Influencers (2025)
Influencers, Beware! She’s back!
The original Influencer, which I enjoyed, introduced us to an intriguing villain for our modern age: C.W. (Cassandra Naud), a social media-hating serial killer who travels the world stalking her prey.
When he last saw her, she was stranded on a deserted island after being bested by a would-be victim, Madison (Emily Tennant). Of course, the ever resourceful sociopath somehow finds a way to escape and avoid detection.
Influencers opens with C.W. residing in rural France. She’s accompanied by her new girlfriend, Diane (Lisa Delamar). The globe trotting killer, who is now using the alias Catherine White, checks in to a French countryside hotel.
She and Diane learn that they’ve been bumped out of their premium suite in favor of a prominent social media influencer, Charlotte (Georgina Campbell). Naturally, this persuades Catherine to resume her murderous ways. Will she be able to claim Charlotte as her latest victim, and will Diane ever find out that her smokin’ hot partner is a bloodthirsty psycho?
Influencers sets up these storylines as if they’re going to be the threads that pull us through the entire film. Instead, it turns the tables on us by resolving both of them in the first half hour.
The true dynamic of this sequel is the rivalry between Catherine and Madison, who is determined to find C.W. and take revenge. Madison’s career is in ruins. She lives an anonymous life away from the social media world, but that doesn’t prevent stalkers and creeps from harassing her. Many people believe that she’s responsible for the murders that took place in the original film.
Catherine has developed a grudging respect, and perhaps even fear, for her adversary. This rematch is even more over the top than the first, with both actresses giving gleefully demented performances.
This time, a third main character is thrown into the mix: Ryan (Rory J. Saper), an alt right “manosphere” influencer. He seems like the perfect character to make us root for Catherine, but this movie doesn’t let us off that easily. His online persona is insufferable, but director/writer Kurtis David Harder gives him some sympathetic qualities.
Ryan is certainly no saint, but he’s not what he pretends to be online. It’s a reminder that influencers’ personal lives are often very different than they appear.
Like its predecessor, Influencers features beautiful scenery juxtaposed with vicious violence. Horrible things can happen in gorgeous places, and beautiful people are capable of hideous acts. Catherine’s detest for online culture, and for our obsession with staring at our phones instead of absorbing the vibrant world around us, is understandable. Her murderous actions are, uh, less so.
Influencers resists turning C.W. into a sympathetic antihero, which was a pleasant surprise to me. Harder never tries to excuse her crimes. He wisely avoids the mistake made by movies like Don’t Breathe 2. Still, if they make a bunch more of these, it’s only a matter of time before viewers start rooting for her. C.W. doesn’t fit the mold of a conventional horror icon, but, hey, neither did John Kramer.
Like its predecessor, this sequel doesn’t have anything particularly profound to say. Yes, influencers are superficial and vapid and annoying, but these movies don’t delve deeply into the societal effects of social media culture.
I wish there was more of that here. There are also some loose ends that I wish had been resolved. Maybe Harder is saving them for a third installment.
Rating
Influencers is a worthy sequel that is bolstered by another strong and sexy performance by Catherine Naud. Anyone who enjoyed the original should check this out.
Rating from 1 (avoid at all cost) to 1 (masterpiece): 7.5
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