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“This whole affair smells like a cheap made-for-TV,” states an opportunistic commentator midway through the chilling follow-up Influencers. In the moment, his tone is manipulatively dismissive toward an interviewee whose outlandish story he previously claimed he believed. Yet his assessment of the events in the movie isn't inaccurate. On its face, two films on demand about a young woman who insinuates herself into the worlds of social media stars before killing them seems like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid yet network-approved Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers remains just how superior it proves to be compared to much of its competition, irrespective of screen size. It is precisely the thriller capable of giving other movies a serious bout of FOMO.

Recapping the First Film and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer tracks the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects traveling alone social media targets, entices them to their doom, and conceals those deaths (for a time) by seizing control of their socials. The film leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand, following her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

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

CW comments to her partner that a person ought to attempt leaving a device-obsessed online personality somewhere without any devices to see if they can make it. Is this a backstory prequel? Was CW radicalized by seeing the special treatment afforded one clout-chaser?

Evolving Viewpoints and International Chases

The story’s perspective shifts several more times, eventually clarifying those early scenes’ chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been exonerated for carrying out CW's offenses, yet still encounters suspicion over her recounting of what happened, which includes the murder of Madison’s boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali attempting to boost his profile as half of a right-wing-influencer duo with Ariana (Veronica Long), though his chosen platform involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the curated images that normally capture CW's interest.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in the part, which seems particularly custom-fit to her strengths. (She even created CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) Although the follow-up's focus tips heavily toward CW — the first film seemed more balanced between the two women — it still functions as a story of dueling amateur detectives, with both women employ fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and a seemingly limitless travel fund to pursue and/or escape each other. Then again, perhaps the unlimited budget aren't needed. Online personalities possess a talent for gaining access to luxurious locales at little cost, a skill which CW mirrors through her more blatant scheming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Visual Wanderlust

The filmmakers behind Influencers seem similarly resourceful about finding beautiful places to visit, although they were likely more legitimate in their methods. The vast majority of the film seems to be shot on location, providing it an authentic gravity that remains even as numerous sequences involve a relatively small cast of characters staring at digital devices.

It follows the same logic which allowed the James Bond movies look so consistently opulent for decades: Indeed, big action and visual effects can display large spending, but just providing a travelogue of sorts for the audience also seems deeply filmic. This is especially fitting for a story so rooted in the coexisting superficial glamour and desperate hustle involved in producing envy-inducing digital content.

Every character visiting Bali, like those staying in Thailand in the first film, seem to have access to impossibly chic modern bungalows; there are movies about lifeguards which don't feature this much overhead swimming-pool video. These individuals have to convincingly inhabit these luxurious, remote places to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how often everyone — even the woman exacting revenge upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — nevertheless spends plenty of time in the glow of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, the director has not crafted a rant against the emptiness of the influencer industry. While it is satisfying to watch CW exploit different internet celebrities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification allows us to wish she evades capture, Harder is relatively sympathetic to the major influencer characters. In the first movie, he keyed into the loneliness Madison experienced during ostensibly dream getaways. Here, Harder seems to trust that merely watching Jacob at work will make it clear that he is selling snake-oil masculinity to other doofuses; he avoids caricaturing the character. He even grants Jacob a degree of respect by showing his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a collaborator in his double standards, not someone exploited of it.

The flip side of this balanced approach means it may occasionally seem as if he is acknowledging bits of modern online life without investigating them further. This is particularly evident of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the story, an intriguing development that lacks the psychosexual kick it deserves. The retitled sequel of Influencers might give devotees of the original expectations of a larger-scale ante-upping, and the film ultimately delivers that, with a suitably chaotic climax. But before that, it’s more like a polished Alfred Hitchcock movie than a frenzied, technology-obsessed Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ heavy use of actual places may also be what prevents it from seeming like utter horror. Our society might be saturated with content-churning influencers, digital deception, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself is still here, for now.