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“Everything about this reeks like a bad TV movie,” remarks an opportunistic commentator during the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, he’s being manipulatively dismissive toward an interviewee whose outlandish story he previously said he trusted. Yet his assessment of what’s happening on screen isn’t wrong. Superficially, a pair of films on demand about a young woman who worms her way into the lives of online influencers before killing them feels like a modern-day version of a tawdry yet network-approved Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect about Influencers is how much better it proves to be than plenty of its competition, regardless of screen size. It is precisely the thriller capable of giving its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the First Film and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) while she quietly chooses traveling alone influencer targets, lures them to their deaths, and covers up those deaths (for a time) by seizing control of their online accounts. The film concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, after her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles against her.

This provides the 2025 Influencers some early mystery, when returning writer-director Kurtis David Harder resumes with CW happily living with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip to celebrate their first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW's attention and ire.

CW remarks to Diane that someone should try leaving a phone-addicted influencer somewhere without any devices and see if they can survive. Are we witnessing an origin-story prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the special treatment afforded one fame-seeker?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The narrative viewpoint changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' place in the timeline. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been exonerated for carrying out CW’s crimes, yet still encounters doubt regarding her version of what happened, which includes the murder of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali attempting to juice his career as half of a conservative-influencer power couple alongside 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 her role, which seems particularly custom-fit for her talents. (She even created CW's striking outfits.) While the sequel’s screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the original seemed more balanced between her and Madison — it still works as a tale of rival amateur detectives, as Madison and CW employ fake accounts, Insta-stalking, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to chase or evade one another. Then again, maybe the unlimited budget aren't needed. Online personalities possess a talent for gaining access to posh places without paying much, a skill that CW echoes with her more overt scheming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers appear equally resourceful about finding beautiful places to film, although they were presumably less nefarious about it. Most of the movie seems to be shot on location, giving it an authentic gravity that lingers even as numerous sequences involve a handful of actors of people looking at computer or phone screens.

It follows the same logic which allowed the Bond franchise look so consistently opulent for decades: Indeed, explosive action and visual effects can show off a big budget, however simply offering a kind of visual tour to viewers also seems inherently cinematic. It’s also particularly appropriate for a narrative so rooted in the simultaneous surface-level allure and try-hard grind of creating envy-inducing online content.

All of the characters in Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy access to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; there are movies about lifeguards which don't feature this much aerial pool video. These individuals must believably occupy these luxurious, remote places to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how often everyone — even the woman wreaking vengeance upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — nevertheless spends plenty of time under the light of their devices.

Nuanced Portrayals and Digital-Age Suspense

Simultaneously, the director has not crafted a rant against the emptiness of online fame. While it can be gratifying to see CW exploit different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense 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 loneliness Madison felt during ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. Here, the director appears confident that just observing Jacob at work will reveal that he’s peddling false masculinity to other doofuses; he avoids caricaturing the character. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect by showing his true devotion to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not someone exploited of it.

The other side of this balanced approach is that it may occasionally seem as if he’s nodding at bits of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them. This is especially true of the way he brings AI into the story, an intriguing development that lacks the psychosexual kick it deserves. The retitled sequel of Influencers could offer devotees of the original expectations of a larger-scale escalation, and the film ultimately delivers exactly that, with a suitably wild final act. However, initially, it resembles more a sleek Hitchcock thriller than a frenzied, tech-addled Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations might also be what keeps it from coming across like pure nightmare fuel. Our society may be overrun with content-churning influencers, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but the world itself is still here, for now.