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“This whole affair stinks like a bad TV movie,” observes an opportunistic podcaster midway through the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, he’s being manipulatively dismissive of a guest whose outlandish story he previously said he trusted. But his description of what’s happening in the movie isn't inaccurate. Superficially, a pair of streaming movies chronicling a woman who worms her way into the worlds of social media stars before killing them seems like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid but network-approved Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers is how much better it proves to be compared to much of the competition, irrespective of where you watch it. It is precisely the suspense film that should give its peers a serious bout of FOMO.

Recapping the First Film and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer tracks the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects traveling alone social media targets, lures them to their doom, and conceals those deaths (for a time) by seizing control of their socials. The film concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand, after her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles on her.

This provides the 2025 Influencers a degree of mystery, as returning writer-director Kurtis David Harder picks up with the character CW contentedly residing with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey marking the couple’s first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW's attention and ire.

CW comments to her partner that a person ought to attempt stranding a phone-addicted influencer somewhere without any devices to see if they can survive. Is this an origin-story prequel? Was CW radicalized by seeing the preferential treatment given to one fame-seeker?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, eventually clarifying those introductory moments' chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, now exonerated for carrying out CW’s crimes, yet still encounters doubt over her version of what happened, which includes the murder of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali attempting to boost his profile as part of a right-wing-influencer power couple with Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium is bro-heavy streams, as opposed to the Instagram photos that normally attract CW's interest.

Naud remains immensely captivating in the part, which seems especially tailor-made to her strengths. (She even created CW's eye-catching outfits.) While the follow-up's screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the original seemed more balanced between the two women — it still functions as a tale of dueling investigators, as Madison and CW employ fake accounts, Insta-stalking, and an apparently limitless travel fund to chase and/or escape each other. Of course, maybe the vast resources isn’t necessary. Influencers have a knack for getting to explore luxurious locales at little cost, a skill which CW mirrors through her more blatant scamming.

Resourceful Production and Visual Wanderlust

The filmmakers behind Influencers appear equally resourceful about finding beautiful places to film, although they were likely less nefarious about it. Most of the movie seems to be filmed in real places, providing it a real-world weight that remains even as many scenes consist of a handful of actors of people looking at computer or phone screens.

It’s the same principle which allowed the Bond franchise look so persistently lavish over the years: Yes, big action and visual effects can show off large spending, but just providing a kind of visual tour to viewers also feels inherently cinematic. It’s also particularly appropriate for a narrative so rooted in the coexisting surface-level allure and desperate hustle involved in producing jealousy-worthy online content.

Every character in Bali, similar to those who were in Thailand in the first film, seem to have access to impossibly chic contemporary villas; there are movies concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off this much overhead swimming-pool video. These individuals have to convincingly inhabit these luxurious, remote places to highlight the uneasy irony of how frequently everyone — including the woman wreaking vengeance on the influencers’ narcissistic falseness — nonetheless devotes much time in the glow of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Tech-Savvy Tension

At the same time, Harder hasn’t authored a rant against the vacuousness of the influencer industry. Though it can be gratifying to see CW exploit different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense of identification allows us to wish she evades capture, the filmmaker is somewhat sympathetic to the key influencer figures. Previously, he keyed into the loneliness Madison experienced during ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. In this film, Harder seems to trust that merely watching Jacob in action will make it clear that he’s peddling false masculinity to other gullible men; he resists turning into a caricature the character further. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity by showing his genuine loyalty 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 Harder’s even-keeled presentation is that it may occasionally seem as if he is acknowledging elements of modern online life without investigating them. This is particularly evident regarding how he brings AI into the plot, an intriguing development that lacks the psychosexual kick it should have. The retitled sequel for the film could offer devotees of the original hope for a larger-scale ante-upping, and the movie does eventually provide that, with an appropriately chaotic climax. However, initially, it resembles more a sleek Alfred Hitchcock movie than a wild-eyed, technology-obsessed Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations may also be what keeps it from coming across like pure nightmare fuel. The world might be saturated with content-churning influencers, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself is still here, for now.