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“Everything about this reeks like a bad made-for-TV,” observes an opportunistic podcaster during the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way of a guest with an outlandish story he previously claimed he believed. Yet his description of the events in the movie isn’t wrong. Superficially, two streaming movies chronicling a young woman who insinuates herself into the lives of online influencers before killing them feels like the 21st-century equivalent of a tawdry but cable-ready weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers remains how much better it is compared to much of its competition, irrespective of where you watch it. It is precisely the suspense film that should give other movies a serious bout of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Setting the Stage

The 2022 film Influencer follows the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she quietly chooses traveling alone influencer targets, lures them to their deaths, and covers up those deaths (at least temporarily) by taking control of their online accounts. The film leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand, after her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles on her.

This lends 2025's Influencers a degree of ambiguity, as returning writer-director the director resumes with CW contentedly residing with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking their one-year anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW's attention and ire.

CW comments to her partner that a person should try leaving a phone-addicted online personality somewhere with no technology and see if they can survive. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Was CW radicalized by seeing the preferential treatment given to one clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, ultimately revealing those early scenes’ place in the timeline. The story revisits Madison, who has been exonerated for committing CW’s crimes, but still faces suspicion regarding her version of what happened, including the killing of Madison’s boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali attempting to boost his profile as half of a right-wing-influencer duo with Ariana (Veronica Long), though his chosen platform is bro-heavy streams, as opposed to the Instagram photos that normally capture CW’s attention.

Naud remains immensely captivating in her role, a role that appears 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 felt more equally divided between the two women — it still functions as a story of dueling amateur detectives, as Madison and CW both use fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and a seemingly unlimited travel budget to chase and/or escape each other. Then again, perhaps the vast resources aren't needed. Online personalities possess a knack for gaining access to posh places without paying much, an ability which CW mirrors through her more blatant scamming.

Resourceful Production and Visual Wanderlust

The filmmakers behind Influencers appear equally ingenious in locating stunning locations to film, although they were presumably less nefarious about it. The vast majority of the film seems to be filmed in real places, giving it an authentic gravity that lingers even when many scenes consist of a relatively small cast of people looking at digital devices.

It’s the same principle which allowed the Bond franchise look so consistently opulent for decades: Yes, big action and special effects can display a big budget, but just providing a travelogue of sorts for the audience also seems inherently cinematic. It’s also particularly appropriate for a story so rooted in the coexisting superficial glamour and desperate hustle of creating jealousy-worthy online content.

Every character visiting Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the first film, seem to have entry to unbelievably stylish contemporary villas; there are movies about lifeguards which don't feature as much aerial pool footage. The characters have to convincingly inhabit these luxurious, remote places to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how often each person — even the woman wreaking vengeance on the influencers’ narcissistic falseness — nonetheless spends plenty of time in the glow of their devices.

Nuanced Portrayals and Tech-Savvy Tension

Simultaneously, Harder hasn’t authored a screed against the vacuousness of the influencer industry. While it is satisfying to see CW exploit different internet celebrities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification allows us to hope she doesn’t get caught, Harder is relatively understanding of the key influencer figures. Previously, he keyed into the isolation Madison experienced while on supposedly envy-worthy vacations. Here, Harder seems to trust that just observing Jacob in action will reveal that he is selling false masculinity to other doofuses; he resists turning into a caricature the character further. He even grants Jacob a measure of dignity by showing his true devotion to his partner; he is two-faced, yet Ariana is a partner in his hypocrisy, not a victim by it.

The flip side of this balanced approach means it can sometimes appear that he is acknowledging elements of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them. This is especially true regarding how he brings AI into the story, an intriguing development that lacks the psychosexual kick it should have. The retitled sequel for the film could offer devotees of the original expectations of an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the movie does eventually provide exactly that, with a suitably wild final act. However, initially, it’s more like a polished Hitchcock thriller than a frenzied, technology-obsessed De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations may also be what keeps it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. The world may be overrun with always-online creators, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself remains present, for now.