The Horror Sequel <em>Influencers</em> Could Give Competing Digital Suspense Films a Bad Case of FOMO

“This whole affair reeks like a cheap TV movie,” remarks a cynical podcaster during the chilling follow-up Influencers. In the moment, his tone is manipulatively dismissive toward an interviewee whose outlandish story he previously said he trusted. But his assessment of the events on screen isn't inaccurate. Superficially, two films on demand about a woman who worms her way into the worlds of social media stars and then murders them feels like a modern-day version of a lurid yet cable-ready Movie of the Week. The wild thing regarding Influencers remains how much better it proves to be than plenty of its competition, regardless of where you watch it. It’s the kind of thriller capable of giving its peers a serious bout of FOMO.

Recapping the Original and Setting the Stage

The 2022 film Influencer follows the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud) while she methodically selects solo-traveling social media targets, entices them to their deaths, and covers up those deaths (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, after her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This lends 2025's Influencers a degree of mystery, as returning filmmaker Kurtis David Harder picks up with the character CW contentedly residing alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. During a trip marking the couple’s one-year anniversary, British influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW’s eye and ire.

CW remarks to her partner that someone should try leaving a phone-addicted influencer somewhere without any devices and see whether they can make it. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Was CW radicalized by seeing the special treatment afforded one clout-chaser?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, ultimately revealing those introductory moments' place in the timeline. The story revisits Madison, now cleared of committing CW’s crimes, but still faces suspicion over her version of the events, which includes the murder of Madison’s boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to juice his career as part of a conservative-influencer duo alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), though his preferred medium involves masculine-focused livestreams, as opposed to the Instagram photos that normally capture CW's interest.

The actor continues to be immensely captivating in her role, a role that appears especially custom-fit to her strengths. (She also designed CW's striking outfits.) While the follow-up's focus tips heavily toward CW — the original seemed more balanced between her and Madison — it still functions as a story of dueling investigators, as Madison and CW employ fake accounts, social media surveillance, and a seemingly unlimited travel budget to chase or evade one another. Of course, perhaps the vast resources isn’t necessary. Influencers have a talent for gaining access to luxurious locales without paying much, an ability that CW echoes through her more blatant scamming.

Resourceful Production and Cinematic Travelogue

The creative team for Influencers seem similarly resourceful in locating stunning locations to film, although they were presumably less nefarious about it. The vast majority of the film seems to be filmed in real places, providing it a real-world weight that lingers even when numerous sequences consist of a handful of actors of people staring at digital devices.

It follows the same logic which allowed the James Bond movies appear so persistently lavish for decades: Indeed, big action and visual effects can display a big budget, but just providing a kind of visual tour to viewers also feels deeply filmic. This is particularly appropriate for a story so rooted in the coexisting surface-level allure and desperate hustle involved in producing envy-inducing digital content.

All of the characters in Bali, like those who were in Thailand in the original, appear to enjoy entry to unbelievably stylish contemporary villas; there are movies concerning beach rescuers which don't feature this much overhead swimming-pool footage. These individuals have to convincingly inhabit these lush, far-flung locations to highlight the uncomfortable paradox of how often everyone — including the woman exacting revenge on the influencers’ narcissistic falseness — nevertheless devotes much time under the light of their devices.

Nuanced Portrayals and Digital-Age Suspense

At the same time, Harder hasn’t authored a rant against the vacuousness of online fame. While it can be gratifying to watch CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense of identification allows us to wish she evades capture, Harder is relatively understanding of the major influencer characters. Previously, he keyed into the isolation Madison experienced while on supposedly envy-worthy vacations. In this film, the director appears confident that merely watching Jacob at work will reveal that he’s peddling snake-oil masculinity to other doofuses; he avoids turning into a caricature the character further. He even grants Jacob a measure of dignity by showing his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, yet Ariana is a collaborator in his hypocrisy, not someone exploited by it.

The flip side of this balanced approach is that it can sometimes appear that he is acknowledging elements of contemporary digital culture without deeply exploring them further. This is particularly evident regarding how he brings AI into the story, an intriguing development that lacks the psychosexual kick it deserves. The retitled sequel of Influencers might give fans of the first movie hope for an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the film ultimately delivers that, with an appropriately wild final act. However, initially, it resembles more a polished Hitchcock thriller than a wild-eyed, technology-obsessed Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ heavy use of real-world locations may also be what keeps it from coming across like pure nightmare fuel. The world may be overrun with always-online creators, online fraud, and self-serving tourism, but reality itself is still here, for now.