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“The entire situation stinks of a bad TV movie,” observes an opportunistic podcaster midway through the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way of a guest with an outlandish story he previously claimed he believed. Yet his assessment of the events on screen isn't inaccurate. Superficially, a pair of films on demand chronicling a woman who worms her way into the lives of social media stars before killing them feels like a modern-day version of a lurid but cable-ready Movie of the Week. The wild thing regarding Influencers is just how superior it proves to be compared to much of the competition, irrespective of where you watch it. It’s the kind of suspense film capable of giving other movies a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer tracks the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) while she quietly chooses traveling alone social media targets, lures them to their doom, and covers up those murders (at least temporarily) by taking control of their socials. The film leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This provides the 2025 Influencers some early mystery, when returning writer-director the director resumes with CW happily living alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey marking the couple’s first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW's attention and anger.

CW comments to Diane that a person should try leaving a device-obsessed influencer somewhere with no technology to see whether they can survive. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Was CW radicalized by seeing the special treatment given to one fame-seeker?

Shifting Perspectives and Global Pursuits

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' place in the timeline. The story revisits Madison, who has been cleared of committing CW’s crimes, yet still encounters suspicion regarding her recounting of the events, which includes the killing of her boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to boost his profile as half of a right-wing-influencer power couple with Ariana (Veronica Long), though his chosen platform involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the curated images that typically attract CW’s attention.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in her role, which seems particularly custom-fit for her talents. (She even created CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) Although the sequel’s screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the original felt more equally divided between the two women — it still functions as a story of rival amateur detectives, as Madison and CW both use fake accounts, social media surveillance, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to pursue and/or escape one another. Of course, maybe the vast resources aren't needed. Online personalities possess a talent for getting to explore posh places at little cost, an ability which CW mirrors through her more blatant scheming.

Resourceful Production and Visual Wanderlust

The creative team for Influencers appear equally resourceful in locating stunning locations to film, although they were presumably less nefarious in their methods. The vast majority of the film appears to be shot on location, giving it an authentic gravity that remains even as numerous sequences involve a relatively small cast of people looking 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, but simply offering a kind of visual tour for the audience also seems inherently cinematic. It’s also particularly appropriate for a narrative so rooted in the simultaneous surface-level allure and try-hard grind of creating envy-inducing online content.

Every character visiting Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy entry to impossibly chic modern bungalows; films exist about lifeguards that don’t show off as much overhead swimming-pool video. The characters must believably inhabit these luxurious, remote places to emphasize the uneasy irony of how frequently each person — even the woman wreaking vengeance upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — nevertheless spends plenty of time in the glow of their devices.

Balanced Depictions and Digital-Age Suspense

Simultaneously, the director has not crafted a rant against the vacuousness of online fame. While it is satisfying to watch CW exploit different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense of alignment lets us to wish she doesn’t get caught, Harder is somewhat sympathetic to the major influencer characters. In the first movie, he keyed into the isolation Madison experienced while on supposedly dream getaways. Here, the director appears confident that just observing Jacob at work will make it clear that he’s peddling false masculinity to other gullible men; he avoids turning into a caricature the character further. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect by showing his true devotion to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, yet Ariana is a collaborator in his double standards, not someone exploited by it.

The flip side of this balanced approach means it may occasionally seem that he is acknowledging elements of modern online life without investigating them further. This is especially true regarding how he brings AI into the story, an intriguing development which misses the psychosexual kick it deserves. The retitled sequel for the film might give devotees of the original hope for a larger-scale ante-upping, and the movie does eventually provide that, with a suitably wild final act. However, initially, it resembles more a sleek Hitchcock thriller than an wild-eyed, tech-addled Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ heavy use of actual places might also be what keeps it from coming across like utter horror. The world might be saturated with always-online creators, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but reality itself is still here, for now.