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“This whole affair reeks like a cheap made-for-TV,” remarks an opportunistic commentator midway through the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, his tone is manipulatively dismissive toward an interviewee with an outlandish story he once claimed he believed. Yet his description of the events in the movie isn't inaccurate. On its face, a pair of streaming movies chronicling a young woman who worms her way into the lives of online influencers before killing them seems like a modern-day version of a tawdry yet network-approved weekly TV movie. The wild thing regarding Influencers is just how superior it proves to be compared to much of the competition, irrespective of where you watch it. It is precisely the thriller that should give its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) while she methodically selects traveling alone influencer targets, lures them to their doom, and covers up those deaths (for a time) by taking control of their socials. The movie concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on a deserted 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 writer-director the director picks up with the character CW happily living alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip to celebrate their one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW's attention and anger.

CW remarks to Diane that someone should try stranding a phone-addicted online personality in a place without any devices to see whether they can make it. Are we witnessing an origin-story prequel? Did CW become extremist by seeing the special treatment given to one clout-chaser?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, eventually clarifying those early scenes’ place in the timeline. The story revisits Madison, who has been cleared of carrying out CW’s crimes, but still faces suspicion over her recounting of what happened, including the murder of her boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali and trying to boost his profile as half of a conservative-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium is bro-heavy streams, rather than the curated images that typically capture CW’s attention.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in her role, which seems particularly custom-fit for her talents. (She even created CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) While the sequel’s focus tips heavily toward CW — the original seemed more balanced between her and Madison — it still works as a tale of rival investigators, as Madison and CW both use 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. Online personalities possess a talent for getting to explore luxurious locales at little cost, an ability which CW mirrors through her more blatant scamming.

Resourceful Production and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers seem similarly resourceful in locating stunning locations to film, though they were presumably more legitimate about it. The vast majority of the film appears to be shot on location, giving it a real-world weight that lingers even when numerous sequences consist of a handful of actors of characters staring at computer or phone screens.

It follows the same logic that made the Bond franchise appear so consistently opulent for decades: Indeed, explosive action and special effects can display a big budget, but simply offering a travelogue of sorts to viewers also seems deeply filmic. This is particularly appropriate for a narrative so dependent on the coexisting surface-level allure and try-hard grind of creating envy-inducing online content.

All of the characters visiting Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the first film, seem to have entry to impossibly chic modern bungalows; there are movies concerning beach rescuers which don't feature as much aerial pool video. The characters have to convincingly inhabit these luxurious, remote places to highlight the uneasy irony of how often everyone — including the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ narcissistic falseness — nevertheless spends plenty of time in the glow of their devices.

Balanced Depictions and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, the director has not crafted a rant targeting the emptiness of the influencer industry. Though it can be gratifying to watch CW manipulate various online personalities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of alignment lets us to wish she evades capture, Harder is relatively understanding of the major influencer characters. In the first movie, he keyed into the isolation Madison experienced during ostensibly dream getaways. In this film, Harder seems to trust that merely watching Jacob in action will reveal that he is selling snake-oil masculinity to other doofuses; he resists turning into a caricature the character. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity through depicting his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he is two-faced, yet Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not a victim of it.

The other side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it may occasionally seem that he’s nodding at bits of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them. This is especially true regarding how he brings AI into the plot, an intriguing development which misses the psychological edge it should have. The retitled sequel of Influencers might give fans of the first movie hope for an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the film does eventually provide that, with a suitably wild final act. However, initially, it’s more like a sleek Hitchcock thriller than an wild-eyed, tech-addled Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations might also be what keeps it from coming across like utter horror. Our society may be overrun with always-online creators, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but the world itself is still here, for now.