The Thriller Follow-Up <em>Influencers</em> Is Set to Give Other Streaming Suspense Films a Bad Case of FOMO

“This whole affair stinks of a cheap TV movie,” observes an opportunistic podcaster during the horror sequel Influencers. In the moment, his tone is dismissive in a calculated way toward an interviewee whose bizarre tale he previously said he trusted. Yet his assessment of what’s happening in the movie isn't inaccurate. Superficially, a pair of films on demand about a woman who worms her way into the lives of social media stars and then murders them seems like the 21st-century equivalent of a tawdry yet cable-ready weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect about Influencers is just how superior it proves to be than plenty of its competition, regardless of where you watch it. It is precisely the thriller that should give its peers a bad case of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Establishing the Scene

The 2022 film Influencer tracks the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) as she methodically selects solo-traveling social media targets, lures them to their deaths, and conceals those deaths (at least temporarily) by seizing control of their online accounts. The film leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW stranded on an uninhabited island near the coast of Thailand, following her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles on her.

This lends the 2025 Influencers a degree of mystery, when returning writer-director the director resumes with CW contentedly residing alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking their first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW’s eye and anger.

CW comments to Diane that someone ought to attempt leaving a device-obsessed influencer somewhere with no technology and see whether they can make it. Is this a backstory prequel? Was CW radicalized by seeing the special treatment given to one clout-chaser?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The narrative viewpoint changes multiple times, eventually clarifying those introductory moments' chronological position. The story revisits Madison, now exonerated for committing CW's offenses, but still faces suspicion regarding her version of the events, which includes the murder of Madison’s boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali and trying to boost his profile as part of a conservative-influencer duo with Ariana (Veronica Long), although his preferred medium involves masculine-focused livestreams, rather than the Instagram photos that normally attract CW's interest.

Naud remains terrifically magnetic in her role, which seems especially custom-fit to her strengths. (She also designed CW's eye-catching outfits.) Although the sequel’s focus tips heavily toward CW — the original felt more equally divided between her and Madison — it still functions as a tale of dueling investigators, as Madison and CW both use fake accounts, social media surveillance, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to pursue and/or escape one another. Of course, maybe the vast resources isn’t necessary. Online personalities possess a talent for getting to explore luxurious locales at little cost, an ability which CW mirrors through her more blatant scamming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers seem similarly resourceful in locating stunning locations to visit, though they were likely more legitimate about it. The vast majority of the movie seems to be shot on location, providing it a real-world weight that remains 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, big action and visual effects can show off a big budget, however just providing a kind of visual tour to viewers also seems inherently cinematic. This is particularly appropriate for a narrative so rooted in the simultaneous superficial glamour and desperate hustle involved in producing jealousy-worthy online content.

All of the characters in Bali, like those who were in Thailand in the first film, seem to have access to unbelievably stylish contemporary villas; there are movies concerning beach rescuers which don't feature as much aerial pool video. The characters must believably occupy these luxurious, remote places to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how often everyone — even the woman wreaking vengeance upon the online stars' narcissistic falseness — nonetheless spends plenty of time in the glow of their devices.

Balanced Depictions and Tech-Savvy Tension

At the same time, the director has not crafted a rant targeting the emptiness of online fame. Though it is satisfying to see CW manipulate various online personalities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of identification lets us to wish she evades capture, the filmmaker is relatively sympathetic to the major influencer characters. Previously, he keyed into the loneliness Madison felt during supposedly dream getaways. Here, the director appears confident 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. He even grants Jacob a degree of respect through depicting his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a collaborator in his hypocrisy, not a victim by it.

The other side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation means it may occasionally seem that he is acknowledging elements of contemporary digital culture without investigating them further. This is particularly evident regarding how he brings AI into the plot, an intriguing development which misses the psychosexual kick it should have. The pluralized title of Influencers might give fans of the first movie expectations of a larger-scale escalation, and the film does eventually provide exactly that, with an appropriately wild final act. However, initially, it’s more like a sleek Alfred Hitchcock movie than a wild-eyed, technology-obsessed Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations may also be what keeps it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. The world may be overrun with content-churning influencers, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself remains present, for now.