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“This whole affair reeks of a bad TV movie,” remarks a cynical podcaster during the chilling follow-up Influencers. In the moment, he’s being manipulatively dismissive of a guest whose bizarre tale he previously said he trusted. But his description of what’s happening on screen isn’t wrong. Superficially, a pair of films on demand chronicling a young woman who insinuates herself into the lives of online influencers and then murders them seems like a modern-day version of a tawdry yet network-approved Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers remains just how superior it is than plenty of the competition, regardless of screen size. It is precisely the thriller that should give other movies a serious bout of FOMO.

Revisiting the Original and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer follows the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) while she quietly chooses solo-traveling influencer targets, lures them to their doom, and conceals those murders (for a time) by taking control of their socials. The film concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on an uninhabited island off the coast of Thailand, after her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers a degree of mystery, as returning filmmaker Kurtis David Harder resumes with the character CW contentedly residing with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey to celebrate the couple’s first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW’s eye and anger.

CW comments to her partner that a person should try leaving a phone-addicted influencer somewhere without any devices and see if they can make it. Are we witnessing an origin-story prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the special treatment afforded a single fame-seeker?

Shifting Perspectives and Global Pursuits

The narrative viewpoint changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' chronological position. The story revisits Madison, now cleared of committing CW's offenses, yet still encounters suspicion regarding her version of what happened, including the murder of Madison’s boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali attempting to boost his profile as half of a conservative-influencer duo with Ariana (Veronica Long), although his chosen platform is bro-heavy streams, as opposed to the Instagram photos that normally capture CW's interest.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in the part, which seems particularly custom-fit for her talents. (She also designed CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) While the sequel’s screentime balance leans heavily into CW — the original felt more equally divided between the two women — it still functions as a story of dueling investigators, as Madison and CW employ fabricated profiles, Insta-stalking, and a seemingly unlimited travel budget to pursue and/or escape each other. Then again, perhaps the vast resources aren't needed. Influencers have a talent for getting to explore posh places at little cost, a skill which CW mirrors through her more blatant scheming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Visual Wanderlust

The creative team for Influencers seem similarly ingenious in locating stunning locations to visit, though they were likely less nefarious about it. Most of the movie seems to be filmed in real places, giving it a real-world weight that lingers even when many scenes involve a handful of actors of people staring at digital devices.

It follows the same logic which allowed the James Bond movies appear so consistently opulent over the years: Yes, explosive action and special effects can show off a big budget, however just providing a travelogue of sorts to viewers also seems deeply filmic. This is particularly appropriate for a story so dependent on the coexisting superficial glamour and desperate hustle of creating envy-inducing digital content.

All of the characters in Bali, like those who were in Thailand in the first film, seem to have access to impossibly chic modern bungalows; films exist about lifeguards that don’t show off as much aerial pool video. These individuals have to convincingly occupy these luxurious, remote places to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how frequently each person — even the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ narcissistic falseness — nevertheless devotes much time in the glow of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, Harder hasn’t authored a screed against the vacuousness of the influencer industry. Though it can be satisfying to see CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification allows us to hope she evades capture, the filmmaker is somewhat sympathetic to the key influencer figures. Previously, he tapped into the loneliness Madison felt while on supposedly dream getaways. Here, the director appears confident that just observing Jacob in action will reveal that he’s peddling false masculinity to other gullible men; he avoids turning into a caricature the character further. He even grants Jacob a measure of dignity by showing his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he is two-faced, but Ariana is a collaborator in his hypocrisy, not someone exploited of it.

The flip side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it can sometimes appear as if he’s nodding at elements of contemporary digital culture without investigating them. This is especially true regarding how he brings AI into the plot, an intriguing development that lacks the psychological edge it deserves. The retitled sequel for the film might give devotees of the original expectations of a larger-scale ante-upping, and the film ultimately delivers exactly that, with a suitably wild final act. However, initially, it resembles more a polished Alfred Hitchcock movie than an frenzied, technology-obsessed De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations may also be what keeps it from coming across like utter horror. Our society might be saturated with always-online creators, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself remains present, for now.