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“Everything about this smells of a cheap TV movie,” observes an opportunistic commentator midway through the chilling follow-up Influencers. At that point, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way toward an interviewee whose outlandish story he once said he trusted. But his assessment of the events on screen isn’t wrong. On its face, two streaming movies chronicling a young woman who insinuates herself into the worlds of social media stars and then murders them seems like a modern-day version of a lurid yet network-approved weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect about Influencers is just how superior it is compared to much of the competition, irrespective of where you watch it. It is precisely the thriller that should give its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Establishing the Scene

The 2022 film Influencer tracks the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects solo-traveling social media targets, lures them to their deaths, and covers up those deaths (for a time) by seizing control of their online accounts. The movie concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on an uninhabited island near the coast of Thailand, after her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables against her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers a degree of mystery, when returning filmmaker the director picks up with the character CW contentedly residing alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey marking their one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW's attention and ire.

CW comments to Diane that a person ought to attempt leaving a phone-addicted online personality in a place without any devices and see whether they can survive. Is this a backstory prequel? Was CW radicalized by seeing the preferential treatment given to one fame-seeker?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' chronological position. The story revisits Madison, who has been cleared of carrying out CW’s crimes, but still faces doubt regarding her version of the events, which includes the killing of Madison’s boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to juice his career as half of a right-wing-influencer power couple alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), though his preferred medium is bro-heavy streams, rather than the Instagram photos that normally capture CW's interest.

Naud remains immensely captivating in the part, a role that appears especially custom-fit for her talents. (She even created CW's striking wardrobe.) While the follow-up's focus tips heavily toward CW — the first film seemed more balanced between the two women — it still functions as a tale of rival investigators, as Madison and CW both use fake accounts, social media surveillance, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to chase or evade each other. Of course, maybe the unlimited budget aren't needed. Influencers have a talent for getting to explore posh places at little cost, an ability that CW echoes with her more overt scheming.

Resourceful Production and Visual Wanderlust

The creative team for Influencers appear equally resourceful about finding beautiful places to visit, though they were likely more legitimate about it. The vast majority of the film appears to be filmed in real places, giving it an authentic gravity that lingers even when numerous sequences involve a relatively small cast of characters staring at digital devices.

It follows the same logic which allowed the Bond franchise appear so consistently opulent over the years: Indeed, explosive action and visual effects can show off large spending, however simply offering a travelogue of sorts for the audience also feels inherently cinematic. This is particularly appropriate for a story so rooted in the coexisting surface-level allure and try-hard grind of creating jealousy-worthy online content.

All of the characters in Bali, similar to those who were in Thailand in the first film, seem to have entry to unbelievably stylish contemporary villas; there are movies concerning beach rescuers which don't feature this much overhead swimming-pool video. The characters have to convincingly occupy these lush, remote places to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how often each person — even the woman wreaking vengeance on the influencers’ self-centered phoniness — nonetheless devotes much time under the light of their devices.

Balanced Depictions and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, the director has not crafted a screed targeting the vacuousness of the influencer industry. Though it is satisfying to watch CW exploit different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense of identification allows us to wish she doesn’t get caught, the filmmaker is somewhat understanding of the key influencer figures. In the first movie, he keyed into the isolation Madison experienced during supposedly dream getaways. Here, the director appears confident that just observing Jacob in action will make it clear that he is selling snake-oil masculinity to other gullible men; he avoids turning into a caricature the character further. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity by showing his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he is two-faced, yet Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not someone exploited of it.

The flip side of this balanced approach is that it can sometimes appear as if he is acknowledging elements of contemporary digital culture without investigating them further. This is especially true of the way he brings AI into the plot, an intriguing development which misses the psychological edge it should have. The retitled sequel of Influencers might give fans of the first movie expectations of a larger-scale ante-upping, and the film ultimately delivers exactly that, with an appropriately wild final act. However, initially, it resembles more a sleek Hitchcock thriller than a frenzied, tech-addled Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ extensive use of actual places might also be what keeps it from coming across like utter horror. Our society may be overrun with content-churning influencers, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but reality itself is still here, at least for now.