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“This whole affair reeks of a cheap TV movie,” states a cynical commentator midway through the chilling follow-up Influencers. At that point, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way toward an interviewee with an outlandish story he once claimed he believed. But his description of what’s happening on screen isn't inaccurate. Superficially, a pair of streaming movies chronicling a young woman who worms her way into the worlds of social media stars before killing them seems like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid yet network-approved weekly TV movie. The wild thing about Influencers remains how much better it is than plenty of its competition, irrespective of where you watch it. It’s the kind of thriller capable of giving its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the First Film and Establishing the Scene

The 2022 film Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects traveling alone social media targets, lures them to their doom, and covers up those deaths (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their socials. The film leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on an uninhabited island off the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables against her.

This provides 2025's Influencers some early mystery, as returning writer-director Kurtis David Harder resumes with the character CW contentedly residing with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip to celebrate the couple’s one-year anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW's attention and anger.

CW comments to Diane that someone ought to attempt stranding a phone-addicted online personality in a place without any devices to see if they can survive. Is this a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist by seeing the special treatment given to a single clout-chaser?

Evolving Viewpoints and International Chases

The story’s perspective shifts several more times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' place in the timeline. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been exonerated for committing CW’s crimes, but still faces suspicion regarding her recounting of the events, including the killing of Madison’s boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to boost his profile as half of a conservative-influencer power couple with Ariana (Veronica Long), though his chosen platform involves masculine-focused livestreams, as opposed to the curated images that normally attract CW's interest.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in her role, which seems especially custom-fit to her strengths. (She even created CW's striking wardrobe.) Although the follow-up's focus leans heavily into CW — the first film felt more equally divided between the two women — it still functions as a story of rival amateur detectives, as Madison and CW both use fake accounts, social media surveillance, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to chase or evade each other. Then again, maybe the unlimited budget aren't needed. Influencers have a knack for gaining access to posh places without paying much, a skill that CW echoes through her more blatant scamming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers appear equally resourceful about finding stunning locations to film, although they were presumably more legitimate in their methods. The vast majority of the film appears to be filmed in real places, giving it an authentic gravity that remains even as many scenes involve a handful of actors of characters looking at digital devices.

It follows the same logic which allowed the Bond franchise look so consistently opulent for decades: Indeed, big action and special effects can display large spending, but simply offering a kind of visual tour for the audience also seems inherently cinematic. It’s also especially fitting for a narrative so dependent on the coexisting superficial glamour and desperate hustle involved in producing jealousy-worthy digital content.

Every character in Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy entry to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; there are movies about lifeguards that don’t show off as much overhead swimming-pool footage. The characters have to convincingly occupy these lush, remote places to highlight the uneasy irony of how often everyone — even the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ self-centered phoniness — nevertheless devotes much time under the light of their devices.

Nuanced Portrayals and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, the director has not crafted a screed against the emptiness of online fame. While it is satisfying to watch CW exploit various online personalities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of alignment allows us to hope she evades capture, Harder is relatively sympathetic to the key influencer figures. Previously, he tapped into the loneliness Madison felt during 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 turning into a caricature the character. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect through depicting his true devotion to his girlfriend; he is two-faced, but Ariana is a partner in his hypocrisy, not a victim by it.

The other side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it may occasionally seem that he’s nodding at elements of modern online life without deeply exploring them further. This is especially true of the way he brings AI into the plot, a fascinating turn which misses the psychosexual kick it deserves. The pluralized title for the film could offer fans of the first movie expectations of an Aliens-style escalation, and the film ultimately delivers that, with a suitably wild final act. But before that, it’s more like a sleek Hitchcock thriller than a wild-eyed, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of actual places may also be what prevents it from coming across like pure nightmare fuel. Our society may be overrun with always-online creators, digital deception, and self-serving tourism, but the world itself is still here, at least for now.