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“The entire situation reeks like a cheap made-for-TV,” remarks an opportunistic commentator during the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, he’s being manipulatively dismissive toward an interviewee whose outlandish story he once claimed he believed. But his assessment of what’s happening on screen isn’t wrong. Superficially, a pair of streaming movies chronicling a woman who insinuates herself into the lives of online influencers before killing them feels like a modern-day version of a tawdry but cable-ready weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect about Influencers is just how superior it is compared to much of its competition, regardless of screen size. It is precisely the thriller capable of giving its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer tracks the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects traveling alone influencer targets, lures them to their doom, and conceals those murders (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their online accounts. The movie concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on an uninhabited island near the coast of Thailand, after her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles against her.

This provides 2025's Influencers a degree of mystery, when returning writer-director the director picks up with the character CW contentedly residing with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking the couple’s one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW's attention and ire.

CW comments to Diane that someone ought to attempt leaving a phone-addicted influencer in a place with no technology and see whether they can survive. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Was CW radicalized by seeing the preferential treatment given to one clout-chaser?

Evolving Viewpoints and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, ultimately revealing those early scenes’ chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been exonerated for committing CW’s crimes, but still faces suspicion over her version of what happened, which includes the murder of her boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali and trying to boost his profile as half of a right-wing-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), though his chosen platform involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the Instagram photos that normally capture CW’s attention.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in her role, which seems especially tailor-made for her talents. (She also designed CW's striking wardrobe.) While the follow-up's screentime balance leans heavily into CW — the original seemed more balanced between her and Madison — it still functions as a story of dueling amateur detectives, with both women employ fake accounts, social media surveillance, and an apparently limitless travel fund to chase and/or escape one another. Of course, perhaps the vast resources aren't needed. Influencers have a knack for getting to explore luxurious locales at little cost, a skill which CW mirrors with her more overt scamming.

Resourceful Production and Visual Wanderlust

The creative team for Influencers seem similarly resourceful about finding stunning locations to visit, though they were likely more legitimate in their methods. The vast majority of the film appears to be shot on location, giving it an authentic gravity that lingers even when many scenes consist of a handful of actors of characters staring at computer or phone screens.

It’s the same principle which allowed the Bond franchise look so consistently opulent for decades: Yes, explosive action and special effects can show off large spending, but simply offering a kind of visual tour to viewers also feels deeply filmic. It’s also particularly appropriate for a narrative so rooted in the simultaneous superficial glamour and desperate hustle of creating jealousy-worthy online content.

Every character visiting Bali, like those staying in Thailand in the original, seem to have access to unbelievably stylish contemporary villas; there are movies concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off this much overhead swimming-pool footage. These individuals must believably occupy these luxurious, remote places to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how frequently everyone — including the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ narcissistic falseness — nonetheless devotes much time in the glow of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Tech-Savvy Tension

At the same time, the director has not crafted a rant against the vacuousness of online fame. While it is gratifying to watch CW manipulate various online personalities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification allows us to hope she doesn’t get caught, Harder is somewhat understanding of the major influencer characters. Previously, he keyed into the loneliness Madison felt while on supposedly envy-worthy vacations. In this film, Harder seems to trust that just observing Jacob in action will make it clear that he is selling false masculinity to other gullible men; he resists caricaturing the character. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect through depicting his true devotion to his partner; he’s a hypocrite, yet Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not someone exploited by it.

The flip side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it can sometimes appear that he is acknowledging bits of modern online life without deeply exploring them. This is especially true of the way he brings AI into the story, a fascinating turn which misses the psychosexual kick it should have. The retitled sequel of Influencers might give devotees of the original hope for a larger-scale ante-upping, and the movie does eventually provide that, with an appropriately wild final act. However, initially, it resembles more a sleek Alfred Hitchcock movie than an frenzied, tech-addled Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ heavy use of actual places may also be what prevents it from coming across like utter horror. The world might be saturated with always-online creators, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but the world itself remains present, at least for now.