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“Everything about this stinks of a bad made-for-TV,” observes a cynical commentator midway through the chilling follow-up Influencers. At that point, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way toward an interviewee with an outlandish story he previously said he trusted. But his description of what’s happening on screen isn’t wrong. Superficially, two films on demand about a young woman who worms her way into the worlds of social media stars before killing them feels like the 21st-century equivalent of a tawdry yet cable-ready Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers is just how superior it is compared to much of the competition, irrespective of screen size. It is precisely the suspense film that should give its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) while she methodically selects solo-traveling influencer targets, lures them to their doom, and covers up those deaths (for a time) by seizing control of their socials. The film leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, following her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This lends 2025's Influencers some early ambiguity, as returning filmmaker the director picks up with the character CW contentedly residing alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip to celebrate their first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW's attention and anger.

CW comments to her partner that a person should try stranding a phone-addicted online personality in a place with no technology to see if they can survive. Are we witnessing an origin-story prequel? Was CW radicalized by seeing the special treatment afforded a single clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and Global Pursuits

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' chronological position. The story revisits Madison, who has been exonerated for carrying out CW's offenses, yet still encounters doubt regarding her recounting of what happened, which includes the murder of her boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali attempting to boost his profile as part of a right-wing-influencer duo alongside 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 her role, a role that appears especially tailor-made for her talents. (She even created CW's striking wardrobe.) While the follow-up's screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the first film felt more equally divided between the two women — it still works as a tale of rival investigators, as Madison and CW both use fabricated profiles, Insta-stalking, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to pursue and/or escape each other. Of course, perhaps the vast resources isn’t necessary. Online personalities possess a talent for gaining access to posh places without paying much, a skill which CW mirrors with her more overt scamming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The creative team for Influencers seem similarly ingenious in locating stunning locations to film, though they were likely more legitimate about it. The vast majority of the movie seems to be shot on location, giving it a real-world weight that remains even when many scenes involve a handful of actors of people staring at digital devices.

It’s the same principle that made the Bond franchise appear so consistently opulent for decades: Yes, explosive action and visual effects can display large spending, however just providing a kind of visual tour to viewers also seems deeply filmic. It’s also especially fitting for a story so dependent on the coexisting surface-level allure and try-hard grind involved in producing envy-inducing digital content.

Every character in Bali, like those who were in Thailand in the first film, appear to enjoy access to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; films exist about lifeguards that don’t show off as much aerial pool footage. These individuals have to convincingly inhabit these lush, remote places to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how often everyone — including the woman wreaking vengeance on the influencers’ self-centered phoniness — nevertheless spends plenty of time in the glow of their devices.

Nuanced Portrayals and Tech-Savvy Tension

At the same time, the director has not crafted a rant against the emptiness of the influencer industry. While it can be satisfying to watch CW manipulate various online personalities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of alignment lets us to hope she doesn’t get caught, Harder is somewhat sympathetic to the major influencer characters. In the first movie, he tapped into the loneliness Madison felt during supposedly dream getaways. Here, Harder seems to trust that just observing Jacob at work will reveal that he is selling false masculinity to other gullible men; he avoids turning into a caricature the character further. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect by showing his genuine loyalty to his partner; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a collaborator in his double standards, not a victim of it.

The other side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it can sometimes appear that he’s nodding at elements of modern online life without investigating them further. This is particularly evident regarding how he brings AI into the story, an intriguing development which misses the psychological edge it should have. The pluralized title of Influencers might give fans of the first movie expectations of an Aliens-style escalation, and the film does eventually provide that, with an appropriately wild final act. However, initially, it’s more like a polished Hitchcock thriller than an wild-eyed, technology-obsessed De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ heavy use of actual places may also be what prevents it from seeming like utter horror. Our society might be saturated with always-online creators, digital deception, and self-serving tourism, but the world itself is still here, for now.