🔗 Share this article

“This whole affair stinks of a cheap made-for-TV,” states an opportunistic commentator midway through the chilling follow-up Influencers. In the moment, he’s being dismissive in a calculated way toward an interviewee with an bizarre tale he previously claimed he believed. But his assessment of what’s happening on screen isn't inaccurate. On its face, a pair of films on demand about a woman who worms her way into the lives of social media stars and then murders them seems like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid yet cable-ready Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers remains just how superior it is than plenty of its competition, regardless of where you watch it. It’s the kind of thriller that should give its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Revisiting the Original and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer tracks the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) while she methodically selects traveling alone social media targets, lures them to their deaths, and covers up those deaths (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their socials. The film concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, after her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This provides the 2025 Influencers a degree of mystery, as returning filmmaker the director resumes with the character CW contentedly residing with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey to celebrate their first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW’s eye and ire.

CW comments to Diane that a person ought to attempt leaving a phone-addicted influencer in a place without any devices and see if they can survive. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Was CW radicalized after witnessing the preferential treatment afforded a single clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The story’s perspective shifts several more times, eventually clarifying those introductory moments' place in the timeline. The story revisits Madison, now cleared of carrying out CW’s crimes, but still faces doubt regarding her recounting of what happened, including the murder of her boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali and trying to juice his career as part of a conservative-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), though his chosen platform is bro-heavy streams, as opposed to the curated images that typically capture CW’s attention.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in her role, which seems particularly tailor-made for her talents. (She even created CW's eye-catching outfits.) While the follow-up's focus leans heavily into CW — the original felt more equally divided between her and Madison — it still works as a tale of rival investigators, as Madison and CW both use fake accounts, Insta-stalking, and an apparently limitless travel fund to pursue and/or escape each other. Then again, perhaps the vast resources isn’t necessary. Influencers have a talent for gaining access to posh places without paying much, a skill which CW mirrors through her more blatant scheming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Visual Wanderlust

The creative team for Influencers appear equally ingenious in locating beautiful places to visit, though they were likely less nefarious about it. Most of the film seems to be filmed in real places, giving it a real-world weight that lingers even as many scenes involve a relatively small cast of characters staring at computer or phone screens.

It follows the same logic that made the Bond franchise appear so persistently lavish for decades: Yes, explosive action and visual effects can show off a big budget, however just providing a kind of visual tour for the audience also seems deeply filmic. It’s also especially fitting for a narrative so dependent on the simultaneous superficial glamour and try-hard grind of creating envy-inducing online content.

Every character visiting Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy entry to impossibly chic contemporary villas; there are movies about lifeguards which don't feature this much aerial pool footage. The characters must believably inhabit these lush, far-flung locations to emphasize the uncomfortable paradox of how often each person — even the woman wreaking vengeance upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — nonetheless spends plenty of time under the light of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Digital-Age Suspense

Simultaneously, the director has not crafted a rant against the vacuousness of online fame. While it can be gratifying to watch CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification lets us to hope she doesn’t get caught, Harder is somewhat understanding of the major influencer characters. Previously, he tapped into the isolation Madison felt while on ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. Here, Harder seems to trust that just observing Jacob in action will make it clear that he is selling false masculinity to other gullible men; he resists turning into a caricature the character. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect by showing his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a collaborator in his hypocrisy, not a victim by it.

The other side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it may occasionally seem that he’s nodding at bits of modern online life without investigating them further. This is especially true of the way he brings AI into the plot, a fascinating turn that lacks the psychological edge it should have. The pluralized title for the film might give fans of the first movie expectations of an Aliens-style escalation, and the film ultimately delivers that, with a suitably chaotic climax. But before that, it’s more like a sleek Hitchcock thriller than an frenzied, technology-obsessed Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations might also be what prevents it from seeming like utter horror. Our society may be overrun with content-churning influencers, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but reality itself remains present, for now.