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“Everything about this smells like a cheap made-for-TV,” observes a cynical podcaster midway through the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, he’s being manipulatively dismissive of a guest with an bizarre tale he previously claimed he believed. Yet his assessment of the events on screen isn’t wrong. On its face, a pair of films on demand chronicling a woman who insinuates herself into the worlds of social media stars and then murders them feels 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 is precisely the thriller capable of giving its peers a serious bout of FOMO.

Revisiting the Original and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) while she methodically selects solo-traveling influencer targets, entices them to their doom, and covers up those murders (for a time) by seizing control of their socials. The film leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand, after her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles on her.

This provides the 2025 Influencers a degree of mystery, when returning filmmaker the director picks up with CW contentedly residing alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey marking their first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW's attention and ire.

CW comments to her partner that a person ought to attempt stranding a phone-addicted influencer in a place with no technology and see if they can make it. Is this an origin-story prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the special treatment afforded one clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The story’s perspective shifts several more times, ultimately revealing those early scenes’ place in the timeline. Harder catches up with Madison, now cleared of committing CW's offenses, but still faces doubt over her recounting of the events, which includes the murder of her boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali and trying to boost his profile as part of a right-wing-influencer power couple with Ariana (Veronica Long), though his preferred medium involves masculine-focused livestreams, as opposed to the curated images that typically attract CW's interest.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in her role, a role that appears particularly custom-fit to her strengths. (She also designed CW's eye-catching outfits.) While the sequel’s focus leans heavily into CW — the original felt more equally divided between the two women — it still functions as a tale of dueling amateur detectives, as Madison and CW employ fake accounts, social media surveillance, and an apparently limitless travel fund to chase and/or escape each other. Then again, maybe the unlimited budget aren't needed. Online personalities possess a talent for getting to explore posh places without paying much, a skill which CW mirrors with her more overt scheming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers seem similarly ingenious about finding beautiful places to film, although they were likely more legitimate in their methods. Most of the film appears to be shot on location, giving it a real-world weight that remains even as numerous sequences involve a handful of actors of people staring at computer or phone screens.

It’s the same principle which allowed the Bond franchise look so consistently opulent over the years: Yes, big action and visual effects can show off a big budget, but just providing a travelogue of sorts for the audience also seems deeply filmic. It’s also especially fitting for a story so dependent on the simultaneous superficial glamour and try-hard grind involved in producing envy-inducing online content.

Every character visiting Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy entry to unbelievably stylish contemporary villas; there are movies concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off this much aerial pool video. These individuals must believably inhabit these lush, far-flung locations to emphasize the uncomfortable paradox of how often each person — even the woman wreaking vengeance upon the online stars' self-centered phoniness — nevertheless devotes much time under the light of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Tech-Savvy Tension

At the same time, the director has not crafted a screed against the emptiness of the influencer industry. Though it is gratifying to see CW exploit different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense of alignment allows us to wish she doesn’t get caught, Harder is relatively sympathetic to the major influencer characters. In the first movie, he tapped into the loneliness Madison felt while on supposedly dream getaways. Here, the director appears confident that just observing Jacob in action will make it clear that he’s peddling snake-oil masculinity to other gullible men; he resists turning into a caricature the character further. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity by showing his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a collaborator in his hypocrisy, not someone exploited by it.

The other side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation is that it can sometimes appear as if he is acknowledging bits of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them further. This is particularly evident regarding how he brings AI into the plot, a fascinating turn that lacks 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 film does eventually provide that, with a suitably chaotic climax. But before that, it’s more like a polished Alfred Hitchcock movie than a wild-eyed, technology-obsessed De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations might also be what prevents it from coming across like pure nightmare fuel. The world might be saturated with content-churning influencers, online fraud, and exploitative travel, but the world itself remains present, at least for now.