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“This whole affair smells of a bad made-for-TV,” remarks an opportunistic podcaster during the chilling follow-up Influencers. In the moment, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way toward an interviewee whose outlandish story he previously claimed he believed. Yet his assessment of what’s happening in the movie isn't inaccurate. Superficially, two films on demand about a young woman who insinuates herself into the lives of social media stars and then murders them seems like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid yet cable-ready weekly TV movie. The wild thing regarding Influencers is just how superior it proves to be than plenty of the competition, regardless of screen size. It’s the kind of thriller capable of giving its peers a serious bout of FOMO.

Recapping the First Film and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer follows the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she quietly chooses solo-traveling influencer targets, lures them to their doom, and covers up those deaths (at least temporarily) by taking control of their socials. The film leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, after her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables against her.

This lends 2025's Influencers some early ambiguity, as returning writer-director Kurtis David Harder resumes with CW happily living alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey to celebrate the couple’s one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW's attention and anger.

CW remarks to Diane that someone should try stranding a device-obsessed influencer somewhere without any devices to see if they can survive. Are we witnessing an origin-story prequel? Was CW radicalized by seeing the special treatment afforded a single fame-seeker?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint changes multiple times, eventually clarifying those introductory moments' place in the timeline. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been exonerated for carrying out CW's offenses, yet still encounters doubt over her recounting of the events, which includes the murder of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali attempting to boost his profile as half of a right-wing-influencer power couple alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his chosen platform involves masculine-focused livestreams, as opposed to the curated images that normally attract CW's interest.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in her role, a role that appears especially tailor-made for her talents. (She even created CW's eye-catching outfits.) Although the follow-up's focus tips heavily toward CW — the original felt more equally divided between her and Madison — it still works as a story of rival amateur detectives, as Madison and CW both use fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to pursue and/or escape one another. Then again, perhaps the unlimited budget aren't needed. Online personalities possess a talent for gaining access to luxurious locales at little cost, an ability which CW mirrors through her more blatant scamming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Visual Wanderlust

The filmmakers behind Influencers appear equally ingenious in locating beautiful places to film, though they were likely more legitimate about it. The vast majority of the film appears to be filmed in real places, providing it a real-world weight that remains even as many scenes involve a handful of actors of people staring at digital devices.

It’s the same principle that made the Bond franchise appear so consistently opulent over the years: Yes, explosive action and special effects can show off large spending, but just providing a kind of visual tour for the audience also feels inherently cinematic. This is especially fitting for a narrative so rooted in the coexisting superficial glamour and try-hard grind of creating envy-inducing online content.

All of the characters visiting Bali, similar to those who were in Thailand in the first film, seem to have entry to impossibly chic contemporary villas; there are movies concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off this much overhead swimming-pool video. The characters have to convincingly inhabit these luxurious, remote places to emphasize the uncomfortable paradox of how often everyone — even the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ self-centered phoniness — nonetheless spends plenty of time in the glow of their screens.

Nuanced Portrayals and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, Harder hasn’t authored a screed against the emptiness of online fame. Though it is gratifying to watch CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense of identification lets us to wish she evades capture, the filmmaker is somewhat sympathetic to the key influencer figures. In the first movie, he tapped into the loneliness Madison experienced during supposedly envy-worthy vacations. In this film, the director appears confident that just observing Jacob in action will reveal that he’s peddling false masculinity to other gullible men; he resists caricaturing the character. He even grants Jacob a degree of respect by showing his genuine loyalty to his partner; he is two-faced, but Ariana is a partner in his hypocrisy, not a victim of it.

The flip side of this balanced approach means it may occasionally seem that he’s nodding at elements of contemporary digital culture without investigating them further. This is particularly evident regarding how he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, a fascinating turn which misses the psychological edge it deserves. The retitled sequel of Influencers might give fans of the first movie expectations of a larger-scale escalation, and the film does eventually provide that, with an appropriately chaotic climax. But before that, it resembles more a polished Alfred Hitchcock movie than an frenzied, technology-obsessed Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ heavy use of actual places may also be what prevents it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. The world may be overrun with always-online creators, digital deception, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself remains present, at least for now.