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“Everything about this smells like a bad TV movie,” states a cynical commentator during the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, his tone is manipulatively dismissive of a guest whose bizarre tale he once said he trusted. But his assessment of the events on screen isn't inaccurate. On its face, a pair of films on demand chronicling a young woman who insinuates herself into the lives of online influencers and then murders them feels like the 21st-century equivalent of a tawdry but network-approved weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect about Influencers is how much better it is than plenty of the competition, regardless of screen size. It’s the kind of thriller capable of giving other movies a serious bout of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects traveling alone social media targets, lures them to their doom, and covers up those murders (for a time) by seizing control of their online accounts. The movie leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on an uninhabited island near the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles against her.

This provides the 2025 Influencers some early mystery, when returning writer-director Kurtis David Harder resumes with the character CW contentedly residing with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey marking their one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW’s eye and ire.

CW comments to Diane that someone should try stranding a phone-addicted online personality in a place without any devices and see if they can survive. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the preferential treatment afforded one clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, eventually clarifying those early scenes’ place in the timeline. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been exonerated for carrying out CW’s crimes, but still faces doubt regarding her version of the events, including the murder of her boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to juice his career as part of a conservative-influencer power couple with Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium is bro-heavy streams, rather than the Instagram photos that typically capture CW’s attention.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in the part, which seems particularly custom-fit for her talents. (She even created CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) Although the follow-up's screentime balance leans heavily into CW — the first film seemed more balanced between the two women — it still functions as a story of rival amateur detectives, as Madison and CW employ fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and a seemingly unlimited travel budget to pursue and/or escape each other. Of course, perhaps the vast resources aren't needed. Online personalities possess a talent for gaining access to luxurious locales without paying much, an ability that CW echoes through her more blatant scamming.

Resourceful Production and Visual Wanderlust

The creative team for Influencers appear equally resourceful in locating beautiful places to visit, although they were likely more legitimate in their methods. The vast majority of the film appears to be filmed in real places, giving it a real-world weight that remains even as numerous sequences involve a handful of actors of people staring at digital devices.

It follows the same logic that made the Bond franchise appear so persistently lavish for decades: Indeed, 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 dependent on the simultaneous surface-level allure and try-hard grind of creating envy-inducing online content.

Every character in Bali, like those staying in Thailand in the first film, appear to enjoy access to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; there are movies about lifeguards that don’t show off this much aerial pool footage. These individuals have to convincingly inhabit these luxurious, far-flung locations to highlight the uneasy irony of how often everyone — including the woman exacting revenge upon the online stars' self-centered phoniness — nevertheless devotes much time in the glow of their devices.

Nuanced Portrayals and Tech-Savvy Tension

At the same time, the director has not crafted a screed targeting the emptiness of the influencer industry. Though it can be gratifying to see CW exploit various online personalities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of alignment lets us to wish she evades capture, the filmmaker is relatively understanding of the key influencer figures. In the first movie, he tapped into the isolation Madison felt while on ostensibly dream getaways. Here, Harder seems to trust that just observing Jacob in action will make it clear that he’s peddling snake-oil masculinity to other doofuses; he avoids turning into a caricature the character. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity through depicting his true devotion to his partner; he is two-faced, but Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not a victim by it.

The flip side of this balanced approach is that it may occasionally seem that he’s nodding at bits of modern online life without deeply exploring them. This is especially true regarding how he brings AI into the plot, an intriguing development that lacks the psychosexual kick it should have. The retitled sequel of Influencers might give devotees of the original expectations of an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the film ultimately delivers exactly that, with an appropriately wild final act. However, initially, it’s more like a sleek Hitchcock thriller than a frenzied, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations might also be what keeps it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. Our society may be overrun with content-churning influencers, online fraud, and exploitative travel, but reality itself is still here, for now.