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“The entire situation reeks like a cheap TV movie,” remarks an opportunistic podcaster during the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, he’s being manipulatively dismissive of a guest with an bizarre tale he previously claimed he believed. But his description of the events in the movie isn’t wrong. Superficially, a pair of streaming movies chronicling a young woman who worms her way into the lives of social media stars before killing them seems like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid but cable-ready Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect about Influencers remains just how superior it proves to be compared to much of its competition, regardless of screen size. It is precisely the suspense film capable of giving its peers a serious bout of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) while she quietly chooses traveling alone influencer targets, lures them to their deaths, and conceals those murders (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their socials. The movie leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on an uninhabited island near the coast of Thailand, after her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles against her.

This provides the 2025 Influencers some early ambiguity, as returning filmmaker the director picks up with CW happily living with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking the couple’s one-year anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW’s eye and anger.

CW remarks 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 make it. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Was CW radicalized after witnessing the preferential treatment given to a single fame-seeker?

Evolving Viewpoints and International Chases

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those early scenes’ place in the timeline. Harder catches up with Madison, now cleared of committing CW's offenses, yet still encounters doubt over her recounting of what happened, which includes 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 right-wing-influencer power couple alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his chosen platform involves masculine-focused livestreams, as opposed to the Instagram photos that normally capture CW’s attention.

Naud remains immensely captivating in her role, which seems particularly tailor-made to her strengths. (She even created CW's eye-catching outfits.) While the sequel’s focus leans heavily into CW — the first film seemed more balanced between the two women — it still functions as a tale of dueling amateur detectives, with both women both use fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and a seemingly unlimited travel budget to pursue and/or escape each other. Then again, maybe the unlimited budget isn’t necessary. Influencers have a knack for gaining access to luxurious locales without paying much, an ability which CW mirrors through her more blatant scheming.

Resourceful Production and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers seem similarly resourceful about finding stunning locations to visit, though they were presumably less nefarious in their methods. The vast majority of the movie seems to be shot on location, giving it a real-world weight that lingers even when many scenes involve a relatively small cast of characters looking at digital devices.

It follows the same logic which allowed the Bond franchise look so consistently opulent over the years: Indeed, big action and special effects can show off large spending, but simply offering a kind of visual tour for the audience also feels deeply filmic. This is particularly appropriate for a story so dependent on the coexisting superficial glamour and desperate hustle of creating jealousy-worthy digital content.

Every character visiting Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy access to impossibly chic contemporary villas; films exist about lifeguards which don't feature as much overhead swimming-pool footage. The characters have to convincingly inhabit these luxurious, far-flung locations to emphasize the uneasy irony of how frequently each person — including the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ narcissistic falseness — nevertheless devotes much time in the glow of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Tech-Savvy Tension

At the same time, the director has not crafted a rant against the vacuousness of the influencer industry. Though it can be gratifying to watch CW exploit various online personalities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification lets us to hope she evades capture, the filmmaker is somewhat understanding of the key influencer figures. Previously, he tapped into the loneliness Madison experienced during ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. In this film, the director appears confident that merely watching Jacob in action will reveal that he is selling snake-oil masculinity to other doofuses; he resists caricaturing the character. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect by showing his true devotion to his girlfriend; he is two-faced, yet Ariana is a collaborator in his double standards, not someone exploited by it.

The flip side of this balanced approach is that it can sometimes appear as if he is acknowledging bits of modern online life without investigating them further. This is especially true regarding how he brings AI into the story, an intriguing development which misses the psychological edge it deserves. The pluralized title of Influencers might give devotees of the original hope for an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the movie ultimately delivers that, with a suitably wild final act. However, initially, it resembles more a sleek Hitchcock thriller than an wild-eyed, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ heavy use of actual places might 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 the world itself remains present, for now.