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

“The entire situation reeks like a bad TV movie,” remarks a cynical commentator during the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, he’s being manipulatively dismissive of a guest with an bizarre tale he once said he trusted. Yet his description of what’s happening on screen isn’t wrong. Superficially, two films on demand chronicling a young woman who insinuates herself into the lives of social media stars before killing them feels like a modern-day version of a lurid yet network-approved weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect about Influencers remains just how superior it is compared to much of the competition, regardless of screen size. It’s the kind of suspense film that should give its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Establishing the Scene

The 2022 film Influencer tracks the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects traveling alone social media targets, entices them to their deaths, and conceals those murders (at least temporarily) by taking control of their online accounts. The movie leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles against her.

This provides 2025's Influencers some early mystery, as returning writer-director the director resumes with the character CW happily living alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking their one-year anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW’s eye and anger.

CW comments to her partner that a person ought to attempt leaving a phone-addicted online personality in a place without any devices to see whether they can survive. Are we witnessing an origin-story prequel? Was CW radicalized by seeing the special treatment afforded a single fame-seeker?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' place in the timeline. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been exonerated for carrying out CW’s crimes, but still faces doubt regarding her version of what happened, which includes the murder of Madison’s boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali and trying to juice his career as half of a right-wing-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), though his preferred medium is bro-heavy streams, rather than the curated images that normally capture CW's interest.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in the part, a role that appears particularly custom-fit for her talents. (She even created CW's striking outfits.) Although the follow-up's focus leans heavily into CW — the original seemed more balanced between the two women — it still works as a tale of dueling investigators, as Madison and CW employ fabricated profiles, Insta-stalking, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to pursue or evade each other. Of course, maybe the unlimited budget isn’t necessary. Influencers have a knack for gaining access to posh places at little cost, an ability that CW echoes through her more blatant scamming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The creative team for Influencers seem similarly ingenious in locating beautiful places to visit, though they were presumably less nefarious in their methods. Most of the film 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 follows the same logic that made the Bond franchise look so persistently lavish over the years: Yes, explosive action and visual effects can display large spending, however just providing a kind of visual tour to viewers also feels deeply filmic. This is particularly appropriate for a narrative so dependent on the simultaneous superficial glamour and try-hard grind involved in producing jealousy-worthy digital content.

Every character in Bali, similar to those who were in Thailand in the original, seem to have access to unbelievably stylish modern bungalows; there are movies concerning beach rescuers that don’t show off as much overhead swimming-pool footage. The characters have to convincingly inhabit these luxurious, remote places to highlight the uneasy irony of how frequently each person — including the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ self-centered phoniness — nevertheless devotes much time under the light of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Tech-Savvy Tension

At the same time, Harder hasn’t authored a screed targeting the emptiness of the influencer industry. Though it can be satisfying to see CW manipulate various online personalities, and a Hitchcockian sense of alignment allows us to hope she evades capture, Harder is relatively understanding of the major influencer characters. Previously, he keyed into the isolation Madison experienced during ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. Here, Harder seems to trust that merely watching Jacob in action 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 measure of dignity by showing his genuine loyalty to his partner; he’s a hypocrite, yet Ariana is a collaborator in his double standards, not someone exploited of it.

The other side of this balanced approach is that it may occasionally seem that he’s nodding at bits of contemporary digital culture without investigating them further. This is especially true regarding how he brings AI into the story, an intriguing development that lacks the psychosexual kick it should have. The retitled sequel for the film might give devotees of the original hope for an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the film does eventually provide that, with a suitably chaotic climax. But before that, it’s more like a polished Alfred Hitchcock movie than a wild-eyed, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of actual places might also be what prevents it from coming across like utter horror. The world might be saturated with content-churning influencers, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself is still here, at least for now.