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“Everything about this smells like a cheap TV movie,” observes a cynical podcaster during the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way toward an interviewee whose outlandish story he previously said he trusted. Yet his assessment of the events in the movie isn't inaccurate. On its face, two streaming movies about a woman who insinuates herself into the lives of social media stars before killing them seems like a modern-day version of a lurid but network-approved weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect about Influencers is just how superior it is than plenty of its competition, regardless of screen size. It’s the kind of suspense film that should give other movies a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the First Film and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer tracks the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects traveling alone social media targets, entices them to their doom, and conceals those deaths (for a time) by seizing control of their socials. The movie concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on an uninhabited island near the coast of Thailand, after her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles on her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers a degree of mystery, as returning writer-director the director resumes with CW contentedly residing alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking the couple’s one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW’s eye and ire.

CW comments to her partner that someone should try stranding a phone-addicted online personality in a place without any devices to see whether they can make it. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Was CW radicalized after witnessing the preferential treatment afforded one fame-seeker?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those early scenes’ chronological position. The story revisits Madison, who has been cleared of carrying out CW's offenses, yet still encounters doubt over her version of what happened, which includes the killing of Madison’s boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to juice his career as half of a right-wing-influencer power couple alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), though his chosen platform involves masculine-focused livestreams, as opposed to the Instagram photos that normally capture CW’s attention.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in her role, a role that appears particularly tailor-made to her strengths. (She also designed CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) While the sequel’s screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the original seemed more balanced between the two women — it still functions as a tale of rival investigators, as Madison and CW both use fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to chase or evade one another. Then again, perhaps the vast resources isn’t necessary. Influencers have a knack for getting to explore posh places at little cost, a skill which CW mirrors with her more overt scheming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The creative team for Influencers appear equally resourceful about finding beautiful places to visit, although they were presumably less nefarious in their methods. The vast majority of the film appears to be shot on location, providing it a real-world weight that lingers even when many scenes involve a handful of actors of characters staring at computer or phone screens.

It’s the same principle which allowed the James Bond movies look so persistently lavish over the years: Yes, explosive action and special effects can display a big budget, however simply offering a kind of visual tour for the audience also feels deeply filmic. It’s also especially fitting for a story so dependent on the coexisting surface-level allure and try-hard grind involved in producing jealousy-worthy digital content.

Every character in Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the first film, appear to enjoy access to impossibly chic modern bungalows; films exist about lifeguards which don't feature as much overhead swimming-pool video. The characters must believably inhabit these luxurious, far-flung locations to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how often everyone — even the woman exacting revenge upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — nevertheless spends plenty of time under the light of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Tech-Savvy Tension

At the same time, Harder hasn’t authored a screed targeting the emptiness of online fame. While it can be satisfying to watch CW exploit various online personalities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of alignment allows us to wish she doesn’t get caught, Harder is relatively understanding of the key influencer figures. Previously, he tapped into the isolation Madison felt while on ostensibly dream getaways. Here, Harder seems to trust that just observing Jacob at work will make it clear that he is selling snake-oil masculinity to other gullible men; he resists caricaturing the character further. He even grants Jacob a measure of dignity by showing his genuine loyalty to his partner; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a collaborator in his hypocrisy, not a victim by it.

The other side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation is that it may occasionally seem that he is acknowledging elements of modern online life without deeply exploring them further. This is particularly evident of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, a fascinating turn that lacks the psychological edge it deserves. The retitled sequel of Influencers might give devotees of the original expectations of an Aliens-style escalation, and the film ultimately delivers that, with an appropriately chaotic climax. But before that, it resembles more a polished Hitchcock thriller than a frenzied, tech-addled Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ extensive use of actual places may also be what keeps it from coming across like pure nightmare fuel. The world might be saturated with always-online creators, online fraud, and exploitative travel, but the world itself remains present, for now.