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“The entire situation reeks like a cheap made-for-TV,” states a cynical commentator during the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, his tone is manipulatively dismissive of a guest whose bizarre tale he previously said he trusted. But his assessment of what’s happening in the movie isn't inaccurate. On its face, a pair of films on demand about a young woman who worms her way into the lives of social media stars before killing them seems like a modern-day version of a tawdry yet network-approved Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect about Influencers is just how superior it proves to be than plenty of its competition, irrespective of where you watch it. It’s the kind of thriller that should give its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Establishing the Scene

The 2022 film Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) while she quietly chooses traveling alone social media targets, lures them to their deaths, and covers up those deaths (at least temporarily) by taking control of their online accounts. The film leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on an uninhabited island off 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 CW happily living with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip to celebrate the couple’s one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW's attention and ire.

CW remarks to her partner that a person ought to attempt leaving a phone-addicted online personality somewhere with no technology and see whether they can survive. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist by seeing the preferential treatment given to a single clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, eventually clarifying those introductory moments' chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been cleared of carrying out CW's offenses, but still faces doubt regarding her recounting of what happened, including the murder of Madison’s boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali attempting to juice his career as part of a conservative-influencer duo with Ariana (Veronica Long), though his preferred medium is bro-heavy streams, rather than the curated images that normally capture CW's interest.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in her role, a role that appears especially tailor-made to her strengths. (She even created CW's striking wardrobe.) Although the sequel’s screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the original felt more equally divided between the two women — it still functions as a tale of dueling investigators, as Madison and CW employ fake accounts, social media surveillance, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to chase or evade one another. Then again, perhaps the unlimited budget aren't needed. Online personalities possess a knack for getting to explore luxurious locales without paying much, a skill which CW mirrors with her more overt scamming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Visual Wanderlust

The filmmakers behind Influencers seem similarly ingenious about finding stunning locations to visit, though they were presumably more legitimate about it. Most of the film seems to be filmed in real places, giving it an authentic gravity that remains even when many scenes consist of a handful of actors of characters looking at computer or phone screens.

It’s the same principle that made the James Bond movies appear so consistently opulent for decades: Yes, big action and visual effects can show off large spending, however simply offering a travelogue of sorts to viewers also feels deeply filmic. It’s also particularly appropriate for a narrative so dependent on the simultaneous surface-level allure and try-hard grind involved in producing envy-inducing online content.

Every character in Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy access to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; there are movies concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off this much overhead swimming-pool video. These individuals have to convincingly occupy these luxurious, remote places to emphasize the uneasy irony of how often each person — even the woman exacting revenge upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — nevertheless devotes much time in the glow of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Tech-Savvy Tension

At the same time, the director has not crafted a rant targeting the vacuousness of online fame. Though it can be satisfying to watch CW exploit different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense of identification lets us to hope she evades capture, the filmmaker is relatively understanding of the major influencer characters. Previously, he tapped into the loneliness Madison experienced while on ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. Here, Harder seems to trust that just observing Jacob at work will reveal that he is selling snake-oil masculinity to other doofuses; he resists caricaturing the character further. He even grants Jacob a degree of respect by showing his genuine loyalty to his partner; he is two-faced, yet Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not someone exploited of it.

The other side of this balanced approach means it may occasionally seem as if 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 that lacks the psychological edge it deserves. The pluralized title for the film could offer fans of the first movie hope for an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the film does eventually provide exactly that, with an appropriately wild final act. However, initially, it resembles more a polished Alfred Hitchcock movie than an 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. The world may be overrun with content-churning influencers, digital deception, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself remains present, for now.