REVIEW: ‘Influencers’ Is A Great Sequel You Might Not Be Expecting

It’s not every day that people can confidently say a horror sequel surpasses or is on equal footing with the original. Though in the case of Influencers, writer and director Kurtis David Harder has given us something to chew on and savor. The tackling of the current state of influencer culture is in full swing, and CW (Cassandra Naud) is back to wreak havoc on unsavory people. 

Influencers follows CW some time after the events of Influencer, and once again, she can’t seem to avoid influencers or the urge to kill them. Thus leading to a chain of events that disrupts everything she’s been trying to build after being left for dead by her almost victim, Madison (Emily Tennant).

CW isn’t alone this time around, though, and is revealed to be a queer woman through her relationship with a sweet French woman named Diane (Lisa Delamar). It adds a layer to CW’s character: she does want to be with Diane, but her murderous ways threaten the possibility of a stable, happy life. One might say that CW is the saboteur of her own life, at the end of the day.

CW and Diane’s plans unravel in Influencers as they meet Charlotte, an influencer.

At the beginning of Influencers, we’re greeted with the startling sight of a character taking their own life. We don’t know the character, but we do know they were in an unstable frame of mind, and CW likely has something to do with it. The film isn’t told linearly; therefore, that scene is something that’s coming but hasn’t happened yet. As soon as we cut away, we’re following CW and her time in France with Diane. Their first anniversary has excitement around it, but we, as the audience, know that nothing good is coming. 

Just when CW thinks that sexy times and romantic escapades in the French countryside are going to unfold, their plans unravel because of an influencer named Charlotte (Georgina Campbell). CW and Charlotte subtly butt heads because of CW’s disdain for influencers. Though among the unlikeable influencers, Charlotte is lower on the unlikability scale for this film. It’s clear that she represents influencers who are so disconnected from the privilege in their lives, but she’s not nearly as harmful as she could be. However, from CW’s point of view, she’s just as bad as the rest of them.

Naud’s performance is even more unsettling this time around than in Influencer. She plays off those she’s sharing the screen with perfectly. Whether that be Georgina Campbell, Lisa Delamar, Emily Tennant, or the other folks in the main cast, she’s a villainous character that you want to see more of, even when she’s ruining her own life because she can’t stop trying to take down the influencers in her orbit. The film’s focus, not being entirely rinse-and-repeat, also helps Naud flesh out CW a bit more. 

Influencers is somehow even more visually striking than Influencer, and it’s a yummy treat, too. 

As the worst imaginable circumstances unfold because of CW’s own actions, the film shifts its focus to a deeply emotionally vulnerable Madison. Her life has been upended by what happened with CW and how she was nearly framed for the murders that CW committed in Thailand. Instead of being a successful influencer with a stable life, Madison is now an outcast and is receiving death threats from random people. Therefore, it leads her to want to expose CW once and for all. 

When Influencers introduces a new set of insufferable influencers a bit later into the film, it’s clear that we’re headed towards a bonkers finale. When we’re not following Madison traveling around to trace CW’s steps of late, we are getting to know conservative influencers Ariana (Veronica Long) and Jacob (Jonathan Whitesell). Them being conservative influencers is bad enough, but they take up a solid amount of screentime. Meanwhile, we could be dedicating that to Madison and CW’s cat-and-mouse instead. It’s one gripe to have with the film, but at least these people don’t come out unscathed. 

Despite its smaller budget, Influencers looks like a very expensive film in terms of production value and the scenery we’re constantly inhabiting. It continues to be quite impressive as to what filmmakers can do if you give them just a bit of cash. The film makes a case for sequels or films in general, not always to overdo it with their budget, or to not bother with heavy amounts of CGI and greenscreen. Influencers is somehow even more visually striking than Influencer, and it’s a yummy treat, too. 

Influencers is a film that asks you to abandon your expectations, as it’s not going to go the way you might think.

Horror-thrillers like this one are often lauded because of atmosphere and performances. Harder clearly understood the assignment with Influencers and made us root for both CW and Madison. Whether you come out of this film completely satisfied with CW’s arc is up to you. Influencers is a film that asks you to abandon your expectations, as it’s not going to go the way you might think. There are plenty of twists and turns that make for a very chaotic back half of the film. 

Overall, Influencers is a worthy follow-up that gives up blood and violence, satire, humorous moments, queerness, a delightfully lengthy showdown between Madison and CW, and beautiful scenery. You’ll also get great performances from the leads, and it’s fun to see Naud play a queer character as a queer woman herself. It’s worth throwing on at any time; you won’t be disappointed, especially if you enjoyed the first film. 

Influencers will be streaming on Shudder on December 12th.