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“This whole affair stinks like a cheap made-for-TV,” states an opportunistic commentator midway through the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, his tone is manipulatively dismissive of a guest with an bizarre tale he once said he trusted. But his assessment of what’s happening in the movie isn’t wrong. On its face, two films on demand chronicling a young woman who insinuates herself into the worlds of online influencers and then murders them seems like a modern-day version of a tawdry but network-approved Movie of the Week. The wild thing regarding Influencers is just how superior it proves to be than plenty of the competition, regardless of screen size. It’s the kind of suspense film that should give other movies a serious bout of FOMO.

Revisiting the First Film and Establishing the Scene

The 2022 film Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects traveling alone social media targets, lures them to their doom, and covers up those murders (at least temporarily) by taking control of their socials. The movie concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand, after her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables against her.

This provides 2025's Influencers some early ambiguity, as returning filmmaker Kurtis David Harder picks up with CW happily living with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking the couple’s first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW’s eye and ire.

CW comments to Diane that a person should try leaving a phone-addicted influencer in a place without any devices and see if they can survive. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the preferential treatment afforded one clout-chaser?

Evolving Viewpoints and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, now cleared of carrying out CW’s crimes, but still faces suspicion regarding her version of the events, including the killing of Madison’s boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali attempting to juice his career as part of a conservative-influencer power couple alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), though his preferred medium involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the curated images that typically attract CW’s attention.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in her role, a role that appears particularly custom-fit to her strengths. (She even created CW's eye-catching outfits.) Although the sequel’s screentime balance leans heavily into CW — the first film seemed more balanced between her and Madison — it still functions as a tale of rival investigators, with both women both use fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to chase or evade each other. Of course, maybe the vast resources 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 Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers appear equally ingenious in locating beautiful places to visit, though they were likely less nefarious in their methods. The vast majority of the movie seems to be filmed in real places, providing it a real-world weight that remains even as many scenes involve a handful of actors of characters looking at digital devices.

It follows the same logic which allowed the Bond franchise look so persistently lavish for decades: Yes, explosive action and special effects can display large spending, but simply offering a travelogue of sorts for the audience also seems deeply filmic. It’s also especially fitting for a narrative so dependent on the coexisting superficial glamour and desperate hustle of creating jealousy-worthy digital content.

Every character visiting Bali, similar to those who were in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy entry to impossibly chic modern bungalows; films exist concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off as much overhead swimming-pool video. These individuals have to convincingly occupy these lush, remote places to highlight the uneasy irony of how often everyone — including the woman wreaking vengeance on the influencers’ self-centered phoniness — nonetheless devotes much time under the light of their screens.

Nuanced Portrayals and Tech-Savvy Tension

At the same time, Harder hasn’t authored a rant targeting the vacuousness of online fame. While it can be gratifying to watch CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification allows us to hope she doesn’t get caught, the filmmaker is somewhat understanding of the major influencer characters. Previously, he keyed into the loneliness Madison experienced while on supposedly dream getaways. In this film, the director appears confident that just observing Jacob at work will make it clear that he is selling false masculinity to other gullible men; he avoids caricaturing the character further. He even grants Jacob a degree of respect by showing his true devotion to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a partner in his hypocrisy, not someone exploited of it.

The flip side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it may occasionally seem as if he is acknowledging elements of modern online life without deeply exploring them. This is especially true of the way he brings AI into the story, an intriguing development which misses the psychosexual kick it deserves. The pluralized title of Influencers might give fans of the first movie hope for an Aliens-style escalation, and the movie ultimately delivers that, with a suitably chaotic climax. But before that, it resembles more a polished Hitchcock thriller than a frenzied, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of actual places may also be what keeps it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. Our society might be saturated with always-online creators, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but reality itself is still here, for now.