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“Everything about this reeks like a cheap made-for-TV,” remarks an opportunistic commentator during the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, he’s being dismissive in a calculated way of a guest with an bizarre tale he previously said he trusted. But his assessment of the events on screen isn't inaccurate. Superficially, two streaming movies about a young woman who insinuates herself into the worlds of online influencers and then murders them feels like a modern-day version of a tawdry yet network-approved weekly TV movie. The wild thing about Influencers is just how superior it is than plenty of the competition, regardless of where you watch it. It’s the kind of suspense film capable of giving other movies a serious bout of FOMO.

Revisiting the Original and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) while she quietly chooses traveling alone influencer targets, entices them to their doom, and covers up those murders (for a time) by seizing control of their socials. The film concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on an uninhabited island near the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This provides 2025's Influencers some early ambiguity, as returning writer-director Kurtis David Harder resumes with the character CW contentedly residing with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking the couple’s one-year anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW’s eye and ire.

CW remarks to her partner that a person should try leaving a device-obsessed online personality in a place without any devices to see whether they can survive. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Was CW radicalized after witnessing the special treatment given to a single clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, eventually clarifying those introductory moments' place in the timeline. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been exonerated for carrying out CW's offenses, but still faces suspicion over her recounting of what happened, including the murder of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali attempting to juice his career as half of a right-wing-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his chosen platform is bro-heavy streams, as opposed to the curated images that normally capture CW’s attention.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in her role, a role that appears especially custom-fit for her talents. (She also designed CW's eye-catching outfits.) Although the sequel’s focus tips heavily toward CW — the original felt more equally divided between her and Madison — it still functions as a tale of dueling investigators, with both women employ fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to pursue or evade each other. Then again, perhaps the vast resources aren't needed. Online personalities possess a talent for getting to explore posh places without paying much, an ability which CW mirrors with her more overt scheming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers appear equally resourceful in locating stunning locations to visit, though they were likely more legitimate in their methods. Most of the film appears to be filmed in real places, providing it an authentic gravity that lingers even when many scenes involve a handful of actors of people looking at digital devices.

It’s the same principle which allowed the Bond franchise appear so persistently lavish over the years: Indeed, big action and special effects can show off a big budget, however simply offering a kind of visual tour to viewers also seems deeply filmic. This is especially fitting for a story so dependent on the simultaneous superficial glamour and desperate hustle involved in producing envy-inducing digital content.

Every character visiting Bali, like those who were in Thailand in the original, seem to have entry to impossibly chic contemporary villas; films exist about lifeguards which don't feature this much aerial pool video. The characters have to convincingly occupy these luxurious, far-flung locations to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how frequently everyone — including the woman exacting revenge upon the online stars' self-centered phoniness — nonetheless devotes much time under the light of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Tech-Savvy Tension

Simultaneously, Harder hasn’t authored a rant against the vacuousness of online fame. While it is satisfying to see CW exploit various online personalities, and a Hitchcockian sense of alignment lets us to hope she evades capture, the filmmaker is somewhat understanding of the key influencer figures. Previously, he keyed into the loneliness Madison experienced during ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. In this film, the director appears confident that merely watching Jacob at work will make it clear that he is selling snake-oil masculinity to other doofuses; he resists caricaturing the character further. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect through depicting his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a partner in his hypocrisy, not someone exploited of it.

The flip side of this balanced approach means it may occasionally seem that he is acknowledging bits of modern online life without investigating them. This is especially true of the way he brings AI into the story, a fascinating turn that lacks the psychosexual kick it deserves. The retitled sequel for the film could offer fans of the first movie hope for a larger-scale ante-upping, and the film does eventually provide exactly that, with a suitably wild final act. But before that, it resembles more a sleek Hitchcock thriller than an frenzied, technology-obsessed De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of actual places might also be what keeps it from seeming like utter horror. Our society may be overrun with content-churning influencers, digital deception, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself remains present, for now.