🔗 Share this article

“This whole affair stinks like a bad TV movie,” states an opportunistic commentator during the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, he’s being dismissive in a calculated way of a guest with an bizarre tale he previously said he trusted. Yet his assessment of what’s happening on screen isn’t wrong. On its face, two streaming movies about a woman who insinuates herself into the lives of social media stars before killing them feels like a modern-day version of a tawdry but cable-ready weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect about Influencers remains just how superior it is compared to much of the competition, regardless of where you watch it. It’s the kind of suspense film that should give its peers a serious bout of FOMO.

Recapping the First Film and Establishing the Scene

The 2022 film Influencer tracks the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) while 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 online accounts. The film concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables against her.

This provides 2025's Influencers a degree of mystery, when returning writer-director the director resumes with the character CW contentedly residing alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking their first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW’s eye and ire.

CW remarks to her partner that a person ought to attempt leaving a phone-addicted influencer somewhere with no technology to see if they can make it. Is this an origin-story prequel? Did CW become extremist by seeing the special treatment afforded a single fame-seeker?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The narrative viewpoint changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' place in the timeline. The story revisits Madison, now exonerated for carrying out CW's offenses, yet still encounters suspicion regarding her recounting of what happened, which includes the murder of her boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali attempting to juice his career as half of a right-wing-influencer duo with Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium involves masculine-focused livestreams, as opposed to the Instagram photos that normally attract CW’s attention.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in her role, which seems particularly custom-fit for her talents. (She even created CW's striking wardrobe.) Although the follow-up's focus tips heavily toward CW — the first film seemed more balanced between the two women — it still works as a tale of rival investigators, as Madison and CW employ fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to pursue or evade one another. Then again, maybe the vast resources aren't needed. Online personalities possess a knack for gaining access to luxurious locales without paying much, a skill which CW mirrors through her more blatant scamming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers seem similarly resourceful in locating beautiful places to visit, although they were presumably more legitimate in their methods. The vast majority of the movie seems to be shot on location, providing it an authentic gravity that remains even as many scenes consist of a relatively small cast of characters staring at computer or phone screens.

It’s the same principle which allowed the Bond franchise appear so persistently lavish over the years: Indeed, big action and special effects can show off a big budget, but simply offering a kind of visual tour for the audience also seems inherently cinematic. This is particularly appropriate for a narrative so rooted in the simultaneous surface-level allure and desperate hustle of creating jealousy-worthy digital content.

All of the characters in Bali, like those staying in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy entry to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; films exist concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off as much aerial pool video. The characters have to convincingly inhabit these lush, far-flung locations to highlight the uneasy irony of how often each person — including the woman exacting revenge upon the online stars' self-centered phoniness — nevertheless spends plenty of time under the light of their screens.

Nuanced Portrayals and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, Harder hasn’t authored a screed against the vacuousness of the influencer industry. Though it can be gratifying to watch CW exploit various online personalities, and a Hitchcockian sense of identification lets us to wish she evades capture, the filmmaker is somewhat sympathetic to the major influencer characters. Previously, he keyed into the isolation Madison experienced while on supposedly envy-worthy vacations. In this film, the director appears confident that merely watching Jacob at work will reveal that he’s peddling false masculinity to other gullible men; he avoids turning into a caricature the character further. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect by showing his genuine loyalty to his partner; he is two-faced, but Ariana is a collaborator in his hypocrisy, not someone exploited by it.

The other side of this balanced approach is that it may occasionally seem as if he is acknowledging elements of modern online life without investigating them. This is especially true of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, an intriguing development that lacks the psychological edge it should have. The retitled sequel for the film could offer devotees of the original expectations of a larger-scale ante-upping, and the movie ultimately delivers exactly that, with a suitably wild final act. However, initially, it’s more like a polished Alfred Hitchcock movie than an frenzied, technology-obsessed Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations might also be what prevents it from coming across like utter horror. Our society might be saturated with always-online creators, digital deception, and self-serving tourism, but the world itself remains present, at least for now.