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“The entire situation stinks like a bad made-for-TV,” states an opportunistic commentator during the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, his tone is manipulatively dismissive of a guest with an outlandish story he previously said he trusted. Yet his assessment of what’s happening on screen isn't inaccurate. Superficially, a pair of films on demand about a woman who worms her way into the worlds of online influencers and then murders them seems like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid but network-approved weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers remains how much better it proves to be than plenty of its competition, regardless of where you watch it. It’s the kind of thriller capable of giving its peers a serious bout of FOMO.

Recapping the First Film and Setting the Stage

The 2022 film Influencer follows the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she quietly chooses traveling alone social media targets, lures them to their deaths, and covers up those deaths (for a time) by taking control of their socials. The film leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This lends 2025's Influencers some early ambiguity, as returning filmmaker Kurtis David Harder resumes with the character CW contentedly residing alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey marking the couple’s one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW’s eye and ire.

CW remarks to her partner that a person ought to attempt stranding a phone-addicted online personality in a place with no technology to see if they can make it. Is this a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the special treatment given to a single clout-chaser?

Evolving Viewpoints 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 crimes, but still faces doubt regarding her recounting of what happened, which includes the killing of Madison’s boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali and trying to juice his career as half of a conservative-influencer power couple alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), though his preferred medium is bro-heavy streams, rather than the curated images that typically attract CW's interest.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in her role, which seems particularly tailor-made for her talents. (She even created CW's striking outfits.) Although the sequel’s screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the first film seemed more balanced between her and Madison — it still works as a story of dueling investigators, as Madison and CW employ fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and an apparently limitless travel fund to chase and/or escape each other. Then again, perhaps the vast resources isn’t necessary. Online personalities possess a talent for gaining access to posh places without paying much, an ability that CW echoes with her more overt scheming.

Resourceful Production and Visual Wanderlust

The creative team for Influencers seem similarly ingenious about finding beautiful places to visit, although they were presumably more legitimate about it. The vast majority of the movie seems to be filmed in real places, giving it an authentic gravity that remains even when numerous sequences involve a handful of actors of characters staring at digital devices.

It follows the same logic which allowed the Bond franchise appear so consistently opulent over the years: Yes, explosive action and special effects can display a big budget, however simply offering a travelogue of sorts for the audience also seems inherently cinematic. This is particularly appropriate for a narrative so dependent on the simultaneous superficial glamour and try-hard grind of creating envy-inducing digital content.

All of the characters visiting Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the original, seem to have entry to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; there are movies concerning beach rescuers which don't feature as much aerial pool video. These individuals have to convincingly occupy these luxurious, remote places to highlight the uneasy irony of how often everyone — including the woman exacting revenge upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — nonetheless spends plenty of time in the glow of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Digital-Age Suspense

Simultaneously, the director has not crafted a screed against the vacuousness of the influencer industry. While it can be gratifying to watch CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of alignment lets us to wish she evades capture, Harder is somewhat understanding of the major influencer characters. Previously, he keyed into the isolation Madison felt during ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. In this film, the director appears confident that merely watching Jacob at work will reveal that he is selling false masculinity to other doofuses; he resists turning into a caricature the character further. He even grants Jacob a measure of dignity through depicting his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he is two-faced, yet Ariana is a partner in his hypocrisy, not a victim of it.

The flip side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation is that it can sometimes appear that he is acknowledging bits of contemporary digital culture without investigating them further. This is particularly evident regarding how he brings AI into the plot, a fascinating turn that lacks the psychosexual kick it deserves. The retitled sequel of Influencers could offer fans of the first movie hope for an Aliens-style escalation, and the film does eventually provide exactly that, with a suitably chaotic climax. But before that, it resembles more a sleek Hitchcock thriller than an frenzied, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations might also be what keeps it from seeming like utter horror. Our society may be overrun with content-churning influencers, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself remains present, at least for now.