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“Everything about this reeks like a bad made-for-TV,” observes a cynical podcaster midway through the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, he’s being dismissive in a calculated way of a guest with an outlandish story he once said he trusted. But his assessment of what’s happening on screen isn't inaccurate. On its face, a pair of films on demand chronicling a young woman who insinuates herself into the lives of online influencers before killing them feels like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid but cable-ready Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers remains how much better it proves to be compared to much of the competition, irrespective of screen size. It’s the kind of thriller that should give other movies a bad case of FOMO.

Revisiting the First Film and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) while she methodically selects traveling alone social media targets, lures them to their deaths, and covers up those murders (for a time) by taking control of their socials. The film leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on an uninhabited island off the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This provides 2025's Influencers some early ambiguity, as returning filmmaker the director resumes with CW contentedly residing alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip to celebrate their one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW's attention and ire.

CW comments to Diane that a person should try stranding a device-obsessed influencer in a place with no technology to see if they can survive. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Was CW radicalized after witnessing the special treatment given to a single fame-seeker?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The narrative viewpoint changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those early scenes’ place in the timeline. Harder catches up with Madison, now cleared of committing CW's offenses, yet still encounters suspicion over her recounting of the events, including the murder of her boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to juice his career as half of a right-wing-influencer power couple with Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium is bro-heavy streams, rather than the Instagram photos that normally attract CW's interest.

The actor continues to be terrifically magnetic in the part, which seems especially tailor-made to her strengths. (She even created CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) Although the sequel’s focus leans heavily into CW — the first film seemed more balanced between the two women — it still functions as a story of rival amateur detectives, as Madison and CW both use fake accounts, Insta-stalking, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to chase and/or escape each other. Then again, perhaps the unlimited budget isn’t necessary. Online personalities possess a talent for getting to explore posh places without paying much, a skill that CW echoes with her more overt scheming.

Resourceful Production and Cinematic Travelogue

The creative team for Influencers appear equally resourceful about finding stunning locations to film, although 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 lingers even when numerous sequences consist of a handful of actors of characters looking at computer or phone screens.

It’s the same principle which allowed the James Bond movies look so consistently opulent for decades: Yes, big action and special effects can show off a big budget, however simply offering a travelogue of sorts for the audience also feels inherently cinematic. It’s also especially fitting for a narrative so dependent on the simultaneous superficial glamour and desperate hustle involved in producing envy-inducing online content.

Every character visiting Bali, like those who were in Thailand in the original, seem to have entry to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; there are movies concerning beach rescuers which don't feature this much overhead swimming-pool footage. These individuals have to convincingly inhabit these luxurious, far-flung locations to highlight the uneasy irony of how frequently everyone — even the woman wreaking vengeance on the influencers’ narcissistic falseness — nevertheless spends plenty of time in the glow of their devices.

Nuanced Portrayals and Tech-Savvy Tension

Simultaneously, Harder hasn’t authored a rant against the vacuousness of the influencer industry. While it is satisfying to watch CW exploit various online personalities, and a Hitchcockian sense of identification lets us to wish she doesn’t get caught, the filmmaker is somewhat sympathetic to the major influencer characters. In the first movie, he tapped into the loneliness Madison felt while on supposedly envy-worthy vacations. Here, Harder seems to trust that just observing Jacob at work will make it clear that he’s peddling false masculinity to other doofuses; he avoids turning into a caricature the character further. He even grants Jacob a degree of respect by showing his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he is two-faced, yet Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not a victim by it.

The flip side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it may occasionally seem as if he is acknowledging bits of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them. This is particularly evident of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the story, a fascinating turn which misses the psychological edge it should have. The pluralized title for the film could offer devotees of the original hope for a larger-scale escalation, and the movie does eventually provide exactly that, with a suitably chaotic climax. But before that, it’s more like a polished Alfred Hitchcock movie than an wild-eyed, technology-obsessed De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations may also be what keeps it from coming across like utter horror. The world might be saturated with always-online creators, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but the world itself remains present, for now.