The Horror Sequel <em>Influencers</em> Could Give Other Digital Suspense Films Serious FOMO

“Everything about this smells of a bad made-for-TV,” observes an opportunistic commentator midway through the chilling follow-up Influencers. At that point, he’s being dismissive in a calculated way of a guest whose outlandish story he once said he trusted. Yet his assessment of the events on screen isn't inaccurate. Superficially, two streaming movies chronicling a young woman who insinuates herself into the worlds of online influencers and then murders them seems like the 21st-century equivalent of a tawdry but network-approved weekly TV movie. The surprising aspect about Influencers remains just how superior it is than plenty of its competition, regardless of where you watch it. It’s the kind of thriller that should give its peers a serious bout of FOMO.

Revisiting the Original and Establishing the Scene

The 2022 film Influencer tracks the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) while she quietly chooses solo-traveling social media targets, entices them to their deaths, and covers up those deaths (for a time) by taking control of their online accounts. The film leaves off (spoiler ahead) with CW marooned on a deserted island near the coast of Thailand, following her most recent mark, Madison (Emily Tennant), turns the tables on her.

This provides the 2025 Influencers a degree of mystery, when returning filmmaker the director picks up with the character CW contentedly residing with her girlfriend Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey marking their one-year anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) catches CW’s eye and anger.

CW remarks to Diane that a person ought to attempt leaving a phone-addicted influencer in a place with no technology and see whether they can make it. Are we witnessing a backstory prequel? Was CW radicalized after witnessing the preferential treatment given to one fame-seeker?

Evolving Viewpoints and Global Pursuits

The story’s perspective changes multiple times, eventually clarifying those early scenes’ chronological position. Harder catches up with Madison, who has been cleared of committing CW’s crimes, yet still encounters doubt regarding her version of what happened, which includes the killing of her boyfriend. We also follow Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), based in Bali and trying to juice his career as half of a right-wing-influencer power couple alongside Ariana (Veronica Long), although his chosen platform is bro-heavy streams, rather than the Instagram photos that typically attract CW’s attention.

The actor continues to be terrifically magnetic in her role, which seems especially tailor-made to her strengths. (She even created CW's striking outfits.) Although the sequel’s screentime balance leans heavily into CW — the first film seemed more balanced between the two women — it still functions as a tale of dueling investigators, as Madison and CW both use fabricated profiles, Insta-stalking, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to chase and/or escape each other. Of course, perhaps the unlimited budget aren't needed. Influencers have a talent for gaining access to luxurious locales at little cost, a skill that CW echoes with her more overt scheming.

Resourceful Production and Visual Wanderlust

The filmmakers behind Influencers seem similarly ingenious about finding stunning locations to visit, although they were likely more legitimate about it. The vast majority of the film appears to be shot on location, giving it an authentic gravity that remains even as many scenes involve a relatively small cast of characters staring at digital devices.

It follows the same logic which allowed the James Bond movies look so consistently opulent over the years: Yes, big action and visual effects can show off a big budget, however just providing a travelogue of sorts to viewers also seems inherently cinematic. This is particularly appropriate for a story so dependent on the coexisting surface-level allure and try-hard grind of creating envy-inducing digital content.

All of the characters in Bali, like those staying in Thailand in the original, seem to have access to impossibly chic modern bungalows; there are movies concerning beach rescuers which don't feature as much aerial pool video. The characters must believably inhabit these luxurious, remote places to emphasize the uncomfortable paradox of how often each person — including the woman wreaking vengeance upon the online stars' self-centered phoniness — nevertheless spends plenty of time under the light of their screens.

Balanced Depictions and Tech-Savvy Tension

Simultaneously, the director has not crafted a screed targeting the emptiness of online fame. Though it can be gratifying to see CW manipulate different internet celebrities, and a Hitchcockian sense of alignment lets us to hope she doesn’t get caught, the filmmaker is somewhat understanding of the major influencer characters. Previously, he tapped into the loneliness Madison experienced while on ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. Here, the director appears confident that merely watching Jacob at work will make it clear that he’s peddling false masculinity to other doofuses; he avoids turning into a caricature the character. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity by showing his true devotion to his partner; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a partner in his double standards, not someone exploited by it.

The flip side of this balanced approach is that it can sometimes appear as if he’s nodding at bits of contemporary digital culture without investigating them further. This is particularly evident regarding how he brings AI into the story, a fascinating turn which misses the psychosexual kick it should have. The retitled sequel of Influencers might give devotees of the original expectations of an Aliens-style ante-upping, and the movie ultimately delivers that, with a suitably wild final act. However, initially, it’s more like a polished Hitchcock thriller than an wild-eyed, technology-obsessed Brian De Palma thriller. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations may also be what prevents it from seeming like pure nightmare fuel. Our society might be saturated with content-churning influencers, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but reality itself is still here, at least for now.