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“The entire situation reeks of a bad made-for-TV,” remarks an opportunistic podcaster during the chilling follow-up Influencers. At that point, he’s being manipulatively dismissive of a guest whose bizarre tale he once claimed he believed. But his assessment of the events on screen isn’t wrong. On its face, two streaming movies chronicling a woman who insinuates herself into the worlds of online influencers before killing them feels like the 21st-century equivalent of a tawdry but cable-ready Movie of the Week. The wild thing about Influencers is just how superior it is compared to much of its competition, regardless of where you watch it. It’s the kind of thriller that should give other movies a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the First Film and Setting the Stage

The 2022 film Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she quietly chooses solo-traveling influencer targets, entices them to their deaths, and covers up those murders (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their online accounts. The film concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on an uninhabited island off the coast of Thailand, following her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers a degree of ambiguity, as returning writer-director the director resumes with CW happily living with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking the couple’s first anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW's attention and ire.

CW remarks to her partner that someone ought to attempt stranding a phone-addicted online personality somewhere without any devices and see if they can survive. Is this an origin-story prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the special treatment afforded one fame-seeker?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, eventually clarifying those introductory moments' place in the timeline. The story revisits Madison, who has been cleared of carrying out CW's offenses, yet still encounters suspicion over her recounting of the events, including the killing of Madison’s boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali attempting to boost his profile as half of a right-wing-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the Instagram photos that typically capture CW’s attention.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in her role, which seems especially custom-fit for her talents. (She even created CW's striking outfits.) Although the sequel’s focus leans heavily into CW — the first film seemed more balanced between the two women — it still functions as a tale of rival amateur detectives, as Madison and CW employ fabricated profiles, Insta-stalking, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to chase or evade one another. Then again, perhaps the unlimited budget isn’t necessary. Influencers have a talent for gaining access to luxurious locales without paying much, an ability which CW mirrors through her more blatant scamming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Visual Wanderlust

The creative team for Influencers seem similarly ingenious in locating beautiful places to visit, although they were likely more legitimate about it. Most of the movie appears to be filmed in real places, giving it a real-world weight that lingers even when numerous sequences involve a handful of actors of characters looking at digital devices.

It’s the same principle that made the Bond franchise appear so persistently lavish for decades: Indeed, big action and special effects can show off large spending, but simply offering a travelogue of sorts to viewers also feels inherently cinematic. This is particularly appropriate for a narrative so dependent on the simultaneous superficial glamour and desperate hustle involved in producing envy-inducing digital content.

Every character visiting Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the original, seem to have entry to unbelievably stylish contemporary villas; there are movies concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off as much aerial pool video. The characters must believably occupy these lush, far-flung locations to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how often 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 Digital-Age Suspense

Simultaneously, the director has not crafted a rant against the emptiness of the influencer industry. Though it is gratifying to see CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense of identification allows 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 dream getaways. Here, the director appears confident that just observing Jacob at work will reveal that he’s peddling false masculinity to other gullible men; he avoids caricaturing the character. He even grants Jacob a measure of dignity through depicting his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a collaborator in his hypocrisy, not a victim of it.

The flip side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation is that it can sometimes appear as if he is acknowledging bits of modern online life without deeply exploring them. This is particularly evident regarding how he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, a fascinating turn that lacks the psychological edge it should have. The retitled sequel for the film could offer devotees of the original hope for an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the movie does eventually provide exactly that, with a suitably wild final act. However, initially, it’s more like a sleek Alfred Hitchcock movie than an frenzied, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations might also be what keeps it from seeming like utter horror. Our society may be overrun with always-online creators, digital deception, and self-serving tourism, but the world itself remains present, at least for now.