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“Everything about this reeks of a bad made-for-TV,” states an opportunistic commentator during the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, he’s being dismissive in a calculated way toward an interviewee with an outlandish story he once claimed he believed. Yet his assessment of the events on screen isn’t wrong. Superficially, two streaming movies about a young woman who worms her way into the worlds of social media stars before killing them seems like a modern-day version of a lurid yet cable-ready weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers remains just how superior it is compared to much of its competition, regardless of screen size. It is precisely the suspense film that should give other movies a serious bout of FOMO.

Recapping the First Film and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she quietly chooses solo-traveling social media targets, lures them to their deaths, and conceals those deaths (at least temporarily) by taking control of their online accounts. The film concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers some early mystery, as returning filmmaker Kurtis David Harder resumes with the character CW happily living alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey marking the couple’s first anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW’s eye and ire.

CW remarks to her partner that someone ought to attempt leaving a phone-addicted online personality in a place without any devices and see whether they can survive. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the special treatment afforded a single fame-seeker?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, eventually clarifying those introductory moments' place in the timeline. The story revisits Madison, now cleared of committing CW's offenses, but still faces suspicion regarding her recounting of the events, including the murder of Madison’s boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to juice his career as part of a conservative-influencer power couple alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the Instagram photos that normally capture CW's interest.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in the part, which seems particularly custom-fit for her talents. (She even created CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) While the follow-up's focus tips heavily toward CW — the first film seemed more balanced between the two women — it still functions as a tale of rival investigators, with both women employ fabricated profiles, Insta-stalking, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to chase or evade one another. Then again, perhaps the unlimited budget aren't needed. Online personalities possess a knack for gaining access to luxurious locales at little cost, an ability that CW echoes with her more overt scheming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The creative team for Influencers appear equally resourceful in locating beautiful places to film, although they were likely less nefarious about it. Most of the film appears to be shot on location, giving it an authentic gravity that remains even when numerous sequences consist of a handful of actors of people staring at digital devices.

It’s the same principle which allowed the Bond franchise appear so persistently lavish over the years: Yes, big action and visual effects can display a big budget, however simply offering a kind of visual tour to viewers also feels inherently cinematic. This is especially fitting for a story so dependent on the coexisting surface-level allure and desperate hustle involved in producing envy-inducing digital content.

All of the characters visiting Bali, like those staying in Thailand in the first film, seem to have access to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; films exist about lifeguards which don't feature as much overhead swimming-pool footage. These individuals must believably inhabit these luxurious, far-flung locations to emphasize the uneasy irony of how often each person — including the woman wreaking vengeance on the influencers’ narcissistic falseness — nevertheless devotes much time under the light of their devices.

Nuanced Portrayals and Tech-Savvy Tension

At the same time, Harder hasn’t authored a screed targeting the vacuousness of online fame. Though it can be satisfying to see CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification lets us to hope she doesn’t get caught, Harder is relatively sympathetic to the major influencer characters. Previously, he keyed into the isolation Madison experienced while on ostensibly dream getaways. Here, Harder seems to trust that merely watching Jacob at work will make it clear that he is selling false masculinity to other doofuses; he resists caricaturing the character further. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity by showing his genuine loyalty to his partner; he is two-faced, but Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not someone exploited of it.

The other side of this balanced approach is that it can sometimes appear that he is acknowledging bits of modern online life without deeply exploring them. This is especially true regarding how he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, a fascinating turn that lacks the psychosexual kick it deserves. The pluralized title for the film might give fans of the first movie expectations of an Aliens-style escalation, and the movie ultimately delivers that, with a suitably wild final act. But before that, it resembles more a polished Alfred Hitchcock movie than a wild-eyed, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of actual places might also be what prevents it from seeming like utter horror. The world may be overrun with always-online creators, digital deception, and self-serving tourism, but the world itself is still here, at least for now.