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“The entire situation stinks like a bad TV movie,” observes a cynical podcaster during the chilling follow-up Influencers. In the moment, he’s being manipulatively dismissive toward an interviewee whose outlandish story he once said he trusted. But his assessment of the events in the movie isn’t wrong. On its face, two streaming movies about a young woman who worms her way into the worlds of social media stars and then murders them feels like a modern-day version of a lurid yet network-approved weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers is just how superior it proves to be compared to much of its competition, regardless of where you watch it. It is precisely the suspense film that should give other movies a serious bout of FOMO.

Revisiting the Original and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer tracks the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) while she quietly chooses traveling alone influencer targets, entices them to their deaths, and conceals those murders (for a time) by taking control of their online accounts. The film leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on an uninhabited island off the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers a degree of mystery, when returning writer-director the director resumes with CW happily living alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking their first anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW’s eye and anger.

CW comments to Diane that someone should try stranding a phone-addicted influencer in a place without any devices and see if they can make it. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the preferential treatment afforded a single clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and Global Pursuits

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' chronological position. The story revisits Madison, who has been exonerated for committing CW’s crimes, yet still encounters suspicion regarding her version of what happened, including the killing of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali attempting to juice his career as half of a right-wing-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium involves masculine-focused livestreams, as opposed to the Instagram photos that typically attract CW’s attention.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in the part, a role that appears especially custom-fit to her strengths. (She also designed CW's striking wardrobe.) While the follow-up's focus tips heavily toward CW — the first film felt more equally divided between the two women — it still functions as a tale of rival amateur detectives, as Madison and CW employ fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and an apparently limitless travel fund to pursue or evade one another. Of course, perhaps the unlimited budget isn’t necessary. Influencers have a talent for gaining access to posh places without paying much, an ability which CW mirrors through her more blatant scheming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The creative team for Influencers seem similarly resourceful about finding stunning locations to film, although they were likely more legitimate in their methods. Most of the movie appears to be shot on location, providing it an authentic gravity that remains even as many scenes involve a handful of actors of characters looking at digital devices.

It follows the same logic which allowed the James Bond movies look so consistently opulent over the years: Indeed, big action and special effects can show off a big budget, however simply offering a kind of visual tour for the audience also feels deeply filmic. This is particularly appropriate for a narrative so dependent on the simultaneous superficial glamour and desperate hustle involved in producing envy-inducing online content.

All of the characters visiting Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the original, seem to have access to impossibly chic modern bungalows; there are movies about lifeguards that don’t show off as much aerial pool video. These individuals must believably inhabit these lush, remote places to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how frequently everyone — even the woman wreaking vengeance upon the online stars' self-centered phoniness — nonetheless devotes much time in the glow of their devices.

Nuanced Portrayals and Digital-Age Suspense

Simultaneously, the director has not crafted a screed against the vacuousness of online fame. While it is satisfying to see CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense of alignment allows us to hope she doesn’t get caught, Harder is relatively understanding of the key influencer figures. Previously, he tapped into the isolation Madison felt during ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. Here, Harder seems to trust that merely watching Jacob at work will reveal that he’s peddling snake-oil masculinity to other doofuses; he resists turning into a caricature the character further. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity by showing his true devotion to his girlfriend; he is two-faced, yet Ariana is a collaborator in his hypocrisy, not a victim of it.

The flip side of this balanced approach means it can sometimes appear as if he is acknowledging elements of contemporary digital culture without investigating them further. This is particularly evident of the way he brings AI into the story, a fascinating turn which misses the psychosexual kick it should have. The pluralized title for the film might give devotees of the original hope for an Aliens-style escalation, and the movie ultimately delivers exactly that, with a suitably chaotic climax. However, initially, it’s more like a polished Hitchcock thriller than a wild-eyed, tech-addled Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations may also be what prevents it from coming across like pure nightmare fuel. The world may be overrun with always-online creators, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but the world itself is still here, at least for now.