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“This whole affair smells like a bad TV movie,” states a cynical podcaster during the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way of a guest with an bizarre tale he once claimed he believed. Yet his description of the events in the movie isn't inaccurate. Superficially, two films on demand about a woman who insinuates herself into the worlds of online influencers and then murders them feels like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid yet cable-ready weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect about Influencers is how much better it proves to be compared to much of the competition, irrespective of screen size. It is precisely the suspense film that should give other movies a serious bout of FOMO.

Recapping the First Film and Setting the Stage

The 2022 film Influencer tracks the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects traveling alone influencer targets, lures them to their doom, and conceals those murders (at least temporarily) by taking control of their socials. The movie concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on an uninhabited island near the coast of Thailand, following her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This provides the 2025 Influencers a degree of mystery, when returning filmmaker the director resumes with the character CW happily living alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey to celebrate the couple’s first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW’s eye and ire.

CW comments to Diane that someone should try leaving a phone-addicted online personality somewhere with no technology to see whether they can make it. Is this an origin-story prequel? Was CW radicalized after witnessing the special treatment afforded a single clout-chaser?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The narrative viewpoint changes multiple times, eventually clarifying those introductory moments' chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been cleared of carrying out CW’s crimes, but still faces doubt over her version of the events, including the murder of her boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali and trying to boost his profile as part of a right-wing-influencer power couple with Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the Instagram photos that normally attract CW’s attention.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in the part, a role that appears especially tailor-made for her talents. (She also designed CW's striking wardrobe.) Although the follow-up's focus tips heavily toward CW — the first film felt more equally divided between the two women — it still functions as a tale of dueling investigators, with both women both use fabricated profiles, Insta-stalking, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to pursue or evade each other. Then again, maybe the vast resources isn’t necessary. Influencers have a talent for getting to explore luxurious locales at little cost, an ability which CW mirrors through her more blatant scheming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Visual Wanderlust

The creative team for Influencers appear equally ingenious about finding stunning locations to film, though they were presumably more legitimate in their methods. The vast majority of the movie seems to be shot on location, giving it an authentic gravity that remains even as many scenes consist of a relatively small cast of people looking at computer or phone screens.

It’s the same principle which allowed the James Bond movies appear so persistently lavish over the years: Yes, explosive action and visual effects can show off a big budget, however just providing a travelogue of sorts to viewers also feels inherently cinematic. This is particularly appropriate for a story so rooted in the simultaneous surface-level allure and desperate hustle involved in producing jealousy-worthy online content.

Every character visiting Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the first film, seem to have access to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; films exist concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off this much aerial pool video. The characters must believably occupy these luxurious, remote places to highlight the uneasy irony of how often each person — including the woman wreaking vengeance on the influencers’ self-centered phoniness — nonetheless devotes much time in the glow of their screens.

Nuanced Portrayals and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, the director has not crafted a screed targeting the emptiness of online fame. Though it is gratifying to see CW manipulate various online personalities, and a Hitchcockian sense of identification lets us to wish she doesn’t get caught, Harder is somewhat understanding of the key influencer figures. In the first movie, he tapped into the loneliness Madison felt during supposedly dream getaways. Here, the director appears confident that merely watching Jacob in action will make it clear that he’s peddling false masculinity to other gullible men; he resists caricaturing the character. He even grants Jacob a degree of respect through depicting his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a partner in his hypocrisy, not a victim by it.

The flip side of this balanced approach is that it can sometimes appear as if he is acknowledging elements of contemporary digital culture without investigating them. This is especially true of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, a fascinating turn which misses the psychosexual kick it should have. The retitled sequel of Influencers might give fans of the first movie expectations of a larger-scale ante-upping, and the movie ultimately delivers that, with a suitably chaotic climax. But before that, it resembles more a sleek Hitchcock thriller than a frenzied, technology-obsessed Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations might also be what prevents it from coming across like utter horror. The world may be overrun with always-online creators, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but the world itself is still here, for now.