Online personalities possess a knack for getting to explore luxurious locales without paying much, a skill which CW mirrors with her more overt scheming.

Resourceful Production and Visual Wanderlust

The filmmakers behind Influencers seem similarly resourceful in locating stunning locations to visit, though they were likely more legitimate in their methods. Most of the film appears to be shot on location, giving it a real-world weight that remains even as numerous sequences consist of a handful of actors of people looking at computer or phone screens.

It follows the same logic which allowed the James Bond movies appear so persistently lavish over the years: Yes, big action and visual effects can display a big budget, but simply offering a kind of visual tour for the audience also seems inherently cinematic. This is especially fitting for a narrative so dependent on the coexisting surface-level allure and try-hard grind of creating envy-inducing online content.

Every character in Bali, like those staying in Thailand in the first film, appear to enjoy access to unbelievably stylish contemporary villas; films exist about lifeguards that don’t show off as much overhead swimming-pool video. The characters must believably inhabit these luxurious, far-flung locations to emphasize the uneasy irony of how often each person — including the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ self-centered phoniness — nevertheless spends plenty of time in the glow of their devices.

Nuanced Portrayals and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, the director has not crafted a screed targeting the vacuousness of online fame. Though it is satisfying to watch CW manipulate various online personalities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification lets us to hope she evades capture, the filmmaker is somewhat understanding of the key influencer figures. In the first movie, he tapped into the loneliness Madison experienced during 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 gullible men; he avoids turning into a caricature the character further. He even grants Jacob a degree of respect through depicting his genuine loyalty 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 modern online life without investigating them further. This is particularly evident regarding how he brings AI into the plot, a fascinating turn which misses the psychological edge it should have. The pluralized title of Influencers might give devotees of the original expectations of an Aliens-style escalation, and the movie does eventually provide exactly that, with an appropriately chaotic climax. However, initially, it resembles more a polished Hitchcock thriller than a wild-eyed, tech-addled Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ extensive use of actual places might also be what prevents it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. The world may be overrun with content-churning influencers, digital deception, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself is still here, for now.