This Horror Sequel <em>Influencers</em> Could Give Other Streaming Suspense Films a Bad Case of FOMO

“Everything about this stinks like a bad TV movie,” observes an opportunistic commentator midway through the chilling follow-up Influencers. At that point, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way of a guest with an outlandish story he once claimed he believed. Yet his assessment of the events on screen isn't inaccurate. On its face, a pair of films on demand about a woman who worms her way into the worlds of online influencers and then murders them seems like a modern-day version of a lurid yet network-approved weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect about Influencers remains how much better it proves to be than plenty of the competition, regardless of where you watch it. It’s the kind of thriller capable of giving other movies a serious bout of FOMO.

Revisiting the Original and Establishing the Scene

The 2022 film Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects traveling alone influencer targets, lures them to their doom, and conceals those deaths (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their socials. The movie concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, after her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles on her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers a degree of mystery, as returning filmmaker the director picks up with CW contentedly residing alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey to celebrate their one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW’s eye and ire.

CW comments to Diane that a person should try stranding a device-obsessed influencer in a place with no technology and see whether they can survive. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Was CW radicalized after witnessing the special treatment afforded one clout-chaser?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, eventually clarifying those early scenes’ place in the timeline. Harder catches up with Madison, now exonerated for carrying out CW’s crimes, but still faces suspicion regarding her recounting of what happened, which includes the killing of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to boost his profile as half of a right-wing-influencer duo with Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium is bro-heavy streams, rather than the curated images that normally attract CW’s attention.

Naud remains immensely captivating in her role, a role that appears especially custom-fit for her talents. (She also designed CW's eye-catching outfits.) Although the sequel’s focus leans heavily into CW — the original seemed more balanced between the two women — it still works as a story of dueling amateur detectives, as Madison and CW both use fabricated profiles, social media surveillance, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to chase or evade one another. Then again, maybe the vast resources aren't needed. Online personalities possess a knack for getting to explore posh places without paying much, a skill which CW mirrors through her more blatant scheming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The creative team for Influencers seem similarly resourceful about finding stunning locations to visit, although they were presumably less nefarious about it. The vast majority of the movie appears to be shot on location, giving it an authentic gravity that remains even as many scenes involve a relatively small cast of characters looking at digital devices.

It’s the same principle which allowed the James Bond movies look so persistently lavish for decades: Indeed, explosive action and visual effects can show off a big budget, however just providing a travelogue of sorts for the audience also feels inherently cinematic. This is especially fitting for a story so dependent on the coexisting superficial glamour and desperate hustle involved in producing envy-inducing online content.

Every character visiting Bali, similar to those who were in Thailand in the original, seem to have access to unbelievably stylish contemporary villas; there are movies concerning beach rescuers which don't feature as much overhead swimming-pool video. The characters have to convincingly inhabit these lush, remote places to highlight the uneasy irony of how often each person — including the woman wreaking vengeance upon the online stars' self-centered phoniness — nonetheless devotes much time under the light of their screens.

Nuanced Portrayals and Tech-Savvy Tension

At the same time, the director has not crafted a screed against the vacuousness of the influencer industry. While it is satisfying to watch CW manipulate various online personalities, and a Hitchcockian sense of identification allows us to hope she evades capture, the filmmaker is somewhat understanding of the major influencer characters. In the first movie, he keyed into the loneliness Madison experienced while on supposedly envy-worthy vacations. Here, the director appears confident that just observing Jacob at work will reveal that he is selling false masculinity to other gullible men; he resists caricaturing the character. He even grants Jacob a degree of respect by showing his genuine loyalty to his partner; he is two-faced, yet Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not someone exploited by it.

The flip side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation is that it can sometimes appear as if he is acknowledging bits of modern online life without deeply exploring them further. This is particularly evident regarding how he introduces artificial intelligence into the story, a fascinating turn that lacks the psychosexual kick it should have. The retitled sequel of Influencers could offer fans of the first movie expectations of an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the movie ultimately delivers exactly that, with a suitably chaotic climax. But before that, it’s more like a polished Alfred Hitchcock movie than a frenzied, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations might also be what prevents it from seeming like utter horror. The world might be saturated with content-churning influencers, digital deception, and self-serving tourism, but the world itself is still here, for now.