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“Everything about this stinks like a bad TV movie,” remarks an opportunistic podcaster midway through the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, he’s being dismissive in a calculated way toward an interviewee with an outlandish story he previously claimed he believed. But his assessment of what’s happening in the movie isn’t wrong. On its face, a pair of films on demand about a woman who worms her way into the worlds of social media stars and then murders them seems like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid but cable-ready Movie of the Week. The wild thing about Influencers is just how superior it proves to be compared to much of its competition, regardless of screen size. It’s the kind of suspense film capable of giving its peers a serious bout of FOMO.

Revisiting the Original and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer tracks the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she quietly chooses solo-traveling influencer targets, entices them to their doom, and conceals those murders (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their socials. The movie leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables against her.

This provides 2025's Influencers some early ambiguity, when returning filmmaker Kurtis David Harder picks up with CW contentedly residing alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip to celebrate their first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW’s eye and ire.

CW comments to her partner that a person ought to attempt leaving a device-obsessed influencer in a place without any devices and see if they can survive. Is this an origin-story prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the special treatment afforded one fame-seeker?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint changes multiple times, eventually clarifying those introductory moments' place in the timeline. The story revisits Madison, who has been cleared of carrying out CW’s crimes, yet still encounters suspicion regarding her version of what happened, which includes the killing of her boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali attempting to juice his career as part of a conservative-influencer power couple alongside 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 terrifically magnetic in the part, a role that appears particularly custom-fit to her strengths. (She even created CW's striking outfits.) While the sequel’s screentime balance leans heavily into CW — the original felt more equally divided between her and Madison — 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 chase and/or escape each other. Of course, maybe the vast resources aren't needed. Influencers have a knack for getting to explore luxurious locales at little cost, an ability which CW mirrors through her more blatant scheming.

Resourceful Production and Cinematic Travelogue

The creative team for Influencers appear equally resourceful about finding beautiful places to film, although they were likely more legitimate about it. The vast majority of the movie appears to be shot on location, giving it a real-world weight that lingers even when many scenes consist of a handful of actors of people staring at digital devices.

It’s the same principle that made the Bond franchise look so consistently opulent over the years: Yes, big action and visual effects can show off large spending, however just providing a kind of visual tour to viewers also feels deeply filmic. This is especially fitting for a narrative so dependent on the simultaneous superficial glamour and desperate hustle of creating jealousy-worthy digital content.

Every character in Bali, similar to those who were in Thailand in the first film, seem to have entry to impossibly chic contemporary villas; there are movies concerning beach rescuers which don't feature as much aerial pool video. The characters have to convincingly occupy these lush, remote places to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how often everyone — including the woman wreaking vengeance upon the online stars' self-centered phoniness — nevertheless spends plenty of time under the light of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Digital-Age Suspense

Simultaneously, the director has not crafted a screed targeting the emptiness of online fame. While it is satisfying to watch CW exploit various online personalities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification lets us to wish she doesn’t get caught, Harder is relatively sympathetic to the key influencer figures. In the first movie, he keyed into the isolation Madison felt while on supposedly dream getaways. In this film, the director appears confident that merely watching Jacob at work will reveal that he’s peddling false masculinity to other gullible men; he avoids turning into a caricature the character. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect through depicting his true devotion to his girlfriend; he is two-faced, but Ariana is a partner in his hypocrisy, not a victim by it.

The flip side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it may occasionally seem as if he is acknowledging elements of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them. This is particularly evident of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the story, an intriguing development which misses the psychosexual kick it deserves. The pluralized title for the film could offer devotees of the original hope for an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the movie does eventually provide that, with a suitably chaotic climax. However, initially, it resembles more a polished Alfred Hitchcock movie than an wild-eyed, technology-obsessed De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations may also be what keeps it from seeming like utter horror. The world may be overrun with content-churning influencers, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself is still here, at least for now.