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“Everything about this stinks of a cheap made-for-TV,” remarks an opportunistic podcaster midway through the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way of a guest with an outlandish story he once said he trusted. Yet his assessment of what’s happening on screen isn’t wrong. On its face, two films on demand about a young woman who worms her way into the lives of online influencers before killing them feels like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid yet network-approved weekly TV movie. The wild thing regarding 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.

Recapping the First Film and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer follows the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) while she quietly chooses solo-traveling influencer targets, lures them to their deaths, and conceals those deaths (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their online accounts. The movie concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles against her.

This provides 2025's Influencers a degree of ambiguity, as returning writer-director Kurtis David Harder resumes with the character CW happily living alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey marking the couple’s one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW's attention and ire.

CW comments to Diane that a person should try leaving a phone-addicted influencer in a place with no technology to see whether they can make it. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist by seeing the special treatment afforded one clout-chaser?

Evolving Viewpoints and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint changes multiple times, eventually clarifying those early scenes’ place in the timeline. The story revisits Madison, who has been exonerated for carrying out CW’s crimes, yet still encounters suspicion over her recounting of the events, including the killing of Madison’s boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to juice his career as part of a conservative-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), though his preferred medium is bro-heavy streams, rather than the Instagram photos that normally attract CW's interest.

The actor continues to be terrifically magnetic in the part, a role that appears especially custom-fit for her talents. (She also designed CW's eye-catching outfits.) Although the sequel’s focus leans heavily into CW — the original felt more equally divided between her and Madison — it still works as a story of dueling investigators, with both women employ fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and a seemingly unlimited travel budget to chase or evade one another. Of course, perhaps the unlimited budget aren't needed. Influencers have a knack for gaining access to posh places without paying much, a skill which CW mirrors through her more blatant scheming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers appear equally resourceful about finding stunning locations to film, though they were likely more legitimate about it. Most of the film appears to be shot on location, giving it an authentic gravity that lingers even as many scenes consist of a handful of actors of characters staring at computer or phone screens.

It’s the same principle that made the James Bond movies look so persistently lavish over the years: Yes, big action and visual effects can show off a big budget, however just providing a travelogue of sorts to viewers also feels deeply filmic. This is especially fitting for a narrative so rooted in the coexisting superficial glamour and try-hard grind involved in producing jealousy-worthy digital content.

Every character in Bali, like those staying in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy entry to impossibly chic modern bungalows; films exist about lifeguards that don’t show off as much aerial pool video. The characters must believably occupy these lush, remote places to emphasize the uncomfortable paradox of how often everyone — including the woman wreaking vengeance on the influencers’ self-centered phoniness — nonetheless devotes much time under the light of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, the director has not crafted a screed against the emptiness of the influencer industry. While it can be satisfying to watch CW exploit different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense of alignment lets us to hope she doesn’t get caught, the filmmaker is relatively sympathetic to the major influencer characters. Previously, he tapped into the isolation Madison experienced while on ostensibly dream getaways. Here, the director appears confident that just observing Jacob in action will make it clear that he is selling false masculinity to other gullible men; he resists turning into a caricature the character further. He even grants Jacob a degree of respect by showing his genuine loyalty to his partner; he is two-faced, yet Ariana is a collaborator in his hypocrisy, not someone exploited by it.

The flip side of this balanced approach means it can sometimes appear that he’s nodding at elements of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them further. This is especially true of the way he brings AI into the story, an intriguing development which misses the psychological edge it should have. The pluralized title of Influencers could offer devotees of the original expectations of a larger-scale ante-upping, and the movie does eventually provide that, with a suitably wild final act. However, initially, it resembles more a polished Hitchcock thriller than an wild-eyed, tech-addled Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ heavy use of actual places may also be what keeps it from seeming like utter horror. Our society may be overrun with content-churning influencers, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but reality itself is still here, at least for now.