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“The entire situation stinks like a bad TV movie,” states a cynical commentator during the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, he’s being dismissive in a calculated way toward an interviewee whose outlandish story he once claimed he believed. But his description of what’s happening in the movie isn’t wrong. On its face, two films on demand about a young woman who worms her way into the lives of online influencers and then murders them seems like a modern-day version of a lurid but network-approved weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers remains just how superior it is than plenty of its competition, regardless of screen size. It is precisely the thriller that should give other movies a serious bout of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Establishing the Scene

The 2022 film Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she quietly chooses traveling alone social media targets, lures them to their deaths, and covers up those deaths (at least temporarily) by taking control of their online accounts. The movie concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, after her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles against her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers some early ambiguity, as returning filmmaker the director resumes with CW contentedly residing alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking their one-year anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW’s eye and anger.

CW comments to her partner that a person ought to attempt stranding a phone-addicted online personality somewhere with no technology to see whether they can survive. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist by seeing the special treatment afforded a single clout-chaser?

Evolving Viewpoints and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint changes multiple times, eventually clarifying those introductory moments' place in the timeline. The story revisits Madison, now cleared of committing CW's offenses, yet still encounters 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 boost his profile as part of a right-wing-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), though his chosen platform involves masculine-focused livestreams, as opposed to the curated images that normally attract CW’s attention.

Naud remains immensely captivating in the part, which seems particularly custom-fit for her talents. (She also designed CW's striking outfits.) While the sequel’s screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the original seemed more balanced between her and Madison — it still works as a story of dueling investigators, as Madison and CW employ fake accounts, social media surveillance, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to chase and/or escape each other. Then again, maybe the vast resources aren't needed. Online personalities possess a talent for getting to explore luxurious locales at little cost, a skill which CW mirrors through her more blatant scheming.

Resourceful Production and Visual Wanderlust

The creative team for Influencers appear equally resourceful in locating beautiful places to visit, though they were presumably less nefarious in their methods. The vast majority of the film seems to be filmed in real places, giving it a real-world weight that lingers even when numerous sequences consist of a relatively small cast of people staring at computer or phone screens.

It follows the same logic that made the James Bond movies appear so consistently opulent for decades: Yes, big action and special effects can show off large spending, but just providing a travelogue of sorts for the audience also seems deeply filmic. This is especially fitting for a story so rooted in the simultaneous surface-level allure and desperate hustle involved in producing jealousy-worthy digital content.

All of the characters visiting Bali, like those staying in Thailand in the original, seem to have entry to impossibly chic modern bungalows; there are movies about lifeguards that don’t show off as much overhead swimming-pool footage. These individuals must believably occupy these lush, remote places to emphasize the uncomfortable paradox of how often everyone — even the woman exacting revenge upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — nonetheless devotes much time in the glow of their screens.

Nuanced Portrayals and Digital-Age Suspense

Simultaneously, the director has not crafted 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 alignment lets us to hope she evades capture, Harder is somewhat understanding of the major influencer characters. In the first movie, he keyed into the isolation Madison felt while on supposedly envy-worthy vacations. Here, the director appears confident that merely watching Jacob in action will reveal that he is selling false 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, yet Ariana is a collaborator in his double standards, not a victim of it.

The other side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it may occasionally seem that he is acknowledging bits of modern online life without deeply exploring them further. This is especially true of the way he brings AI into the plot, a fascinating turn that lacks the psychosexual kick it deserves. The retitled sequel of Influencers might give devotees of the original expectations of an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the movie does eventually provide exactly that, with a suitably chaotic climax. But before that, it resembles more a sleek Hitchcock thriller than an frenzied, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of actual places may also be what prevents it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. The world may be overrun with content-churning influencers, online fraud, and exploitative travel, but the world itself remains present, at least for now.