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“This whole affair smells like a bad TV movie,” states an opportunistic podcaster during the chilling follow-up Influencers. In the moment, he’s being manipulatively dismissive of a guest with an outlandish story he previously said he trusted. Yet his description of what’s happening on screen isn't inaccurate. On its face, two films on demand chronicling a woman who insinuates herself into the lives of social media stars before killing them seems like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid but cable-ready weekly TV movie. The wild thing regarding Influencers remains just how superior it is than plenty of the competition, regardless of screen size. 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 tracks the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) while she methodically selects solo-traveling social media targets, lures them to their deaths, and conceals those deaths (for a time) by seizing control of their socials. The movie leaves off (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 2025's Influencers a degree of mystery, as returning writer-director Kurtis David Harder picks up with CW happily living with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking their one-year anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW's attention and ire.

CW comments to Diane that someone ought to attempt stranding a phone-addicted online personality in a place with no technology to see whether they can make it. Are we witnessing an origin-story prequel? Was CW radicalized by seeing the special treatment given to a single fame-seeker?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, now exonerated for committing CW's offenses, but still faces doubt regarding her version of what happened, which includes the killing of Madison’s boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali attempting to boost his profile as half of a right-wing-influencer power couple with Ariana (Veronica Long), though his chosen platform involves masculine-focused livestreams, as opposed to the Instagram photos that typically capture CW’s attention.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in the part, a role that appears especially custom-fit for her talents. (She also designed CW's striking wardrobe.) While the follow-up's screentime balance leans heavily into CW — the original felt more equally divided between her and Madison — it still works as a story of dueling amateur detectives, with both women both use fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and a seemingly unlimited travel budget to pursue and/or escape one another. Then again, perhaps the vast resources aren't needed. Online personalities possess a knack for gaining access to luxurious locales without paying much, an ability that CW echoes through her more blatant scheming.

Resourceful Production and Cinematic Travelogue

The creative team for Influencers appear equally ingenious in locating beautiful places to visit, although they were likely less nefarious about it. Most of the movie appears to be filmed in real places, providing it an authentic gravity that remains even as numerous sequences involve a handful of actors of characters staring at computer or phone screens.

It’s the same principle that made the Bond franchise look so consistently opulent for decades: Yes, big action and special effects can display large spending, but just providing a travelogue of sorts to viewers also seems deeply filmic. It’s also particularly appropriate for a narrative so rooted in the simultaneous superficial glamour and desperate hustle involved in producing jealousy-worthy digital content.

All of the characters visiting Bali, similar to those who were in Thailand in the first film, seem to have access to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; films exist about lifeguards which don't feature as much overhead swimming-pool video. These individuals have to convincingly occupy these lush, remote places to emphasize the uneasy irony of how frequently each person — including the woman wreaking vengeance upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — nonetheless spends plenty of time in the glow of their devices.

Balanced Depictions and Tech-Savvy Tension

At the same time, Harder hasn’t authored a rant targeting the emptiness of online fame. Though it can be satisfying to watch CW exploit various online personalities, and a Hitchcockian sense of alignment allows us to hope she evades capture, Harder is relatively understanding of the major influencer characters. Previously, he tapped into the isolation Madison experienced while on ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. Here, the director appears confident that merely watching Jacob at work will make it clear that he is selling snake-oil masculinity to other gullible men; he avoids caricaturing the character further. He even grants Jacob a measure of dignity by showing his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he is two-faced, but Ariana is a partner in his hypocrisy, not a victim of it.

The other side of this balanced approach means it can sometimes appear that he’s nodding at elements of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them. This is especially true regarding how he brings AI into the story, an intriguing development which misses the psychosexual kick it deserves. The pluralized title for the film might give devotees of the original expectations of an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the film ultimately delivers that, with a suitably chaotic climax. However, initially, it’s more like a sleek Alfred Hitchcock movie than an frenzied, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of actual places may also be what prevents it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. Our society may be overrun with always-online creators, online fraud, and exploitative travel, but the world itself is still here, at least for now.