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“The entire situation stinks of a bad made-for-TV,” states an opportunistic podcaster during the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way of a guest with an outlandish story he once claimed he believed. But his description of the events on screen isn't inaccurate. Superficially, a pair of streaming movies about a young woman who worms her way into the worlds of online influencers and then murders them seems like a modern-day version of a lurid but network-approved Movie of the Week. The wild thing regarding Influencers remains how much better it proves to be compared to much of its competition, regardless of screen size. It is precisely the suspense film capable of giving other movies a bad case of FOMO.

Revisiting the First Film and Setting the Stage

The 2022 film Influencer tracks the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) while she quietly chooses solo-traveling social media targets, lures them to their doom, and conceals those deaths (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their socials. The film concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on an uninhabited island off the coast of Thailand, after her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles on her.

This provides 2025's Influencers some early mystery, when returning filmmaker Kurtis David Harder picks up with the character CW happily living alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking their first anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW's attention and ire.

CW remarks to Diane that someone should try stranding a device-obsessed influencer in a place with no technology and see whether they can make it. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist by seeing the special treatment afforded a single clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, now cleared of carrying out CW's offenses, yet still encounters suspicion over her recounting of the events, which includes the murder of Madison’s boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to boost his profile as part of a right-wing-influencer power couple alongside 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 her role, which seems especially custom-fit to her strengths. (She also designed CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) While the sequel’s focus tips heavily toward CW — the original felt more equally divided between her and Madison — it still works as a tale of rival investigators, with both women both use fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and a seemingly unlimited travel budget to chase and/or escape one another. Then again, maybe the unlimited budget isn’t necessary. Online personalities possess a knack for getting to explore posh places without paying much, an ability which CW mirrors through her more blatant scheming.

Resourceful Production and Cinematic Travelogue

The creative team for Influencers seem similarly resourceful in locating stunning locations to film, though they were presumably less nefarious about it. The vast majority of the movie seems to be shot on location, providing it a real-world weight that lingers even as numerous sequences involve a handful of actors of characters staring at computer or phone screens.

It’s the same principle that made the Bond franchise appear so consistently opulent for decades: Indeed, big action and special effects can show off a big budget, but just providing a travelogue of sorts to viewers also seems inherently cinematic. It’s also especially fitting for a narrative so rooted in the coexisting superficial glamour and try-hard grind involved in producing jealousy-worthy online content.

All of the characters in Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the original, seem to have entry to impossibly chic modern bungalows; films exist concerning beach rescuers which don't feature this much aerial pool footage. These individuals must believably inhabit these luxurious, remote places to highlight the uneasy irony of how frequently each person — even the woman exacting revenge upon the online stars' self-centered phoniness — nonetheless devotes much time in the glow of their screens.

Nuanced Portrayals and Digital-Age Suspense

Simultaneously, Harder hasn’t authored a rant against the emptiness of online fame. Though it can be gratifying to watch CW exploit various online personalities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification lets us to hope she doesn’t get caught, the filmmaker is relatively understanding of the key influencer figures. Previously, he tapped into the isolation Madison experienced while on ostensibly dream getaways. In this film, Harder seems to trust that just observing Jacob at work will reveal that he is selling false masculinity to other gullible men; he resists turning into a caricature the character. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity through depicting his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he is two-faced, yet Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not someone exploited by it.

The other side of this balanced approach means it can sometimes appear as if he’s nodding at elements of modern online life without deeply exploring them. This is particularly evident of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the story, a fascinating turn that lacks the psychosexual kick it should have. The pluralized title of Influencers might give fans of the first movie hope for an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the film ultimately delivers exactly that, with a suitably wild final act. However, initially, it resembles more a polished Hitchcock thriller than an wild-eyed, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations might also be what keeps it from coming across like utter horror. The world may be overrun with always-online creators, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but the world itself remains present, for now.