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“The entire situation reeks like a bad TV movie,” observes an opportunistic podcaster midway through the chilling follow-up Influencers. In the moment, he’s being dismissive in a calculated way toward an interviewee with an outlandish story he once claimed he believed. Yet his description of the events in the movie isn't inaccurate. Superficially, two streaming movies about a woman who insinuates herself into the worlds of online influencers before killing them seems like a modern-day version of a tawdry yet network-approved weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers is just how superior it proves to be than plenty of the competition, regardless of screen size. It’s the kind of suspense film that should give its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Revisiting the Original and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer follows the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) while she methodically selects solo-traveling influencer targets, lures them to their deaths, and conceals those deaths (for a time) by seizing control of their online accounts. The movie leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on an uninhabited island near the coast of Thailand, after her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles against her.

This lends 2025's Influencers some early mystery, when returning filmmaker the director resumes with CW happily living alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey marking their first anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW’s eye and ire.

CW remarks to her partner that a person should try leaving a phone-addicted influencer somewhere with no technology to see if they can make it. Is this a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the preferential treatment afforded a single clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and Global Pursuits

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, eventually clarifying those introductory moments' place in the timeline. Harder catches up with Madison, now exonerated for carrying out CW's offenses, but still faces doubt over her recounting of what happened, including the murder of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to boost his profile as part of a conservative-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his chosen platform is bro-heavy streams, as opposed to the curated images that normally capture CW’s attention.

The actor continues to be terrifically magnetic in her role, which seems especially custom-fit for her talents. (She even created CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) Although the sequel’s screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the original felt more equally divided between her and Madison — it still functions as a story of dueling amateur detectives, as Madison and CW both use fabricated profiles, Insta-stalking, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to pursue or evade one another. Of course, maybe the vast resources isn’t necessary. Online personalities possess a talent for gaining access to luxurious locales at little cost, an ability which CW mirrors with her more overt scamming.

Resourceful Production and Visual Wanderlust

The filmmakers behind Influencers seem similarly ingenious in locating stunning locations to visit, although they were presumably less nefarious about it. The vast majority of the movie appears to be filmed in real places, providing it an authentic gravity that remains even as many scenes involve a handful of actors of characters staring at computer or phone screens.

It’s the same principle which allowed the Bond franchise appear so consistently opulent over the years: Yes, explosive action and visual effects can display a big budget, but simply offering a travelogue of sorts for the audience also seems inherently cinematic. It’s also particularly appropriate for a story so dependent on the coexisting superficial glamour and try-hard grind of creating envy-inducing digital content.

Every character in Bali, like those staying in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy entry to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; films exist about lifeguards which don't feature this much aerial pool video. The characters must believably inhabit these luxurious, far-flung locations to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how often everyone — including the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ narcissistic falseness — nonetheless devotes much time under the light of their devices.

Balanced Depictions and Tech-Savvy Tension

Simultaneously, the director has not crafted a rant targeting the vacuousness of online fame. Though it is gratifying to see CW exploit various online personalities, and a Hitchcockian sense of alignment lets us to wish she evades capture, the filmmaker is somewhat sympathetic to the key influencer figures. Previously, he keyed into the isolation Madison experienced during supposedly envy-worthy vacations. Here, Harder seems to trust that merely watching Jacob in action will make it clear that he’s peddling false masculinity to other gullible men; he avoids caricaturing the character. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect by showing his genuine loyalty to his partner; he is two-faced, yet Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not someone exploited of it.

The flip side of this balanced approach is that it may occasionally seem that he is acknowledging elements of modern online life without investigating them further. This is particularly evident regarding how he brings AI into the story, a fascinating turn which misses the psychosexual kick it should have. The retitled sequel for the film might give fans of the first movie hope for an Aliens-style escalation, and the movie ultimately delivers that, with a suitably chaotic climax. But before that, it resembles more a sleek Alfred Hitchcock movie than an wild-eyed, technology-obsessed De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations may also be what keeps it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. Our society may be overrun with always-online creators, online fraud, and exploitative travel, but reality itself remains present, for now.