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“This whole affair reeks of a cheap made-for-TV,” states an opportunistic commentator midway through the chilling follow-up Influencers. At that point, he’s being manipulatively dismissive toward an interviewee whose bizarre tale he previously claimed he believed. But his assessment of what’s happening in the movie isn’t wrong. On its face, 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 tawdry but network-approved weekly TV movie. The wild thing regarding Influencers remains just how superior it is than plenty of the competition, regardless of screen size. It is precisely the thriller that should give other movies a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the First Film and Setting the Stage

The 2022 film Influencer tracks the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) while she methodically selects traveling alone social media targets, entices them to their deaths, and conceals those murders (for a time) by seizing control of their socials. The movie concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles on her.

This provides 2025's Influencers some early mystery, when returning writer-director Kurtis David Harder picks up with CW happily living with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey to celebrate their first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW's attention and ire.

CW comments to Diane that a person ought to attempt leaving a phone-addicted online personality somewhere without any devices to see if they can make it. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the preferential treatment afforded one clout-chaser?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The story’s perspective shifts several more times, eventually clarifying those introductory moments' chronological position. The story revisits Madison, now exonerated for carrying out CW's offenses, but still faces doubt regarding her version of the events, including the murder of her boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali and trying to boost his profile as half of a right-wing-influencer duo with Ariana (Veronica Long), though his chosen platform involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the curated images that typically capture CW's interest.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in her role, which seems particularly custom-fit to her strengths. (She even created CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) Although the follow-up's screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the first film seemed more balanced between her and Madison — it still works as a story of dueling investigators, as Madison and CW both use fake accounts, social media surveillance, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to pursue or evade each other. Then again, maybe the unlimited budget isn’t necessary. Influencers have a knack for getting to explore posh places at little cost, an ability which CW mirrors with her more overt scamming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The creative team for Influencers seem similarly resourceful about finding beautiful places to film, though they were presumably more legitimate about it. Most of the movie appears to be filmed in real places, giving it an authentic gravity that lingers even when many scenes involve a handful of actors of characters staring at computer or phone screens.

It’s the same principle which allowed the James Bond movies appear so persistently lavish over the years: Yes, big action and visual effects can show off a big budget, however just providing a travelogue of sorts to viewers also feels inherently cinematic. This is especially fitting for a narrative so rooted in the coexisting superficial glamour and try-hard grind involved in producing jealousy-worthy online content.

Every character visiting Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the first film, seem to have access to impossibly chic contemporary villas; films exist concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off this much overhead swimming-pool footage. These individuals must believably occupy these luxurious, remote places to emphasize the uneasy irony of how often each person — even the woman wreaking vengeance on the influencers’ self-centered phoniness — nonetheless devotes much time in the glow of their devices.

Balanced Depictions and Tech-Savvy Tension

At the same time, Harder hasn’t authored a rant against the emptiness of the influencer industry. Though it is gratifying to see CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification lets us to hope she doesn’t get caught, Harder is relatively understanding of the key influencer figures. Previously, he tapped into the loneliness Madison felt while on supposedly dream getaways. Here, the director appears confident that just observing Jacob in action will reveal that he’s peddling false masculinity to other doofuses; he resists turning into a caricature the character further. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity by showing his true devotion to his partner; he’s a hypocrite, yet Ariana is a collaborator in his hypocrisy, not a victim by it.

The other side of this balanced approach is that it can sometimes appear as if he’s nodding at elements of contemporary digital culture without investigating them further. This is especially true regarding how he introduces artificial intelligence into the story, a fascinating turn which misses the psychosexual kick it deserves. The pluralized title of Influencers might give fans of the first movie expectations of an Aliens-style escalation, and the movie does eventually provide exactly that, with an appropriately wild final act. However, initially, it’s more like a polished Hitchcock thriller than a frenzied, technology-obsessed Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ extensive use of actual places might also be what prevents it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. Our society may be overrun with always-online creators, digital deception, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself remains present, for now.