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“This whole affair reeks like a cheap made-for-TV,” remarks an opportunistic podcaster midway through the chilling follow-up Influencers. In the moment, his tone is manipulatively dismissive of a guest with an bizarre tale he once said he trusted. But his description of the events in the movie isn't inaccurate. Superficially, two films on demand about a young woman who insinuates herself into the worlds of online influencers before killing them feels like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid but cable-ready weekly TV movie. The wild thing regarding Influencers is just how superior it proves to be compared to much of its competition, regardless of where you watch it. It’s the kind of thriller that should give its peers a serious bout of FOMO.

Revisiting the First Film and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she quietly chooses traveling alone social media targets, lures them to their doom, and conceals those deaths (at least temporarily) by taking control of their socials. The movie leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles against her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers some early ambiguity, when returning writer-director the director resumes with CW happily living alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey marking their one-year anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW's attention and anger.

CW comments to Diane that someone should try leaving a device-obsessed online personality somewhere without any devices and see whether they can survive. Is this an origin-story prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the preferential treatment given to a single clout-chaser?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' place in the timeline. The story revisits Madison, who has been cleared of carrying out CW's offenses, yet still encounters doubt over her recounting of what happened, including the killing of her boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali attempting to boost his profile as part of a right-wing-influencer power couple with Ariana (Veronica Long), though his chosen platform involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the Instagram photos that typically capture CW’s attention.

The actor continues to be terrifically magnetic in her role, which seems especially tailor-made to her strengths. (She even created CW's striking wardrobe.) Although the sequel’s screentime balance leans heavily into CW — the original seemed more balanced between her and Madison — it still works as a tale of dueling investigators, as Madison and CW both use fabricated profiles, Insta-stalking, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to pursue and/or escape each other. Of course, maybe the unlimited budget isn’t necessary. Online personalities possess a knack for gaining access to luxurious locales without paying much, an ability that CW echoes with her more overt scamming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Visual Wanderlust

The filmmakers behind Influencers seem similarly ingenious about finding beautiful places to film, although they were likely less nefarious about it. The vast majority of the film appears to be shot on location, giving it a real-world weight that remains even when numerous sequences involve a relatively small cast of people staring at digital devices.

It follows the same logic which allowed the James Bond movies look so consistently opulent over the years: Indeed, big action and visual effects can display large spending, however simply offering a kind of visual tour for the audience also feels deeply filmic. This is especially fitting for a story so dependent on the coexisting superficial glamour and desperate hustle involved in producing jealousy-worthy online content.

All of the characters in Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the first film, appear to enjoy entry to impossibly chic modern bungalows; there are movies concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off this much aerial pool footage. The characters must believably inhabit these luxurious, far-flung locations to emphasize the uneasy irony of how frequently each person — even the woman wreaking vengeance upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — nonetheless devotes much time under the light of their screens.

Nuanced Portrayals and Digital-Age Suspense

Simultaneously, Harder hasn’t authored a rant against the emptiness of online fame. Though it is gratifying to watch CW manipulate various online personalities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification allows us to wish she doesn’t get caught, the filmmaker is relatively sympathetic to the major influencer characters. Previously, he keyed into the loneliness Madison felt while on ostensibly dream getaways. Here, the director appears confident that merely watching Jacob in action will make it clear that he’s peddling snake-oil masculinity to other gullible men; he resists turning into a caricature the character further. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect by showing his true devotion to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, yet Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not someone exploited by it.

The other side of this balanced approach means it may occasionally seem as if he’s nodding at elements of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring 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 retitled sequel of Influencers might give devotees of the original expectations of an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the movie ultimately delivers exactly that, with an appropriately wild final act. However, initially, it resembles more a polished Alfred Hitchcock movie than an wild-eyed, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations might also be what keeps it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. Our society may be overrun with always-online creators, online fraud, and exploitative travel, but the world itself is still here, at least for now.