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“This whole affair smells like a cheap TV movie,” remarks an opportunistic commentator midway through the chilling follow-up Influencers. In the moment, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way toward an interviewee with an outlandish story he previously claimed he believed. But his assessment of what’s happening in the movie isn’t wrong. On its face, a pair of films on demand chronicling a woman who insinuates herself into the worlds of social media stars and then murders them seems like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid but network-approved Movie of the Week. The wild thing regarding Influencers remains just how superior it proves to be than plenty of the competition, irrespective of where you watch it. It’s the kind of thriller that should give its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the First Film and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects solo-traveling influencer targets, entices them to their doom, and covers up those murders (at least temporarily) by taking control of their online accounts. The movie leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers some early mystery, as returning filmmaker the director resumes with the character CW contentedly residing alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey 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 stranding a device-obsessed influencer in a place with no technology and see whether they can make it. Is this a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the preferential treatment given to one clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and Global Pursuits

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those early scenes’ chronological position. The story revisits Madison, now exonerated for carrying out CW's offenses, yet still encounters doubt over her recounting of the events, which includes the killing of her boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to boost his profile as part of a right-wing-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium is bro-heavy streams, as opposed to the Instagram photos that normally attract CW's interest.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in her role, a role that appears especially custom-fit for her talents. (She even created CW's eye-catching outfits.) While the sequel’s focus tips heavily toward 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 fake accounts, social media surveillance, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to chase or evade each other. Then again, perhaps the unlimited budget aren't needed. Influencers have a talent for getting to explore posh places at little cost, a skill that CW echoes with her more overt scamming.

Resourceful Production and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers appear equally resourceful about finding stunning locations to visit, although they were presumably more legitimate in their methods. The vast majority of the movie appears to be filmed in real places, providing it an authentic gravity that remains even as numerous sequences consist of a relatively small cast of characters looking at computer or phone screens.

It follows the same logic which allowed the James Bond movies look so consistently opulent over the years: Indeed, explosive action and special effects can display a big budget, but just providing 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 involved in producing jealousy-worthy digital content.

All of the characters visiting Bali, like those who were in Thailand in the original, seem to have access to impossibly chic modern bungalows; there are movies concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off this much aerial pool footage. These individuals have to convincingly occupy these lush, remote places to emphasize the uncomfortable paradox of how often everyone — even the woman exacting revenge upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — nonetheless devotes much time in the glow of their screens.

Nuanced Portrayals and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, Harder hasn’t authored a rant targeting the vacuousness of online fame. Though it can be gratifying to see CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification allows us to wish she doesn’t get caught, the filmmaker is somewhat understanding of the major influencer characters. In the first movie, he tapped into the isolation Madison felt during supposedly dream getaways. In this film, Harder seems to trust that merely watching Jacob in action will reveal that he is selling snake-oil masculinity to other doofuses; he resists caricaturing the character. He even grants Jacob a measure of dignity through depicting his genuine loyalty to his partner; he is two-faced, yet Ariana is a partner in his hypocrisy, not someone exploited of it.

The other side of this balanced approach means it can sometimes appear as if he is acknowledging bits of modern online life without investigating them further. This is particularly evident of the way he brings AI into the story, a fascinating turn which misses the psychosexual kick it should have. The pluralized title of Influencers might give devotees of the original expectations of a larger-scale escalation, and the movie ultimately delivers that, with an appropriately chaotic climax. However, initially, it resembles more a polished Hitchcock thriller than an wild-eyed, tech-addled Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations might also be what prevents it from coming across like pure nightmare fuel. Our society might be saturated with always-online creators, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but the world itself remains present, at least for now.