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“Everything about this stinks like a bad made-for-TV,” states a cynical podcaster midway through the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way toward an interviewee whose bizarre tale he previously said he trusted. Yet his description of the events in the movie isn’t wrong. On its face, a pair of films on demand chronicling a woman who insinuates herself into the worlds of social media stars before killing them seems like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid but cable-ready weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers remains just how superior it is than plenty of the competition, regardless of screen size. It’s the kind of suspense film that should give its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer tracks the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she quietly chooses solo-traveling social media targets, lures them to their deaths, and covers up those deaths (at least temporarily) by taking control of their socials. The movie leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand, following her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles against her.

This provides 2025's Influencers a degree of ambiguity, as returning writer-director Kurtis David Harder resumes with the character CW happily living alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey marking the couple’s first anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW's attention and ire.

CW comments to Diane that a person should try leaving a phone-addicted influencer in a place without any devices to see if they can survive. Are we witnessing an origin-story prequel? Did CW become extremist by seeing the preferential treatment afforded one fame-seeker?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been exonerated for carrying out CW's offenses, but still faces suspicion regarding her version of the events, including the killing of Madison’s boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali and trying to boost his profile as half of a right-wing-influencer power couple with Ariana (Veronica Long), though his chosen platform involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the curated images that typically capture CW’s attention.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in her role, a role that appears particularly custom-fit for her talents. (She also designed CW's striking outfits.) While the follow-up's screentime balance leans heavily into CW — the original felt more equally divided between her and Madison — it still works as a tale of dueling investigators, as Madison and CW employ fabricated profiles, Insta-stalking, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to pursue or evade one another. Then again, maybe the vast resources isn’t necessary. Online personalities possess a talent for gaining access to luxurious locales at little cost, an ability that CW echoes through her more blatant scheming.

Resourceful Production and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers appear equally resourceful about finding stunning locations to visit, although they were likely more legitimate in their methods. The vast majority of the movie appears to be filmed in real places, providing it an authentic gravity that lingers even when numerous sequences involve a handful of actors of people looking at digital devices.

It follows the same logic that made the Bond franchise look so persistently lavish over the years: Indeed, big action and special effects can show off large spending, however just providing a travelogue of sorts to viewers also feels inherently cinematic. This is especially fitting for a narrative so rooted in the simultaneous surface-level allure and desperate hustle involved in producing jealousy-worthy online content.

All of the characters in Bali, like those staying in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy entry to impossibly chic contemporary villas; there are movies concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off as much overhead swimming-pool video. The characters have to convincingly inhabit these luxurious, far-flung locations to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how frequently everyone — even the woman exacting revenge upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — nonetheless spends plenty of time in the glow of their devices.

Nuanced Portrayals and Digital-Age Suspense

Simultaneously, the director has not crafted a screed against the vacuousness of the influencer industry. Though it can be gratifying to see CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense of identification allows us to hope she evades capture, Harder is relatively understanding of the major influencer characters. In the first movie, he keyed into the loneliness Madison experienced while on supposedly dream getaways. Here, Harder seems to trust that just observing Jacob in action will reveal that he’s peddling false masculinity to other doofuses; he resists caricaturing the character. He even grants Jacob a degree of respect by showing his genuine loyalty to his partner; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not a victim by it.

The flip side of this balanced approach means it may occasionally seem as if he’s nodding at elements of modern online life without investigating them further. This is particularly evident of the way he brings AI into the story, a fascinating turn that lacks the psychological edge it should have. 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. But before that, it’s more like a polished Alfred Hitchcock movie than an frenzied, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations may also be what prevents it from coming across like utter horror. Our society may be overrun with content-churning influencers, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but the world itself remains present, at least for now.