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

“The entire situation smells of a cheap made-for-TV,” remarks a cynical podcaster midway through the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, he’s being manipulatively dismissive of a guest with an outlandish story he once claimed he believed. But his description of the events in the movie isn’t wrong. On its face, two streaming movies chronicling a woman who worms her way into the worlds of social media stars before killing them feels like the 21st-century equivalent of a tawdry but network-approved Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect regarding Influencers remains just how superior it proves to be than plenty of the competition, regardless of where you watch it. It is precisely the thriller capable of giving its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Revisiting the First Film and Setting the Stage

2022’s Influencer tracks the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) while she methodically selects solo-traveling influencer targets, lures them to their doom, and conceals those murders (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their socials. The film concludes (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on an uninhabited island off the coast of Thailand, after her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers some early ambiguity, when returning writer-director Kurtis David Harder picks up with CW happily living with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking their one-year anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW's attention and anger.

CW comments to Diane that a person ought to attempt stranding a device-obsessed online personality in a place without any devices and see whether they can survive. Are we witnessing an origin-story prequel? Was CW radicalized after witnessing the special treatment afforded one fame-seeker?

Shifting Perspectives and Global Pursuits

The story’s perspective shifts several more times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' chronological position. The story revisits Madison, who has been cleared of committing CW's offenses, yet still encounters suspicion over her recounting of what happened, including the killing of Madison’s boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali attempting to boost his profile as part of a right-wing-influencer power couple alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), though his chosen platform is bro-heavy streams, rather than the curated images that normally capture CW's interest.

The actor continues to be terrifically magnetic in the part, which seems particularly custom-fit to her strengths. (She also designed CW's striking outfits.) While the follow-up's screentime balance tips heavily toward CW — the first film felt more equally divided between the two women — it still functions as a story of rival amateur detectives, with both women both use fake accounts, Insta-stalking, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to chase or evade one another. Then again, maybe the vast resources isn’t necessary. Influencers have a knack for gaining access to posh places without paying much, a skill that CW echoes with her more overt scheming.

Resourceful Production and Cinematic Travelogue

The creative team for Influencers appear equally ingenious in locating beautiful places to visit, although they were presumably more legitimate in their methods. The vast majority of the movie seems to be shot on location, providing it a real-world weight that lingers even when many scenes consist of a relatively small cast of characters staring at computer or phone screens.

It follows the same logic that made the Bond franchise look so persistently lavish for decades: Indeed, big action and visual effects can show off large spending, however simply offering a kind of visual tour for the audience also seems deeply filmic. This is particularly appropriate for a story so rooted in the coexisting superficial glamour and desperate hustle involved in producing jealousy-worthy digital content.

All of the characters visiting Bali, like those who were in Thailand in the first film, seem to have access to unbelievably stylish contemporary villas; films exist about lifeguards that don’t show off this much aerial pool footage. These individuals have to convincingly occupy these luxurious, far-flung locations to emphasize the uncomfortable paradox of how often each person — even the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ self-centered phoniness — nevertheless devotes much time in the glow of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Tech-Savvy Tension

Simultaneously, Harder hasn’t authored a screed targeting the emptiness of online fame. Though it is gratifying to see CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense of alignment lets us to wish she evades capture, Harder is somewhat understanding of the major influencer characters. Previously, he keyed into the isolation Madison felt while on ostensibly dream getaways. In this film, the director appears confident that merely watching Jacob at work will reveal that he’s peddling false masculinity to other gullible men; he resists turning into a caricature the character further. He even gives Jacob a degree of respect by showing his true devotion to his partner; he is two-faced, yet Ariana is a collaborator in his double standards, not someone exploited of it.

The flip side of this balanced approach is that it can sometimes appear that he’s nodding at elements of modern online life without deeply exploring them. This is especially true regarding how he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, an intriguing development which misses the psychological edge it should have. The pluralized title for the film could offer devotees of the original expectations of a larger-scale escalation, and the movie ultimately delivers exactly that, with a suitably chaotic climax. But before that, it’s more like a sleek Alfred Hitchcock movie than an frenzied, tech-addled De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations may also be what keeps it from coming across like utter horror. Our society might be saturated with content-churning influencers, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but reality itself remains present, at least for now.