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“Everything about this stinks like a cheap made-for-TV,” states an opportunistic commentator during the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, he’s being dismissive in a calculated way of a guest with an bizarre tale he previously said he trusted. Yet his assessment of the events in the movie isn’t wrong. On its face, two films on demand about a woman who insinuates herself into the worlds of social media stars before killing them seems like a modern-day version of a tawdry yet network-approved Movie of the Week. The wild thing regarding Influencers is just how superior it is compared to much of the competition, irrespective of where you watch it. It’s the kind of thriller that should give its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the First Film and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer tracks the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) while she methodically selects solo-traveling social media targets, entices them to their doom, and covers up those deaths (for a time) by taking control of their socials. The movie leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on an uninhabited island near the coast of Thailand, following her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles on her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers a degree of mystery, as returning writer-director the director picks up with the character CW contentedly residing alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking their one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW's attention and anger.

CW comments to Diane that someone should try leaving a phone-addicted influencer in a place without any devices to see if they can survive. Is this a backstory prequel? Was CW radicalized by seeing the special treatment given to a single fame-seeker?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, eventually clarifying those early scenes’ place in the timeline. The story revisits Madison, who has been cleared of committing CW’s crimes, yet still encounters doubt over her version of what happened, which includes the killing of Madison’s boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to boost his profile as half of a right-wing-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his chosen platform involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the Instagram photos that typically attract CW’s attention.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in her role, which seems especially custom-fit for her talents. (She also designed CW's striking wardrobe.) While the sequel’s screentime balance leans heavily into CW — the original felt more equally divided between the two women — it still works as a story of dueling amateur detectives, with both women both use fake accounts, social media surveillance, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to chase and/or escape each other. Of course, maybe the vast resources aren't needed. Online personalities possess a knack for getting to explore luxurious locales at little cost, a skill that CW echoes with her more overt scamming.

Resourceful Production and Visual Wanderlust

The creative team for Influencers appear equally resourceful in locating beautiful places to film, although they were presumably less nefarious about it. The vast majority of the movie appears to be filmed in real places, giving it an authentic gravity that remains even as numerous sequences consist of a relatively small cast of characters looking at digital devices.

It follows the same logic that made the James Bond movies appear so persistently lavish for decades: Indeed, explosive action and special effects can show off a big budget, however just providing a kind of visual tour for the audience also seems deeply filmic. This is particularly appropriate for a story so dependent on the coexisting surface-level allure and desperate hustle of creating jealousy-worthy digital content.

All of the characters visiting Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy access to unbelievably stylish contemporary villas; films exist concerning beach rescuers which don't feature as much aerial pool video. The characters have to convincingly occupy these luxurious, remote places to emphasize the uneasy irony of how frequently everyone — including the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ 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 rant targeting the emptiness of online fame. Though it is satisfying to see CW manipulate various online personalities, and a Hitchcockian sense of identification lets us to wish she doesn’t get caught, the filmmaker is relatively understanding of the key influencer figures. Previously, he keyed into the loneliness Madison felt while on ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. In this film, 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 resists turning into a caricature the character. He even grants Jacob a degree of respect by showing his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he is two-faced, yet Ariana is a collaborator in his double standards, not someone exploited of it.

The flip side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it may occasionally seem as if he is acknowledging bits of contemporary digital culture without investigating them further. This is especially true of the way he brings AI into the plot, an intriguing development which misses the psychosexual kick it should have. The retitled sequel for the film might give devotees of the original expectations of a larger-scale ante-upping, and the film ultimately delivers exactly that, with a suitably wild final act. However, initially, it’s more like a polished Alfred Hitchcock movie than an wild-eyed, technology-obsessed De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations might also be what keeps it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. Our society might be saturated with always-online creators, online fraud, and exploitative travel, but reality itself remains present, for now.