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“Everything about this smells of a bad made-for-TV,” observes an opportunistic commentator during the chilling follow-up Influencers. At that point, his tone is manipulatively dismissive of a guest whose outlandish story he previously said he trusted. Yet his description of what’s happening on screen isn't inaccurate. Superficially, two films on demand chronicling a young woman who worms her way into the lives of social media stars before killing them feels like a modern-day version of a lurid yet network-approved Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers is 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 serious bout of FOMO.

Revisiting the First Film and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer tracks the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects traveling alone social media targets, entices them to their deaths, and conceals those deaths (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their socials. The movie leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on an uninhabited island near the coast of Thailand, following her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles on her.

This lends 2025's Influencers some early ambiguity, when returning filmmaker Kurtis David Harder picks up with CW happily living with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey to celebrate the couple’s first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW’s eye and anger.

CW comments to Diane that someone should try leaving a device-obsessed online personality in a place with no technology to see if they can make it. Are we witnessing an origin-story prequel? Was CW radicalized after witnessing the preferential treatment afforded a single clout-chaser?

Evolving Viewpoints and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' place in the timeline. The story revisits Madison, who has been cleared of committing CW’s crimes, yet still encounters suspicion over her recounting of what happened, which includes the murder of Madison’s boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali and trying to boost his profile as half of a conservative-influencer power couple alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium is bro-heavy streams, rather than the curated images that normally capture CW’s attention.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in her role, which seems particularly custom-fit to her strengths. (She also designed CW's eye-catching outfits.) Although the follow-up's screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the first film seemed more balanced between the two women — it still functions as a tale of rival amateur detectives, with both women employ fake accounts, social media surveillance, 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 talent for gaining access to posh places without paying much, an ability that CW echoes through her more blatant scamming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Visual Wanderlust

The creative team for Influencers appear equally resourceful in locating stunning locations to visit, though they were presumably less nefarious in their methods. The vast majority of the movie appears to be filmed in real places, providing it an authentic gravity that lingers even as numerous sequences involve a handful of actors of characters looking at digital devices.

It follows the same logic that made the James Bond movies appear so consistently opulent for decades: Indeed, explosive action and special effects can show off large spending, however simply offering a kind of visual tour for the audience also seems inherently cinematic. It’s also particularly appropriate for a story so rooted in the coexisting surface-level allure and try-hard grind of creating envy-inducing digital content.

All of the characters in Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy entry to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; films exist concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off as much overhead swimming-pool footage. The characters must believably occupy these lush, remote places to emphasize the uneasy irony of how often everyone — even the woman exacting revenge upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — nevertheless devotes much time in the glow of their devices.

Balanced Depictions and Digital-Age Suspense

Simultaneously, Harder hasn’t authored a rant targeting the emptiness of online fame. While it can be satisfying to watch CW manipulate various online personalities, and a Hitchcockian sense of identification lets us to hope she doesn’t get caught, Harder is relatively understanding of the major influencer characters. In the first movie, he keyed into the loneliness Madison felt during ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. Here, the director appears confident that merely watching Jacob at work will reveal that he is selling false masculinity to other doofuses; he resists caricaturing the character further. He even grants Jacob a degree of respect through depicting his genuine loyalty to his partner; he is two-faced, but Ariana is a partner in his hypocrisy, not a victim by it.

The flip side of this balanced approach means it may occasionally seem as if he is acknowledging bits of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them further. This is especially true regarding how he brings AI into the story, a fascinating turn that lacks the psychosexual kick it should have. The pluralized title of Influencers might give fans of the first movie expectations of an Aliens-style escalation, and the film ultimately delivers exactly that, with an appropriately chaotic climax. But before that, it resembles more a sleek Alfred Hitchcock movie than a wild-eyed, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of actual places may also be what keeps it from coming across like pure nightmare fuel. Our society might be saturated with always-online creators, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but the world itself remains present, at least for now.