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“The entire situation smells like a cheap made-for-TV,” observes a cynical commentator during the chilling follow-up Influencers. At that point, he’s being manipulatively dismissive of a guest with an bizarre tale he once said he trusted. Yet his assessment of what’s happening in the movie isn't inaccurate. On its face, two films on demand about a woman who worms her way into the lives of social media stars before killing them seems like a modern-day version of a lurid yet cable-ready Movie of the Week. The wild thing regarding Influencers is just how superior it proves to be compared to much of the competition, regardless of screen size. It is precisely the suspense film that should give other movies a serious bout of FOMO.

Revisiting the Original and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer tracks the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she quietly chooses traveling alone influencer targets, entices them to their doom, and covers up those deaths (for a time) by seizing control of their online accounts. The movie leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, following her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles against her.

This provides the 2025 Influencers a degree of ambiguity, as returning writer-director Kurtis David Harder picks up with CW happily living alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey to celebrate their one-year anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW’s eye and anger.

CW remarks to her partner that someone ought to attempt leaving a device-obsessed influencer somewhere without any devices and see if they can make it. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Was CW radicalized by seeing the preferential treatment afforded a single fame-seeker?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those early scenes’ place in the timeline. The story revisits Madison, now cleared of carrying out CW's offenses, yet still encounters suspicion regarding her recounting of the events, including the killing of Madison’s boyfriend. The film also follows 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 involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the curated images that normally attract CW’s attention.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in her role, a role that appears particularly custom-fit for her talents. (She also designed CW's eye-catching outfits.) Although the follow-up's screentime balance leans heavily into CW — the first film felt more equally divided between the two women — it still functions as a story of dueling amateur detectives, with both women both use fake accounts, Insta-stalking, and an apparently limitless travel fund to pursue and/or escape each other. Then again, perhaps the unlimited budget isn’t necessary. Online personalities possess a talent for getting to explore luxurious locales without paying much, an ability which CW mirrors with her more overt scheming.

Resourceful Production and Visual Wanderlust

The creative team for Influencers seem similarly ingenious about finding stunning locations to film, although they were presumably less nefarious about it. The vast majority of the movie seems to be shot on location, providing it an authentic gravity that lingers even as numerous sequences consist of a relatively small cast of people looking at digital devices.

It’s the same principle that made the James Bond movies look so persistently lavish over the years: Indeed, explosive action and visual effects can display large spending, however simply offering a travelogue of sorts to viewers also seems inherently cinematic. This is especially fitting for a story so rooted in the simultaneous superficial glamour and try-hard grind involved in producing envy-inducing digital content.

All of the characters visiting Bali, like those who were in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy entry to impossibly chic contemporary villas; films exist concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off as much overhead swimming-pool footage. These individuals have to convincingly occupy these luxurious, far-flung locations to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how often everyone — including the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ narcissistic falseness — nevertheless devotes much time under the light of their devices.

Nuanced Portrayals and Digital-Age Suspense

Simultaneously, the director has not crafted a screed against the vacuousness of the influencer industry. While it is satisfying to see CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification lets us to wish she evades capture, the filmmaker is somewhat understanding of the key influencer figures. In the first movie, he keyed into the isolation Madison experienced while on supposedly envy-worthy vacations. In this film, the director appears confident that just observing Jacob at work will make it clear that he is selling false masculinity to other gullible men; he avoids caricaturing the character. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity by showing his genuine loyalty to his partner; he is two-faced, yet Ariana is a collaborator in his double standards, not a victim by it.

The flip side of this balanced approach means it may occasionally seem as if he’s nodding at bits of modern online life without investigating them. This is particularly evident regarding how he brings AI into the plot, a fascinating turn that lacks the psychological edge it should have. The pluralized title for the film could offer fans of the first movie hope for a larger-scale escalation, and the movie does eventually provide exactly that, with an appropriately wild final act. However, initially, it resembles more a sleek Alfred Hitchcock movie than a frenzied, technology-obsessed Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ extensive use of actual places may also be what prevents it from coming across like pure nightmare fuel. The world might be saturated with always-online creators, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but reality itself remains present, at least for now.