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“Everything about this reeks like a bad made-for-TV,” observes a cynical commentator midway through the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way toward an interviewee with an outlandish story he previously claimed he believed. Yet his description of the events on screen isn't inaccurate. Superficially, a pair of films on demand chronicling a young woman who insinuates herself into the lives 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 regarding Influencers remains just how superior it proves to be compared to much of the competition, regardless of screen size. It’s the kind of suspense film capable of giving its peers a serious bout of FOMO.

Recapping the First Film and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer follows the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects traveling alone influencer targets, entices them to their doom, and conceals those deaths (for a time) by seizing control of their socials. The movie concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on an uninhabited island near the coast of Thailand, after her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers some early ambiguity, when returning writer-director Kurtis David Harder resumes with CW contentedly residing with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking their one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW’s eye and anger.

CW remarks to Diane that a person ought to attempt leaving a phone-addicted influencer somewhere with no technology and see if they can make it. Is this a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the preferential treatment afforded a single clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those early scenes’ place in the timeline. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been cleared of committing CW’s crimes, yet still encounters suspicion over her recounting of the events, including the murder of Madison’s boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali and trying to juice his career as part of a right-wing-influencer power couple alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium is bro-heavy streams, as opposed to the Instagram photos that typically capture CW's interest.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in her role, a role that appears particularly custom-fit for her talents. (She also designed CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) Although the sequel’s focus tips heavily toward CW — the first film felt more equally divided between her and Madison — it still functions as a tale of rival amateur detectives, as Madison and CW employ fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to pursue or evade each other. Then again, maybe the unlimited budget aren't needed. Influencers have a knack for gaining access to posh places at little cost, an ability that CW echoes through her more blatant scheming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The creative team for Influencers appear equally ingenious about finding stunning locations to visit, although they were presumably more legitimate in their methods. The vast majority of the film seems to be filmed in real places, giving it a real-world weight that remains even as numerous sequences consist of a handful of actors of characters looking at digital devices.

It follows the same logic which allowed the Bond franchise look so consistently opulent over the years: Indeed, explosive action and visual effects can display a big budget, however just providing a travelogue of sorts for the audience also feels deeply filmic. This is especially fitting for a story so rooted in the simultaneous surface-level allure and desperate hustle of creating envy-inducing online content.

Every character visiting Bali, like those staying in Thailand in the first film, appear to enjoy access to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; there are movies concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off as much overhead swimming-pool video. The characters must believably occupy these luxurious, remote places to emphasize the uncomfortable paradox of how frequently everyone — even the woman wreaking vengeance upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — nonetheless spends plenty of time under the light of their devices.

Nuanced Portrayals and Tech-Savvy Tension

Simultaneously, Harder hasn’t authored a screed targeting the vacuousness of the influencer industry. While it can be satisfying to see CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense of alignment allows us to hope she doesn’t get caught, the filmmaker is relatively sympathetic to the major influencer characters. Previously, he tapped into the loneliness Madison experienced while on ostensibly dream getaways. In this film, Harder seems to trust that merely watching Jacob at work will make it clear that he is selling snake-oil masculinity to other doofuses; he avoids caricaturing the character. He even grants Jacob a measure of dignity by showing his true devotion to his partner; he is two-faced, but Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not someone exploited by it.

The other side of this balanced approach is that it may occasionally seem as if he is acknowledging bits of modern online life without investigating them further. This is especially true of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the story, an intriguing development which misses the psychosexual kick it should have. The pluralized title of Influencers could offer devotees of the original expectations of an Aliens-style escalation, and the movie does eventually provide that, with an appropriately wild final act. However, initially, it resembles more a sleek Alfred Hitchcock movie than a frenzied, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ heavy use of actual places may also be what prevents it from coming across like utter horror. Our society might be saturated with content-churning influencers, digital deception, and self-serving tourism, but the world itself remains present, at least for now.