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“The entire situation reeks of a cheap made-for-TV,” states a cynical commentator midway through the chilling follow-up Influencers. At that point, he’s being manipulatively dismissive of a guest with an bizarre tale he previously said he trusted. But his assessment of what’s happening in the movie isn't inaccurate. On its face, two films on demand chronicling a young woman who insinuates herself into the lives of online influencers and then murders them seems like a modern-day version of a tawdry yet cable-ready weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers is just how superior it is than plenty of its competition, regardless of screen size. It’s the kind of suspense film that should give other movies a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer tracks the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects solo-traveling social media targets, entices them to their doom, and conceals those deaths (for a time) by taking control of their online accounts. The movie leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on an uninhabited island near the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This provides 2025's Influencers some early ambiguity, when returning writer-director the director picks up with the character CW happily living with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey to celebrate their first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW's attention and ire.

CW remarks to Diane that a person should try leaving a phone-addicted influencer somewhere with no technology to see whether they can survive. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the special treatment afforded one fame-seeker?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The narrative viewpoint changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those early scenes’ chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, now cleared of committing CW's offenses, yet still encounters doubt over her recounting of what happened, including the murder of Madison’s boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based 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, as opposed to the Instagram photos that normally attract CW’s attention.

The actor continues to be terrifically magnetic in her role, a role that appears especially tailor-made for her talents. (She even created CW's eye-catching outfits.) 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 employ fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to pursue or evade one another. Of course, maybe the unlimited budget aren't needed. Influencers have a talent for gaining access to posh places at little cost, a skill that CW echoes through her more blatant scamming.

Resourceful Production and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind 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, giving it a real-world weight that lingers even as many scenes consist of a handful of actors of people staring at digital devices.

It follows the same logic that made the James Bond movies appear so persistently lavish for decades: Yes, big action and visual effects can display a big budget, however just providing a travelogue of sorts to viewers also seems inherently cinematic. It’s also particularly appropriate for a story so dependent on the simultaneous superficial glamour and desperate hustle involved in producing jealousy-worthy online content.

All of the characters visiting Bali, like those staying in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy access to unbelievably stylish contemporary villas; films exist about lifeguards that don’t show off this much overhead swimming-pool video. The characters have to convincingly inhabit these luxurious, far-flung locations to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how frequently everyone — including the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ self-centered phoniness — nevertheless devotes much time under the light of their screens.

Nuanced Portrayals and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, the director has not crafted a screed against the vacuousness of the influencer industry. Though it can be gratifying to see CW exploit various online personalities, and a Hitchcockian sense of alignment allows us to wish she evades capture, Harder is somewhat understanding of the major influencer characters. In the first movie, he keyed into the loneliness Madison experienced while on supposedly envy-worthy vacations. Here, Harder seems to trust that just observing Jacob in action will make it clear that he is selling snake-oil masculinity to other gullible men; he resists caricaturing the character further. He even grants Jacob a measure of dignity by showing his genuine loyalty to his partner; he’s a hypocrite, yet Ariana is a partner in his hypocrisy, not a victim by it.

The flip side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it may occasionally seem as if he’s nodding at bits of modern online life without investigating them further. This is especially true of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the story, an intriguing development which misses the psychological edge it deserves. The pluralized title of Influencers could offer fans of the first movie expectations of an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the movie does eventually provide exactly that, with a suitably wild final act. But before that, it’s more like a sleek Alfred Hitchcock movie than a frenzied, technology-obsessed De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations may also be what prevents it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. Our society may be overrun with content-churning influencers, online fraud, and exploitative travel, but reality itself is still here, at least for now.