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“Everything about this smells like a bad TV movie,” remarks an opportunistic commentator midway through the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, he’s being dismissive in a calculated way of a guest with an bizarre tale he previously said he trusted. Yet his description of what’s happening in the movie isn't inaccurate. On its face, a pair of films on demand about a young woman who worms her way into the worlds of online influencers before killing them feels like a modern-day version of a lurid yet network-approved weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect about Influencers is just how superior it proves to be than plenty of its competition, regardless of screen size. It is precisely the thriller capable of giving its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Revisiting the Original and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer tracks the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects solo-traveling influencer targets, lures them to their doom, and conceals those murders (for a time) by taking control of their socials. The film concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, after her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables against her.

This provides the 2025 Influencers some early ambiguity, as returning writer-director Kurtis David Harder resumes with the character CW contentedly residing alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking the couple’s one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW’s eye and ire.

CW comments to her partner that a person ought to attempt leaving a phone-addicted online personality somewhere without any devices to see whether they can survive. Are we witnessing an origin-story prequel? Was CW radicalized by seeing the special treatment afforded one fame-seeker?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The story’s perspective shifts several more times, eventually clarifying those introductory moments' chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been exonerated for carrying out CW's offenses, but still faces doubt regarding her recounting of the events, which includes the murder of her boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali and trying to boost his profile as part of a conservative-influencer power couple alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), though his preferred medium is bro-heavy streams, rather than the curated images that typically capture CW’s attention.

Naud remains immensely captivating in the part, a role that appears particularly tailor-made for her talents. (She even created CW's striking wardrobe.) While the sequel’s focus leans heavily into CW — the first film seemed more balanced between the two women — it still works as a tale of rival investigators, as Madison and CW both use fake accounts, Insta-stalking, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to pursue or evade each other. Of course, perhaps 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 scheming.

Resourceful Production and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers seem similarly resourceful about finding beautiful places to film, though they were likely less nefarious in their methods. Most of the movie appears to be filmed in real places, giving it an authentic gravity that lingers even when numerous sequences involve a relatively small cast of characters staring at computer or phone screens.

It follows the same logic that made the James Bond movies look so persistently lavish for decades: Indeed, explosive action and special effects can display large spending, however simply offering a kind of visual tour to viewers also feels deeply filmic. This is particularly appropriate for a narrative so rooted in the coexisting surface-level allure and desperate hustle of creating jealousy-worthy digital content.

All of the characters visiting Bali, like those who were in Thailand in the first film, seem to have access to unbelievably stylish contemporary villas; there are movies about lifeguards that don’t show off as much aerial pool footage. The characters have to convincingly inhabit these luxurious, far-flung locations to highlight the uneasy irony of how often everyone — including the woman wreaking vengeance upon the online stars' self-centered phoniness — nevertheless spends plenty of time under the light of their screens.

Nuanced Portrayals and Tech-Savvy Tension

Simultaneously, the director has not crafted a rant against the vacuousness of the influencer industry. While it can be satisfying to see CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense of alignment allows us to hope she evades capture, the filmmaker is relatively sympathetic to the major influencer characters. Previously, he tapped into the loneliness Madison experienced while on supposedly envy-worthy vacations. Here, Harder seems to trust that merely watching Jacob at work will make it clear that he is selling false masculinity to other gullible men; he avoids turning into a caricature the character further. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity by showing his genuine loyalty to his partner; he is two-faced, but Ariana is a collaborator in his hypocrisy, not a victim by it.

The other side of this balanced approach means it may occasionally seem that he is acknowledging bits of contemporary digital culture without investigating them further. This is especially true regarding how he brings AI into the plot, a fascinating turn which misses the psychosexual kick it deserves. The pluralized title of Influencers could offer devotees of the original hope for an Aliens-style escalation, and the movie ultimately delivers exactly that, with a suitably wild final act. However, initially, it’s more like a polished Hitchcock thriller than a wild-eyed, technology-obsessed De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations might also be what keeps it from seeming like utter horror. The world might be saturated with content-churning influencers, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself is still here, at least for now.