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“The entire situation smells like a cheap made-for-TV,” remarks a cynical 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. But his assessment of what’s happening on screen isn't inaccurate. On its face, two films on demand chronicling a young woman who insinuates herself into the lives of online influencers and then murders them seems like a modern-day version of a lurid yet network-approved Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect about Influencers remains how much better it proves to be than plenty of the competition, irrespective of screen size. It is precisely the thriller that should give other movies a serious bout of FOMO.

Revisiting the First Film and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects solo-traveling social media targets, lures them to their doom, and covers up those murders (for a time) by seizing control of their online accounts. The movie leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on an uninhabited island off the coast of Thailand, following her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles on her.

This lends 2025's Influencers some early mystery, as returning writer-director the director resumes with the character CW happily living with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip to celebrate their one-year anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW's attention and ire.

CW comments to Diane that a person ought to attempt leaving a phone-addicted online personality somewhere without any devices to see if they can make it. Is this a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the preferential treatment afforded one clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those early scenes’ chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been cleared of committing CW’s crimes, but still faces doubt over her recounting of what happened, which includes the murder of Madison’s boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali and trying to juice his career as half of a conservative-influencer duo with Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium is bro-heavy streams, as opposed to the curated images that typically attract CW’s attention.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in the part, a role that appears particularly tailor-made for her talents. (She also designed CW's striking outfits.) Although 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, with both women both use fake accounts, Insta-stalking, and a seemingly unlimited travel budget to chase and/or escape one another. Then again, maybe the vast resources aren't needed. Online personalities possess a knack for getting to explore luxurious locales at little cost, an ability which CW mirrors with her more overt scheming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Visual Wanderlust

The creative team for Influencers appear equally resourceful about finding stunning locations to film, though they were likely more legitimate about it. The vast majority of the movie seems to be shot on location, providing it a real-world weight that lingers even when numerous sequences involve a handful of actors of characters looking at computer or phone screens.

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, however simply offering a kind of visual tour to viewers also seems inherently cinematic. It’s also especially fitting for a narrative so rooted in the simultaneous superficial glamour and desperate hustle of creating envy-inducing online content.

All of the characters in Bali, like those staying in Thailand in the first film, seem to have access to unbelievably stylish contemporary villas; there are movies about lifeguards that don’t show off as much aerial pool footage. These individuals must believably inhabit these lush, remote places to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how frequently everyone — even the woman exacting revenge upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — nevertheless devotes much time under the light of their screens.

Nuanced Portrayals and Tech-Savvy Tension

Simultaneously, the director has not crafted a screed against the vacuousness of the influencer industry. While it can be satisfying to see CW exploit various online personalities, and a Hitchcockian sense of identification lets us to hope she doesn’t get caught, Harder is relatively sympathetic to the key influencer figures. Previously, he keyed into the loneliness Madison felt while on ostensibly dream getaways. Here, the director appears confident that just observing Jacob in action will reveal that he’s peddling false masculinity to other doofuses; he resists turning into a caricature the character. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect through depicting his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, yet Ariana is a collaborator in his hypocrisy, not a victim by it.

The flip side of this balanced approach means it may occasionally seem as if he’s nodding at bits of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them. This is especially true regarding how he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, an intriguing development that lacks the psychological edge it deserves. The pluralized title for the film could offer devotees of the original hope for an Aliens-style escalation, and the film ultimately delivers that, with a suitably chaotic climax. However, initially, it resembles more a sleek Alfred Hitchcock movie than a wild-eyed, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations may also be what keeps it from seeming like utter horror. The world might be saturated with always-online creators, digital deception, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself remains present, for now.