The Horror Follow-Up <em>Influencers</em> Will Give Other Digital Thrillers Serious FOMO

“The entire situation stinks of a bad made-for-TV,” remarks a cynical commentator midway through the horror sequel Influencers. At that point, he’s being manipulatively dismissive of a guest whose bizarre tale he previously claimed he believed. But his assessment of what’s happening in the movie isn't inaccurate. On its face, a pair of films on demand chronicling a young woman who insinuates herself into the worlds of online influencers before killing them seems like a modern-day version of a tawdry but cable-ready Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect about Influencers is how much better it proves to be than plenty of its competition, irrespective of screen size. It is precisely the thriller that should give other movies a serious bout of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Establishing the Scene

The 2022 film Influencer tracks the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she quietly chooses 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 leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand, after her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles on her.

This provides 2025's Influencers some early mystery, when returning filmmaker the director resumes with 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 attention and ire.

CW remarks to Diane that someone should try leaving a device-obsessed influencer somewhere without any devices to see if they can survive. Is this an origin-story prequel? Was CW radicalized by seeing the special treatment given to one fame-seeker?

Evolving Viewpoints and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been exonerated for committing CW’s crimes, yet still encounters doubt over her recounting of the events, including the murder of Madison’s boyfriend. We also follow 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, rather than the Instagram photos that typically attract CW's interest.

Naud remains immensely captivating in the part, which seems especially custom-fit for her talents. (She also designed CW's eye-catching wardrobe.) While the sequel’s focus tips heavily toward CW — the first film felt more equally divided between the two women — it still works as a story of rival investigators, with both women both use fake accounts, Insta-stalking, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to pursue or evade each other. Of course, maybe the vast resources aren't needed. Influencers have a talent for gaining access to luxurious locales at little cost, an ability that CW echoes through her more blatant scamming.

Resourceful Production and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers seem similarly ingenious about finding stunning locations to visit, though they were likely less nefarious in their methods. Most of the film seems to be shot on location, giving it an authentic gravity that remains even when numerous sequences involve a handful of actors of characters staring at computer or phone screens.

It follows the same logic that made the James Bond movies look so persistently lavish for decades: Yes, explosive action and visual effects can show off large spending, but just providing a kind of visual tour to viewers also feels inherently cinematic. This is especially fitting for a narrative so rooted in the simultaneous superficial glamour and desperate hustle of creating envy-inducing digital content.

All of the characters visiting Bali, like those staying in Thailand in the original, seem to have entry to impossibly chic contemporary villas; films exist about lifeguards which don't feature this much overhead swimming-pool video. The characters have to convincingly occupy these luxurious, remote places to emphasize the uncomfortable paradox of how frequently each person — even the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ narcissistic falseness — nonetheless devotes much time in the glow of their devices.

Nuanced Portrayals and Digital-Age Suspense

Simultaneously, Harder hasn’t authored a screed targeting the vacuousness of online fame. Though it can be gratifying to see CW exploit different internet celebrities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of alignment allows us to wish she evades capture, Harder is relatively sympathetic to the major influencer characters. Previously, he keyed into the loneliness Madison experienced during ostensibly dream getaways. In this film, Harder seems to trust that merely watching Jacob in action will make it clear that he is selling false masculinity to other doofuses; he avoids caricaturing the character further. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity through depicting his genuine loyalty to his partner; he is two-faced, yet Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not a victim by it.

The flip side of this balanced approach means it may occasionally seem as if he’s nodding at elements of modern online life without investigating them further. This is particularly evident regarding how he brings AI into the plot, a fascinating turn that lacks the psychological edge it deserves. The retitled sequel for the film could offer 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 resembles more a sleek Alfred Hitchcock movie than an frenzied, tech-addled Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ heavy use of actual places might also be what prevents it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. The world may be overrun with content-churning influencers, online fraud, and exploitative travel, but reality itself remains present, for now.