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“This whole affair smells like a bad made-for-TV,” states a cynical commentator midway through the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way of a guest with an outlandish story he once said he trusted. Yet his description of what’s happening on screen isn't inaccurate. On its face, a pair of films on demand about a woman who insinuates herself into the worlds of online influencers and then murders them feels like a modern-day version of a lurid yet cable-ready Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers is how much better it is than plenty of the competition, regardless of where you watch it. It is precisely the thriller capable of giving other movies a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer follows the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she quietly chooses solo-traveling influencer targets, lures them to their doom, and covers up those murders (for a time) by seizing control of their online accounts. The movie concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand, after her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This provides 2025's Influencers some early mystery, when returning filmmaker the director picks up with CW contentedly residing with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey to celebrate their one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW’s eye and anger.

CW comments to her partner that someone ought to attempt leaving a phone-addicted influencer somewhere with no technology to see if they can survive. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the special treatment afforded one clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and Global Pursuits

The story’s perspective shifts several more times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' chronological position. The story revisits Madison, who has been exonerated for committing CW's offenses, yet still encounters suspicion regarding her recounting of the events, including the killing of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali attempting to boost his profile as part of a conservative-influencer power couple alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), though his preferred medium is bro-heavy streams, rather than the curated images that normally attract CW's interest.

The actor continues to be terrifically magnetic in the part, which seems particularly tailor-made for her talents. (She even created CW's striking outfits.) Although the sequel’s focus leans heavily into CW — the first film felt more equally divided between the two women — it still works as a tale of dueling amateur detectives, with both women both use fabricated profiles, Insta-stalking, and an apparently limitless travel fund to chase and/or escape each other. Of course, perhaps the unlimited budget isn’t necessary. Influencers have a knack for getting to explore luxurious locales without paying much, a skill that CW echoes with her more overt scamming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The creative team for Influencers appear equally resourceful about finding stunning locations to visit, although they were presumably less nefarious about it. Most of the movie appears to be shot on location, providing it an authentic gravity that lingers even when numerous sequences consist of a handful of actors of characters looking at digital devices.

It’s the same principle that made the Bond franchise appear so consistently opulent over the years: Yes, explosive action and special effects can show off large spending, however simply offering a travelogue of sorts to viewers also seems inherently cinematic. It’s also especially fitting for a narrative so dependent on the coexisting superficial glamour and try-hard grind of creating jealousy-worthy online content.

Every character visiting Bali, like those who were in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy entry to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; there are movies about lifeguards which don't feature as much overhead swimming-pool video. These individuals have to convincingly occupy these lush, remote places to highlight the uneasy irony of how frequently each person — even the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ narcissistic falseness — nevertheless spends plenty of time under the light of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Tech-Savvy Tension

Simultaneously, Harder hasn’t authored a rant targeting the vacuousness of the influencer industry. Though it is gratifying to watch CW exploit various online personalities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification allows us to wish she doesn’t get caught, the filmmaker is somewhat understanding of the major influencer characters. Previously, he keyed into the isolation Madison felt while on supposedly envy-worthy vacations. In this film, the director appears confident that merely watching Jacob in action will reveal that he’s peddling false masculinity to other gullible men; he resists caricaturing the character. He even grants Jacob a degree of respect by showing his true devotion to his partner; he’s a hypocrite, yet Ariana is a collaborator in his double standards, not a victim by it.

The flip side of this balanced approach means it may occasionally seem as if he is acknowledging elements of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them. This is especially true of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, an intriguing development that lacks the psychosexual kick it deserves. The retitled sequel for the film might give devotees of the original hope for an Aliens-style escalation, and the film ultimately delivers that, with an appropriately wild final act. However, initially, it’s more like a polished Hitchcock thriller than an wild-eyed, tech-addled Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations might also be what keeps it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. Our society may be overrun with always-online creators, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself is still here, for now.