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“The entire situation reeks like a bad made-for-TV,” remarks an opportunistic podcaster midway through the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, he’s being manipulatively dismissive toward an interviewee with an bizarre tale he previously claimed he believed. Yet his description of the events on screen isn't inaccurate. Superficially, two films on demand about a young woman who worms her way into the worlds of social media stars and then murders them feels like a modern-day version of a tawdry but cable-ready Movie of the Week. The wild thing about Influencers is just how superior it is than plenty of its competition, regardless of where you watch it. It is precisely the thriller capable of giving other movies a serious bout of FOMO.

Revisiting the Original and Setting the Stage

The 2022 film Influencer tracks the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects traveling alone influencer targets, lures them to their deaths, and conceals those deaths (for a time) by seizing control of their socials. The film leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on an uninhabited island off the coast of Thailand, following her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles against her.

This lends 2025's Influencers some early mystery, as returning writer-director the director resumes with CW contentedly residing with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey to celebrate their first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW's attention and anger.

CW comments to her partner that a person should try stranding a phone-addicted online personality in a place with no technology and see whether they can survive. Are we witnessing an origin-story prequel? Did CW become extremist by seeing the special treatment given to one fame-seeker?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The narrative viewpoint changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, now cleared of committing CW’s crimes, but still faces suspicion regarding her recounting of the events, which includes the killing of Madison’s boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali and trying to boost his profile as part of a conservative-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his chosen platform is bro-heavy streams, 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 for her talents. (She even created CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) Although the follow-up's screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the original felt more equally divided between the two women — it still works as a tale of rival amateur detectives, with both women both use fabricated profiles, Insta-stalking, and an apparently limitless travel fund to chase or evade each other. Then again, perhaps the vast resources aren't needed. Influencers have a knack for gaining access to luxurious locales at little cost, a skill which CW mirrors with her more overt scheming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Visual Wanderlust

The filmmakers behind Influencers appear equally ingenious in locating stunning locations to film, although they were likely less nefarious about it. The vast majority of the film seems to be filmed in real places, providing it an authentic gravity that lingers even when numerous sequences consist of a relatively small cast of characters staring at digital devices.

It follows the same logic that made the Bond franchise look so persistently lavish over the years: Indeed, explosive action and visual effects can display large spending, however simply offering a kind of visual tour to viewers also feels deeply filmic. It’s also particularly appropriate for a story so rooted in the simultaneous superficial glamour and desperate hustle involved in producing envy-inducing online content.

All of the characters visiting Bali, like those staying in Thailand in the first film, appear to enjoy entry to impossibly chic contemporary villas; there are movies concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off this much overhead swimming-pool footage. These individuals must believably inhabit these lush, far-flung locations to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how frequently everyone — even the woman exacting revenge upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — nonetheless devotes much time in the glow of their devices.

Nuanced Portrayals and Tech-Savvy Tension

Simultaneously, the director has not crafted a rant targeting the vacuousness of the influencer industry. While it is gratifying to watch CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense of alignment lets us to wish she evades capture, Harder is relatively understanding of the major influencer characters. Previously, he keyed into the isolation Madison felt during supposedly envy-worthy vacations. In this film, the director appears confident that merely watching Jacob in action will reveal that he’s peddling false masculinity to other doofuses; he avoids caricaturing the character. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect by showing his true devotion to his partner; he’s a hypocrite, yet Ariana is a collaborator in his hypocrisy, not a victim by 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 investigating them. This is particularly evident of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, a fascinating turn which misses the psychosexual kick it deserves. The pluralized title of Influencers might give devotees of the original hope for an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the film ultimately delivers exactly that, with a suitably chaotic climax. However, initially, it resembles more a polished Hitchcock thriller than a wild-eyed, technology-obsessed Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ heavy use of actual places might also be what prevents it from coming across like utter horror. The world might be saturated with always-online creators, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but the world itself remains present, at least for now.