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“This whole affair stinks like a bad made-for-TV,” observes a cynical podcaster during the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, his tone is manipulatively dismissive of a guest with an outlandish story he once claimed he believed. But his assessment of what’s happening on screen isn’t wrong. Superficially, a pair of films on demand chronicling a woman who worms her way into the worlds 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 proves to be than plenty of its competition, regardless of where you watch it. It is precisely the suspense film capable of giving other movies a serious bout of FOMO.

Revisiting the Original and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer follows the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she quietly chooses solo-traveling influencer targets, entices them to their doom, and conceals those deaths (at least temporarily) by taking control of their socials. The movie leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand, following her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables against her.

This provides 2025's Influencers some early mystery, as returning filmmaker the director resumes with CW contentedly residing with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip to celebrate their one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW's attention and anger.

CW remarks to Diane that a person ought to attempt stranding a phone-addicted online personality in a place without any devices to see whether they can make it. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Was CW radicalized after witnessing the special treatment given to a single clout-chaser?

Evolving Viewpoints and International Chases

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' place in the timeline. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been cleared of carrying out CW’s crimes, but still faces doubt over her recounting of what happened, including the killing of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based 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 normally capture CW's interest.

The actor continues to be terrifically magnetic in the part, a role that appears especially tailor-made to her strengths. (She also designed CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) While the follow-up's screentime balance leans heavily into CW — the first film felt more equally divided between the two women — it still works as a tale of rival amateur detectives, as Madison and CW both use fabricated profiles, Insta-stalking, and a seemingly unlimited travel budget to chase or evade each other. Of course, maybe the unlimited budget isn’t necessary. Online personalities possess a knack for getting to explore posh places at little cost, an ability which CW mirrors through her more blatant scheming.

Resourceful Production and Cinematic Travelogue

The creative team for Influencers appear equally resourceful about finding beautiful places to visit, 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 as many scenes involve a handful of actors of people staring at computer or phone screens.

It follows the same logic that made the James Bond movies look so persistently lavish over the years: Yes, big action and visual effects can show off a big budget, however simply offering a kind of visual tour to viewers also feels deeply filmic. This is especially fitting for a narrative so rooted in the coexisting superficial glamour and desperate hustle of creating jealousy-worthy digital content.

All of the characters in Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the first film, appear to enjoy entry to impossibly chic modern bungalows; there are movies about lifeguards that don’t show off as much overhead swimming-pool footage. The characters have to convincingly inhabit these luxurious, far-flung locations to emphasize the uncomfortable paradox of how frequently each person — even the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ self-centered phoniness — nonetheless devotes much time in the glow of their devices.

Balanced Depictions and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, Harder hasn’t authored a rant targeting the vacuousness of online fame. While it is satisfying to see CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense of identification allows us to wish she evades capture, Harder is relatively sympathetic to the major influencer characters. Previously, he tapped into the isolation Madison felt during ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. In this film, Harder seems to trust that merely watching Jacob in action will make it clear that he is selling snake-oil masculinity to other gullible men; he avoids turning into a caricature the character further. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity through depicting his genuine loyalty to his partner; he is two-faced, yet Ariana is a partner in his hypocrisy, not a victim of it.

The other side of this balanced approach means it can sometimes appear that he is acknowledging bits of modern online life without investigating them. This is particularly evident regarding how he brings AI into the story, a fascinating turn which misses the psychosexual kick it deserves. The pluralized title for the film might give fans of the first movie expectations of a larger-scale escalation, and the movie ultimately delivers that, with a suitably chaotic climax. However, initially, it’s more like a sleek Alfred Hitchcock movie than a frenzied, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations might also be what prevents it from coming across like pure nightmare fuel. Our society might be saturated with content-churning influencers, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself is still here, for now.