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“This whole affair smells like a bad TV movie,” remarks a cynical commentator during the chilling follow-up Influencers. At that point, he’s being dismissive in a calculated way of a guest whose outlandish story he previously claimed he believed. Yet his description of what’s happening on screen isn’t wrong. Superficially, a pair of films on demand about a woman who insinuates herself into the lives of online influencers before killing them seems like a modern-day version of a lurid but cable-ready Movie of the Week. The wild thing regarding Influencers remains just how superior it proves to be compared to much of the competition, regardless of where you watch it. It’s the kind of suspense film capable of giving its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer tracks the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects solo-traveling social media targets, lures them to their deaths, and conceals those murders (for a time) by seizing control of their online accounts. The film concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This provides 2025's Influencers a degree of mystery, when returning filmmaker Kurtis David Harder resumes with CW contentedly residing with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking their one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW’s eye and ire.

CW remarks to her partner that a person ought to attempt stranding a phone-addicted influencer somewhere without any devices to see if they can survive. Are we witnessing an origin-story prequel? Did CW become extremist by seeing the special treatment given to a single fame-seeker?

Shifting Perspectives and Global Pursuits

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, ultimately revealing those early scenes’ chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been exonerated for committing CW's offenses, but still faces suspicion over her recounting 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 conservative-influencer power couple with Ariana (Veronica Long), although his chosen platform is bro-heavy streams, rather than the curated images that normally capture CW’s attention.

Naud remains immensely captivating in her role, a role that appears especially tailor-made to her strengths. (She also designed CW's striking wardrobe.) Although the sequel’s screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the first film seemed more balanced between her and Madison — it still functions as a story of dueling investigators, as Madison and CW employ fabricated profiles, Insta-stalking, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to pursue or evade one another. Of course, perhaps the vast resources isn’t necessary. Influencers have a talent for gaining access to posh places without paying much, a skill that CW echoes through her more blatant scamming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Visual Wanderlust

The filmmakers behind Influencers seem similarly resourceful in locating stunning locations to film, although they were presumably more legitimate about it. Most of the movie seems to be filmed in real places, giving it an authentic gravity that remains even as many scenes consist of a relatively small cast of people staring at computer or phone screens.

It follows the same logic which allowed the James Bond movies appear so consistently opulent over the years: Indeed, explosive action and special effects can display large spending, however simply offering a kind of visual tour to viewers also feels deeply filmic. This is particularly appropriate for a narrative so rooted in the simultaneous superficial glamour and desperate hustle of creating jealousy-worthy digital content.

Every character in Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy entry to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; there are movies concerning beach rescuers which don't feature as much aerial pool video. These individuals must believably occupy these luxurious, far-flung locations to emphasize the uncomfortable paradox of how frequently everyone — even the woman wreaking vengeance on the influencers’ narcissistic falseness — nonetheless devotes much time in the glow of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Tech-Savvy Tension

Simultaneously, the director has not crafted a rant against the vacuousness of the influencer industry. Though it is gratifying to watch CW manipulate various online personalities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of alignment allows us to hope she doesn’t get caught, the filmmaker is somewhat understanding of the major influencer characters. Previously, he tapped into the loneliness Madison felt during ostensibly dream getaways. In this film, Harder seems to trust that merely watching Jacob in action will make it clear that he is selling snake-oil masculinity to other gullible men; he resists caricaturing the character. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity by showing his genuine loyalty to his partner; he’s a hypocrite, but 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 modern online life without investigating them further. This is particularly evident regarding how he brings AI into the plot, an intriguing development which misses the psychological edge it deserves. The pluralized title of Influencers could offer fans of the first movie hope for an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the film ultimately delivers that, with an appropriately 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 actual places might also be what prevents it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. The world might be saturated with always-online creators, online fraud, and exploitative travel, but reality itself is still here, for now.