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“The entire situation reeks like a cheap made-for-TV,” observes an opportunistic podcaster midway through the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, he’s being manipulatively dismissive of a guest whose outlandish story he once claimed he believed. But his assessment of what’s happening on screen isn't inaccurate. On its face, two streaming movies chronicling a woman who worms her way into the lives of online influencers before killing them seems like the 21st-century equivalent of a tawdry but network-approved weekly TV movie. The wild thing about Influencers is just how superior it proves to be compared to much of the competition, regardless of where you watch it. It’s the kind of thriller that should give its peers a serious bout of FOMO.

Revisiting the First Film and Setting the Stage

The 2022 film Influencer tracks the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) while she methodically selects solo-traveling social media targets, lures them to their doom, and conceals those murders (for a time) by seizing control of their online accounts. The movie leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, after her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles against her.

This provides 2025's Influencers a degree of mystery, as returning filmmaker the director picks up with CW happily living with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey marking the couple’s one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW’s eye and anger.

CW comments to her partner that someone should try stranding a phone-addicted online personality somewhere with no technology and see if they can make it. Are we witnessing an origin-story prequel? Was CW radicalized by seeing the preferential treatment given to a single 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, now cleared of carrying out CW’s crimes, yet still encounters suspicion regarding her version of the events, which includes the murder of Madison’s boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to juice his career as half of a conservative-influencer duo with Ariana (Veronica Long), although his chosen platform is bro-heavy streams, as opposed to the curated images that typically capture CW's interest.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in the part, which seems particularly tailor-made to her strengths. (She even created CW's striking outfits.) Although the follow-up's focus leans heavily into CW — the original felt more equally divided between the two women — it still works as a story of dueling investigators, as Madison and CW employ fake accounts, Insta-stalking, and an apparently limitless travel fund to pursue and/or escape each other. Of course, perhaps the unlimited budget aren't needed. Influencers have a knack for gaining access to posh places without paying much, an ability which CW mirrors through her more blatant scamming.

Resourceful Production and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers appear equally resourceful in locating beautiful places to film, although they were likely more legitimate in their methods. Most of the movie seems to be filmed in real places, providing it an authentic gravity that remains even when many scenes consist of a handful of actors of people staring at digital devices.

It follows the same logic which allowed the James Bond movies appear so consistently opulent over the years: Yes, big action and visual effects can show off large spending, but just providing a kind of visual tour for the audience also seems inherently cinematic. This is particularly appropriate for a story so rooted in the simultaneous superficial glamour and try-hard grind involved in producing jealousy-worthy online content.

Every character in Bali, similar to those who were in Thailand in the original, seem to have entry to impossibly chic contemporary villas; films exist concerning beach rescuers which don't feature this much overhead swimming-pool footage. 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' self-centered phoniness — nevertheless spends plenty of time in the glow of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Tech-Savvy Tension

At the same time, Harder hasn’t authored a screed against the emptiness of online fame. Though it is gratifying to watch CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of alignment lets us to wish she evades capture, the filmmaker is relatively understanding of the major influencer characters. In the first movie, he keyed into the isolation Madison felt during ostensibly dream getaways. Here, Harder seems to trust that just observing Jacob in action will make it clear that he is selling snake-oil masculinity to other doofuses; he resists caricaturing the character. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect by showing his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a collaborator in his double standards, not someone exploited of it.

The flip side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation is that it can sometimes appear that he’s nodding at bits of modern online life without investigating them further. This is especially true regarding how he brings AI into the story, a fascinating turn which misses the psychosexual kick it deserves. The retitled sequel of Influencers could offer devotees of the original expectations of a larger-scale ante-upping, and the movie does eventually provide that, with an appropriately chaotic climax. But before that, it resembles more a sleek Hitchcock thriller than a wild-eyed, technology-obsessed De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations may also be what prevents it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. The world might be saturated with always-online creators, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but reality itself remains present, at least for now.