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“The entire situation stinks like a cheap made-for-TV,” states a cynical podcaster midway through the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, his tone is manipulatively dismissive of a guest with an bizarre tale he once said he trusted. But his assessment of the events in the movie isn't inaccurate. On its face, two streaming movies chronicling a woman who worms her way into the worlds of social media stars before killing them feels like a modern-day version of a tawdry but network-approved Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect about Influencers is how much better it is than plenty of its competition, irrespective of screen size. It is precisely the thriller capable of giving other movies a bad case of FOMO.

Revisiting the Original and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer tracks the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) while she quietly chooses traveling alone social media targets, lures them to their deaths, and covers up those deaths (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their socials. The film leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand, after her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables against her.

This provides 2025's Influencers a degree of mystery, when returning writer-director the director picks up with CW contentedly residing with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip to celebrate their first anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW’s eye and ire.

CW remarks to her partner that a person should try stranding a device-obsessed influencer in a place without any devices and see if they can make it. Is this a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist by seeing the preferential treatment afforded a single fame-seeker?

Shifting Perspectives and Global Pursuits

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, eventually clarifying those introductory moments' chronological position. The story revisits Madison, now cleared of carrying out CW’s crimes, but still faces suspicion regarding her version of the events, which includes the murder of her boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali attempting to boost his profile as part of a conservative-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his chosen platform is bro-heavy streams, as opposed to the Instagram photos that normally attract CW’s attention.

Naud remains immensely captivating in the part, which seems especially tailor-made to her strengths. (She even created CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) Although the sequel’s screentime balance leans heavily into CW — the first film felt more equally divided between the two women — it still functions as a story of dueling investigators, as Madison and CW employ fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to pursue or evade one another. Then again, perhaps the unlimited budget aren't needed. Online personalities possess a talent for gaining access to luxurious locales without paying much, a skill which CW mirrors through her more blatant scheming.

Resourceful Production and Cinematic Travelogue

The creative team for Influencers appear equally ingenious about finding stunning locations to visit, although they were likely more legitimate about it. The vast majority of the movie seems to be filmed in real places, giving it a real-world weight that remains even as many scenes involve a relatively small cast of characters staring at digital devices.

It follows the same logic which allowed the James Bond movies appear so consistently opulent for decades: Indeed, explosive action and visual effects can display a big budget, however simply offering a travelogue of sorts to viewers also seems inherently cinematic. It’s also especially fitting for a narrative so dependent on the coexisting surface-level allure and desperate hustle involved in producing jealousy-worthy digital content.

All of the characters in Bali, like those who were in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy access to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; films exist concerning beach rescuers which don't feature as much aerial pool footage. The characters must believably occupy these lush, remote places to emphasize the uneasy irony of how often each person — even the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ self-centered phoniness — nevertheless spends plenty of time under the light of their devices.

Balanced Depictions and Tech-Savvy Tension

Simultaneously, Harder hasn’t authored a rant against the emptiness of the influencer industry. While it can be gratifying to watch CW exploit 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 keyed into the isolation Madison experienced during supposedly envy-worthy vacations. Here, Harder seems to trust that just observing Jacob at work will reveal that he’s peddling false masculinity to other gullible men; he resists turning into a caricature the character further. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect by showing his genuine loyalty to his partner; he’s a hypocrite, yet Ariana is a partner 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 is acknowledging elements of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them. This is especially true regarding how he brings AI into the story, a fascinating turn which misses the psychosexual kick it should have. The pluralized title for the film might give devotees of the original expectations of an Aliens-style escalation, and the film does eventually provide exactly that, with a suitably chaotic climax. However, initially, it’s more like a polished Alfred Hitchcock movie than a wild-eyed, technology-obsessed Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ heavy use of actual places might also be what prevents it from coming across like utter horror. The world may be overrun with always-online creators, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but the world itself remains present, at least for now.