This Thriller Follow-Up <em>Influencers</em> Will Give Other Digital Suspense Films a Bad Case of FOMO

“The entire situation reeks of a bad TV movie,” observes an opportunistic commentator during the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, his tone is manipulatively dismissive of a guest with an outlandish story he once said he trusted. But his description of the events in the movie isn’t wrong. Superficially, two streaming movies chronicling a woman who insinuates herself into the lives of online influencers before killing them feels like the 21st-century equivalent of a lurid but cable-ready Movie of the Week. The wild thing about Influencers is just how superior it is compared to much of the competition, irrespective of where you watch it. It’s the kind of suspense film capable of giving other movies a serious bout of FOMO.

Revisiting the Original and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer tracks the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she quietly chooses solo-traveling social media targets, entices them to their doom, and covers up those murders (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their online accounts. The film concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles against her.

This provides 2025's Influencers a degree of mystery, as returning writer-director the director resumes with CW happily living with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking the couple’s one-year anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW's attention and anger.

CW comments to her partner that someone ought to attempt stranding a phone-addicted online personality in a place without any devices to see if they can make it. Are we witnessing an origin-story prequel? Was CW radicalized by seeing the preferential treatment given to one fame-seeker?

Evolving Viewpoints and International Chases

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those early scenes’ chronological position. The story revisits Madison, who has been exonerated for committing CW's offenses, but still faces doubt over her version of what happened, including the murder of Madison’s boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali and trying to boost his profile as half of a conservative-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), though his preferred medium involves masculine-focused livestreams, as opposed to the curated images that normally attract CW's interest.

Naud remains immensely captivating in her role, which seems especially tailor-made for her talents. (She even created CW's striking outfits.) While the follow-up's focus leans heavily into CW — the first film seemed more balanced between her and Madison — it still works as a tale of dueling investigators, with both women employ fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and an apparently limitless travel fund to pursue and/or escape each other. Of course, maybe the vast resources aren't needed. Influencers have a knack for getting to explore luxurious locales at little cost, a skill which CW mirrors through her more blatant scheming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Visual Wanderlust

The filmmakers behind Influencers appear equally resourceful in locating stunning locations to visit, although they were likely less nefarious in their methods. The vast majority of the movie seems to be filmed in real places, providing it an authentic gravity that remains even when numerous sequences involve a relatively small cast of characters looking at computer or phone screens.

It’s the same principle that made the Bond franchise appear so consistently opulent for decades: Yes, explosive action and special effects can display large spending, however just providing a travelogue of sorts to viewers also seems inherently cinematic. It’s also especially fitting for a narrative so rooted in the simultaneous surface-level allure and desperate hustle involved in producing jealousy-worthy online content.

All of the characters visiting Bali, similar to those who were in Thailand in the first film, appear to enjoy access to impossibly chic modern bungalows; films exist concerning beach rescuers which don't feature this much aerial pool footage. The characters must believably inhabit these lush, far-flung locations to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how often each person — even the woman wreaking vengeance on the influencers’ narcissistic falseness — nevertheless devotes much time in the glow of their devices.

Balanced Depictions and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, Harder hasn’t authored a screed against the emptiness of online fame. While it is satisfying to watch CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification lets us to wish she evades capture, the filmmaker is relatively sympathetic to the key influencer figures. Previously, he tapped into the loneliness Madison experienced while on ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. In this film, Harder seems to trust that merely watching Jacob at work will reveal that he is selling false masculinity to other doofuses; he resists turning into a caricature the character. He even grants Jacob a degree of respect by showing his genuine loyalty to his partner; he’s a hypocrite, yet Ariana is a collaborator in his double standards, not a victim by it.

The flip side of this balanced approach is that it can sometimes appear as if he is acknowledging bits of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them. This is especially true regarding how he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, a fascinating turn that lacks the psychosexual kick it deserves. The retitled sequel of Influencers could offer devotees of the original hope for an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the film ultimately delivers exactly that, with an appropriately wild final act. But before that, it’s more like a sleek Hitchcock thriller than a frenzied, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of actual places might also be what keeps it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. Our society might be saturated with content-churning influencers, online fraud, and exploitative travel, but the world itself is still here, for now.