“This whole affair smells of a bad made-for-TV,” states an opportunistic commentator midway through the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, he’s being manipulatively dismissive of a guest whose bizarre tale he previously claimed he believed. But his description of the events in the movie isn’t wrong. Superficially, a pair of films on demand chronicling a young woman who insinuates herself into the lives of social media stars and then murders them feels like a modern-day version of a lurid but cable-ready Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers is just how superior it proves to be compared to much of its competition, irrespective of screen size. It’s the kind of suspense film that should give its peers a bad case of FOMO.
Revisiting the Original and Setting the Stage
The 2022 film Influencer tracks the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) while she quietly chooses solo-traveling influencer targets, entices them to their doom, and covers up those murders (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their socials. The film concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand, after her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.
This provides the 2025 Influencers some early ambiguity, as returning writer-director Kurtis David Harder resumes with CW happily living with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey to celebrate their one-year anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW’s eye and anger.
CW remarks to Diane that someone ought to attempt leaving a phone-addicted influencer in a place with no technology and see whether they can make it. Is this a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist by seeing the special treatment given to one fame-seeker?
Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits
The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, eventually clarifying those early scenes’ place in the timeline. The story revisits Madison, who has been cleared of committing CW's offenses, yet still encounters doubt over her recounting of what happened, including the killing of Madison’s boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to juice his career as part of a right-wing-influencer power couple alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium involves masculine-focused livestreams, as opposed to the Instagram photos that typically attract CW's interest.
Naud remains terrifically magnetic in the part, which seems especially tailor-made for her talents. (She even created CW's eye-catching outfits.) Although the follow-up's screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the first film seemed more balanced between the two women — it still works as a story of rival amateur detectives, as Madison and CW employ fake accounts, Insta-stalking, and an apparently limitless travel fund to chase and/or escape each other. Of course, perhaps the unlimited budget isn’t necessary. Online personalities possess a knack for gaining access to luxurious locales at little cost, an ability that CW echoes with her more overt scamming.
Resourceful Production and Visual Wanderlust
The creative team for Influencers seem similarly resourceful about finding beautiful places to visit, although they were presumably less nefarious about it. The vast majority of the film appears to be shot on location, providing it a real-world weight that remains even as many scenes involve a handful of actors of people looking at digital devices.
It follows the same logic which allowed the James Bond movies look so consistently opulent over the years: Yes, big action and special effects can display a big budget, however simply offering a kind of visual tour for the audience also feels deeply filmic. It’s also particularly appropriate for a story so dependent on the coexisting superficial glamour and desperate hustle of creating envy-inducing online content.
All of the characters visiting Bali, like those who were in Thailand in the first film, seem to have entry to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; films exist concerning beach rescuers which don't feature this much overhead swimming-pool video. These individuals have to convincingly inhabit these luxurious, far-flung locations to emphasize the uncomfortable paradox of how often everyone — including the woman wreaking vengeance on the influencers’ self-centered phoniness — nonetheless spends plenty of time under the light of their devices.
Balanced Depictions and Tech-Savvy Tension
At the same time, Harder hasn’t authored a screed targeting the emptiness of online fame. Though it is satisfying to watch CW exploit various online personalities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification allows us to hope she evades capture, Harder is somewhat understanding of the key influencer figures. Previously, he keyed into the loneliness Madison felt while on ostensibly dream getaways. Here, Harder seems to trust that just observing Jacob at work will reveal that he’s peddling snake-oil masculinity to other gullible men; he resists caricaturing the character. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity through depicting his true devotion to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a collaborator in his double standards, not a victim of it.
The other side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it may occasionally seem as if he is acknowledging elements of modern online life without investigating them further. This is particularly evident regarding how he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, an intriguing development that lacks the psychological edge it deserves. The retitled sequel of Influencers could offer devotees of the original expectations of a larger-scale ante-upping, and the film ultimately delivers exactly that, with an appropriately wild final act. But before that, it’s more like a sleek Alfred Hitchcock movie than an frenzied, technology-obsessed Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ heavy use of actual places may also be what prevents it from coming across like pure nightmare fuel. Our society might be saturated with always-online creators, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but the world itself remains present, for now.
