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“Everything about this smells of a cheap made-for-TV,” states an opportunistic podcaster during the chilling follow-up Influencers. In the moment, his tone is manipulatively dismissive of a guest whose bizarre tale he once said he trusted. 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 worlds of online influencers and then murders them feels like the 21st-century equivalent of a tawdry but cable-ready Movie of the Week. The wild thing regarding Influencers remains how much better it is than plenty of the competition, regardless of screen size. 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 enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she quietly chooses traveling alone influencer targets, entices them to their deaths, and conceals those deaths (at least temporarily) by taking control of their online accounts. The film leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, after her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

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

CW comments to her partner that someone should try leaving a phone-addicted influencer in a place without any devices to see whether they can survive. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Was CW radicalized by seeing the special treatment afforded one clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint changes multiple times, eventually clarifying those introductory moments' chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, now exonerated for committing CW’s crimes, but still faces doubt regarding her version of the events, including the murder of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali attempting to juice his career as half of a conservative-influencer power couple alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his chosen platform is bro-heavy streams, rather than 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 for her talents. (She also designed CW's eye-catching outfits.) Although the sequel’s focus tips heavily toward CW — the original seemed more balanced between her and Madison — it still functions as a tale of dueling investigators, as Madison and CW both use fabricated profiles, Insta-stalking, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to pursue and/or escape each other. Of course, maybe the vast resources isn’t necessary. Online personalities possess a knack for getting to explore luxurious locales at little cost, an ability which CW mirrors with her more overt scamming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Visual Wanderlust

The filmmakers behind Influencers seem similarly resourceful about finding beautiful places to visit, though they were likely more legitimate about it. Most of the film seems to be shot on location, providing it an authentic gravity that lingers even when numerous sequences involve a relatively small cast of characters looking at computer or phone screens.

It’s the same principle which allowed the Bond franchise look so persistently lavish over the years: Indeed, big action and special effects can show off a big budget, but just providing a kind of visual tour for the audience also feels deeply filmic. It’s also particularly appropriate for a story so rooted in the simultaneous superficial glamour and desperate hustle involved in producing jealousy-worthy online content.

All of the characters visiting Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the first film, seem to have entry to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; films exist about lifeguards which don't feature as much aerial pool footage. These individuals have to convincingly occupy these luxurious, far-flung locations to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how frequently everyone — including the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ narcissistic falseness — nonetheless spends plenty of time under the light of their devices.

Balanced Depictions and Tech-Savvy Tension

Simultaneously, the director has not crafted a rant against the emptiness of online fame. Though it can be satisfying to see CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification lets us to hope she doesn’t get caught, Harder is relatively sympathetic to the major influencer characters. Previously, he keyed into the loneliness Madison felt while on ostensibly dream getaways. In this film, the director appears confident that just observing Jacob in action will reveal that he is selling false masculinity to other doofuses; he resists turning into a caricature the character. 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 double standards, not a victim of it.

The flip side of this balanced approach is that it can sometimes appear that he is acknowledging elements of modern online life without deeply exploring them. This is particularly evident of the way he brings AI into the story, an intriguing development that lacks the psychological edge it deserves. The retitled sequel of Influencers might give devotees of the original expectations of an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the movie ultimately delivers that, with an appropriately chaotic climax. However, initially, it resembles more a polished Alfred Hitchcock movie than a wild-eyed, technology-obsessed De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations might also be what keeps it from coming across like utter horror. Our society may be overrun with always-online creators, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but the world itself remains present, at least for now.