This Thriller Follow-Up <em>Influencers</em> Is Set to Give Competing Streaming Suspense Films Serious FOMO

“The entire situation stinks like a bad made-for-TV,” remarks an opportunistic podcaster midway through the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way of a guest whose outlandish story he once claimed he believed. But his description of the events in the movie isn't inaccurate. Superficially, two films on demand about a woman who worms her way into the worlds of social media stars and then murders them feels like a modern-day version of a tawdry but cable-ready weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect about Influencers remains how much better it is compared to much of its competition, irrespective of screen size. It is precisely the thriller capable of giving other movies a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Establishing the Scene

The 2022 film Influencer tracks the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she quietly chooses solo-traveling social media targets, lures them to their doom, and covers up those deaths (for a time) by seizing control of their socials. The movie concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, after her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This lends 2025's Influencers some early ambiguity, when returning writer-director the director resumes with CW contentedly residing alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey marking the couple’s first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW's attention and ire.

CW remarks to her partner that someone should try leaving a device-obsessed influencer in a place with no technology to see if they can make it. Is this an origin-story prequel? Was CW radicalized after witnessing the preferential treatment given to one fame-seeker?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, ultimately revealing those early scenes’ place in the timeline. Harder catches up with Madison, now exonerated for committing CW’s crimes, yet still encounters suspicion regarding her version of what happened, including the killing of her boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali attempting to boost his profile as half 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 normally capture CW's interest.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in her role, a role that appears especially custom-fit for her talents. (She even created CW's striking wardrobe.) While the sequel’s focus tips heavily toward CW — the first film seemed more balanced between her and Madison — it still functions as a tale of rival amateur detectives, as Madison and CW employ fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and a seemingly unlimited travel budget to pursue or evade each other. Then again, perhaps the vast resources aren't needed. Online personalities possess a knack for gaining access to luxurious locales without paying much, an ability that CW echoes with her more overt scheming.

Resourceful Production and Visual Wanderlust

The creative team for Influencers seem similarly resourceful about finding stunning locations to visit, though they were likely less nefarious in their methods. The vast majority of the movie appears to be filmed in real places, giving it an authentic gravity that lingers even as many scenes consist of a handful of actors of people staring at digital devices.

It’s the same principle that made the Bond franchise appear so consistently opulent over the years: Indeed, explosive action and visual effects can show off a big budget, however simply offering a kind of visual tour to viewers also seems deeply filmic. This is particularly appropriate for a narrative so rooted in the coexisting superficial glamour and desperate hustle involved in producing envy-inducing digital content.

All of the characters in Bali, like those who were in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy entry to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; there are movies about lifeguards which don't feature as much aerial pool video. These individuals must believably inhabit these lush, far-flung locations to highlight the uneasy irony of how frequently each person — including the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ self-centered phoniness — nevertheless spends plenty of time under the light of their devices.

Balanced Depictions and Digital-Age Suspense

Simultaneously, Harder hasn’t authored a rant targeting the vacuousness of online fame. Though it can be satisfying to watch CW exploit different internet celebrities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of alignment lets us to hope she evades capture, the filmmaker is somewhat sympathetic to the key influencer figures. In the first movie, he keyed into the isolation Madison felt while on ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. In this film, Harder seems to trust that merely watching Jacob at work will make it clear that he is selling snake-oil masculinity to other doofuses; he resists turning into a caricature the character further. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect by showing his genuine loyalty to his partner; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not someone exploited by it.

The flip side of this balanced approach is that it may occasionally seem as if he’s nodding at elements of contemporary digital culture without investigating them further. This is particularly evident of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, a fascinating turn that lacks the psychosexual kick it should have. The pluralized title for the film might give devotees of the original hope for an Aliens-style 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 a wild-eyed, technology-obsessed De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive 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, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself is still here, for now.