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“The entire situation smells like a cheap made-for-TV,” remarks a cynical podcaster midway through the chilling follow-up Influencers. In the moment, he’s being manipulatively dismissive toward an interviewee whose outlandish story he once claimed he believed. But his description of what’s happening on screen isn't inaccurate. Superficially, two films on demand about a young 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 Movie of the Week. The wild thing about Influencers remains just how superior it is compared to much of its competition, regardless of screen size. It’s the kind of suspense film that should give its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Setting the Stage

The 2022 film Influencer tracks the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects solo-traveling social media targets, lures them to their doom, and conceals those deaths (for a time) by seizing control of their socials. The movie concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on an uninhabited island off the coast of Thailand, following her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables against her.

This provides 2025's Influencers a degree of ambiguity, as returning filmmaker Kurtis David Harder resumes with CW contentedly residing with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking their one-year anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW’s eye and anger.

CW remarks to Diane that someone should try stranding a device-obsessed influencer in a place without any devices and see whether they can make it. Is this a backstory prequel? Was CW radicalized after witnessing the preferential treatment given to one clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and Global Pursuits

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, ultimately revealing those early scenes’ chronological position. The story revisits Madison, now cleared of carrying out CW's offenses, yet still encounters suspicion over her recounting of what happened, including the murder of her boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali and trying to juice his career as half of a conservative-influencer duo with Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the curated images that typically capture CW's interest.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in her role, a role that appears particularly tailor-made to her strengths. (She also designed CW's striking wardrobe.) While the sequel’s screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the original seemed more balanced between her and Madison — it still functions as a tale of rival amateur detectives, with both women employ fabricated profiles, Insta-stalking, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to chase and/or escape one another. Of course, maybe the unlimited budget isn’t necessary. Online personalities possess a knack for gaining access to luxurious locales without paying much, a skill that CW echoes with her more overt scheming.

Resourceful Production and Visual Wanderlust

The creative team for Influencers seem similarly resourceful about finding beautiful places to film, though they were likely less nefarious about it. The vast majority of the movie appears to be shot on location, giving it an authentic gravity that lingers even as numerous sequences involve a relatively small cast of people looking at digital devices.

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

All of the characters visiting Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the original, seem to have access to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; films exist concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off as much aerial pool video. The characters must believably inhabit these lush, remote places to emphasize the uncomfortable paradox of how often everyone — including the woman wreaking vengeance upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — nevertheless spends plenty of time under the light of their devices.

Balanced Depictions and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, the director has not crafted a screed targeting the vacuousness of online fame. While it is gratifying to watch CW manipulate various online personalities, and a Hitchcockian sense of alignment lets us to hope she doesn’t get caught, Harder is somewhat understanding of the key influencer figures. Previously, he tapped into the loneliness Madison experienced during ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. Here, Harder seems to trust that merely watching Jacob in action will reveal that he is selling snake-oil masculinity to other gullible men; he avoids turning into a caricature the character. He even grants Jacob a degree of respect through depicting his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a collaborator in his double standards, not a victim of it.

The flip side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation is that it can sometimes appear that he’s nodding at elements of contemporary digital culture without investigating them. This is particularly evident regarding how he introduces artificial intelligence into the story, a fascinating turn that lacks the psychological edge it deserves. The pluralized title of Influencers might give devotees of the original hope for an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the film ultimately delivers that, with a suitably wild final act. However, initially, it’s more like a polished Alfred Hitchcock movie than a wild-eyed, technology-obsessed De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations may also be what prevents it from coming across like utter horror. Our society might be saturated with always-online creators, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but the world itself is still here, at least for now.