🔗 Share this article

“This whole affair stinks like a bad made-for-TV,” states an opportunistic podcaster during the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, he’s being manipulatively dismissive toward an interviewee whose outlandish story he once claimed he believed. But his assessment of what’s happening in the movie isn’t wrong. On its face, two films on demand about a young woman who worms her way into the lives of online influencers before killing them feels like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid yet cable-ready weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers is just how superior it is compared to much of its competition, regardless of screen size. It is precisely the suspense film capable of giving other movies a bad case of FOMO.

Revisiting the Original and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer follows the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects solo-traveling influencer targets, lures them to their doom, and conceals those deaths (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their socials. The movie concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, following her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables against her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers a degree of ambiguity, as returning writer-director the director picks up with the character CW contentedly residing alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking their first anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW’s eye and ire.

CW comments to Diane that someone ought to attempt leaving a phone-addicted online personality somewhere without any devices and see whether they can make it. Is this an origin-story prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the special treatment given to a single clout-chaser?

Evolving Viewpoints and International Chases

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' place in the timeline. Harder catches up with Madison, now exonerated for committing CW’s crimes, but still faces doubt regarding her version of what happened, including the murder of Madison’s boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali attempting to juice his career as part of a right-wing-influencer duo with Ariana (Veronica Long), although his chosen platform involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the Instagram photos that normally capture CW’s attention.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in her role, which seems particularly custom-fit to her strengths. (She even created CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) While the follow-up's screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the first film seemed more balanced between her and Madison — it still functions as a story of dueling amateur detectives, with both women employ fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and an apparently limitless travel fund to pursue and/or escape one another. Then again, maybe the vast resources aren't needed. Influencers have a talent for gaining access to luxurious locales at little cost, a skill which CW mirrors through her more blatant scheming.

Resourceful Production and Cinematic Travelogue

The creative team for Influencers appear equally resourceful about finding stunning locations to visit, though they were likely more legitimate in their methods. Most of the film seems to be shot on location, giving it a real-world weight that lingers even as numerous sequences consist of a handful of actors of characters staring at computer or phone screens.

It follows the same logic which allowed the James Bond movies appear so persistently lavish over the years: Indeed, big action and visual effects can display a big budget, but simply offering a kind of visual tour for the audience also feels deeply filmic. This is particularly appropriate for a narrative so rooted in the simultaneous surface-level allure and try-hard grind of creating jealousy-worthy online content.

All of the characters in Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the original, seem to have entry to impossibly chic contemporary villas; films exist concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off as much overhead swimming-pool footage. The characters must believably occupy these luxurious, far-flung locations to emphasize the uneasy irony of how often everyone — including the woman wreaking vengeance upon the online stars' self-centered phoniness — nevertheless spends plenty of time in the glow of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Digital-Age Suspense

Simultaneously, Harder hasn’t authored a screed targeting the emptiness of online fame. Though it can be satisfying to see CW exploit various online personalities, and a Hitchcockian sense of identification allows us to wish she doesn’t get caught, the filmmaker is relatively sympathetic to the major influencer characters. Previously, he keyed into the loneliness Madison experienced while on ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. In this film, the director appears confident that just observing Jacob in action will reveal that he’s peddling snake-oil masculinity to other gullible men; he resists caricaturing the character further. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity through depicting his true devotion to his girlfriend; he is two-faced, yet Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not a victim by it.

The flip side of this balanced approach means it can sometimes appear as if he is acknowledging bits of modern online life without deeply exploring them further. This is particularly evident of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the story, a fascinating turn that lacks the psychological edge it deserves. The pluralized title for the film could offer devotees of the original hope for an Aliens-style escalation, and the movie does eventually provide that, with a suitably chaotic climax. But before that, it resembles more a polished Hitchcock thriller than an wild-eyed, tech-addled Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations may also be what keeps it from coming across like utter horror. The world may be overrun with always-online creators, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but the world itself is still here, at least for now.