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

“Everything about this reeks like a cheap TV movie,” remarks an opportunistic podcaster midway through the chilling follow-up Influencers. In the moment, he’s being manipulatively dismissive of a guest whose bizarre tale he previously said he trusted. But his description of the events on screen isn’t wrong. Superficially, two films on demand chronicling a woman who worms her way into the lives of social media stars and then murders them seems like a modern-day version of a tawdry but network-approved Movie of the Week. The surprising aspect about Influencers is how much better it proves to be compared to much of the competition, regardless of where you watch it. It is precisely the thriller capable of giving its peers a serious bout of FOMO.

Revisiting the First Film and Establishing the Scene

2022’s Influencer tracks the mysterious CW (Cassandra Naud) while she quietly chooses solo-traveling influencer targets, lures them to their deaths, 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, following her latest target, Madison (Emily Tennant), reverses their roles on her.

This provides the 2025 Influencers a degree of mystery, as returning filmmaker the director picks up with CW happily living alongside her partner Diane (Lisa Delamar) in Paris. On a journey to celebrate the couple’s first anniversary, UK-based influencer Charlotte (Georgina Campbell) draws CW's attention and ire.

CW remarks to Diane that someone ought to attempt stranding a phone-addicted influencer in a place with no technology and see if they can survive. Is this an origin-story prequel? Did CW become extremist after witnessing the special treatment afforded one clout-chaser?

Shifting Perspectives and International Chases

The narrative viewpoint shifts several more times, eventually clarifying those early scenes’ place in the timeline. The story revisits Madison, now cleared of carrying out CW's offenses, yet still encounters doubt over her recounting of the events, including the murder of her boyfriend. The film also follows Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell), living in Bali attempting to boost his profile as part of a conservative-influencer power couple with Ariana (Veronica Long), though his chosen platform involves masculine-focused livestreams, as opposed to the Instagram photos that typically attract CW’s attention.

Naud remains immensely captivating in her role, which seems particularly tailor-made for her talents. (She even created CW's striking wardrobe.) While the follow-up's focus leans heavily into CW — the original seemed more balanced between the two women — it still works as a tale of dueling amateur detectives, with both women employ fabricated profiles, Insta-stalking, and an apparently unlimited travel budget to pursue or evade one another. Then again, maybe the vast resources aren't needed. Online personalities possess a knack for gaining access to posh places at little cost, a skill which CW mirrors with her more overt scamming.

Ingenious Filmmaking and Cinematic Travelogue

The filmmakers behind Influencers appear equally resourceful about finding beautiful places to visit, although they were presumably more legitimate in their methods. Most of the movie appears to be filmed in real places, providing it an authentic gravity that lingers even when numerous sequences consist of a handful of actors of characters staring at computer or phone screens.

It’s the same principle that made the James Bond movies look so persistently lavish over the years: Yes, big action and visual effects can show off large spending, but just providing a kind of visual tour for the audience also seems inherently cinematic. This is particularly appropriate for a narrative so dependent on the simultaneous surface-level allure and try-hard grind involved in producing jealousy-worthy online content.

All of the characters in Bali, similar to those staying in Thailand in the first film, seem to have entry to impossibly chic contemporary villas; films exist concerning beach rescuers which don't feature this much aerial pool footage. These individuals have to convincingly occupy these luxurious, far-flung locations to emphasize the uneasy irony of how frequently everyone — even the woman wreaking vengeance upon the online stars' self-centered phoniness — nonetheless spends plenty of time under the light of their devices.

Nuanced Portrayals and Digital-Age Suspense

Simultaneously, Harder hasn’t authored a screed against the emptiness of the influencer industry. Though it is gratifying to see CW exploit various online personalities, and a sense reminiscent of Hitchcock of alignment lets us to hope she evades capture, Harder is somewhat sympathetic to the major influencer characters. Previously, he keyed into the isolation Madison experienced while on ostensibly envy-worthy vacations. Here, Harder seems to trust that merely watching Jacob at work will make it clear that he is selling false masculinity to other gullible men; he avoids caricaturing the character. He even gives Jacob a measure of dignity by showing his genuine loyalty to his girlfriend; he’s a hypocrite, but Ariana is a partner in his hypocrisy, not someone exploited of it.

The other side of Harder’s even-keeled presentation is that it may occasionally seem as if he’s nodding at bits of contemporary digital culture without investigating them further. This is particularly evident of the way he introduces artificial intelligence into the plot, a fascinating turn that lacks the psychosexual kick it deserves. The pluralized title for the film might give devotees of the original expectations of an Aliens-style escalation, and the film ultimately delivers that, with an appropriately wild final act. But before that, it resembles more a polished Alfred Hitchcock movie than a wild-eyed, technology-obsessed De Palma-style shocker. Influencers’ extensive use of real-world locations may also be what keeps it from coming across like utter horror. Our society may be overrun with always-online creators, digital deception, and exploitative travel, but the world itself is still here, at least for now.