As a lover of thrillers and horrors, I hate the way female killers and villains are generally portrayed by male directors and writers in these genres - that is, as uni-dimensionally evil with no redeeming or relatable qualities - unlike the way male killers are often portrayed. This is pretty much the way CW was stereotyped in the first movie (Influencer) by writer-director Kurtis David Harder, which really irked me, among other sexist and racist elements in the movie.
After being as such disappointed by the first movie, I gave this sequel a chance with the hope that these problems would be remedied by Harder. Lo and behold! Harder did deliver. Massively!
Not only is CW now given a full name (Catherine Weaver), she is also given a romantic arc that does a lot to humanize her and to add depth to her character. (I must confess at this point that the latter romantic arc involving a Sapphic relationship added a lot more appeal to her character for me.) In addition, CW's crimes are given a motive that many a viewer living in this age of social media and influencer culture could relate to, unlike in the first movie in which she was more or less portrayed as an evil psychopath with no method or motive to her crimes (as often female villains and killers are portrayed by Hollywood male writers and directors). I also loved the fact that Catherine's badassery was raised to Level 1000 in this movie, which makes her that much more likeable in a way that adds much needed complexity to her character in relation to viewers' emotional perceptions of her. All these, of course, are elevated immensely by Cassandra Naud's unimpeachable performance of Catherine.
Besides these positive aspects of the movie, I loved that the writing improved in both its complexity and depth compared to the writing of the first movie. For instance, the twists are in this one are subtly and humorously - but also shockingly and horrifically - arrived at in ways that are oh so rewarding to one's entire viewing experience.
Most importantly though is the fact that Harder does not shy away from making bold thematic statements in this movie on such critical social issues as toxic masculinity, the tradwife trend, the rise of the alt-right, the superficiality and materialism behind influencer culture, the damaging effects of "revenge porn," etc. I do love it when writers and directors find it in themselves to not just entertain, but also to communicate and to teach through their movies.
All these said, the problems that kept me from giving this movie a perfect score include its lack of racial and socioeconomic diversity, its promotion of drug abuse, and its promotion of such harmful and genocide-supporting brands as Apple.
All in all, I'd recommend this movie to lovers of a good thriller or horror movie with a tinge of tragic romance and dark comedy. I hope that this will not be the end of CW as I'm now somewhat too in love with her to accept that this is how it ends. I really do hope that Harder makes a threequel to this promising thriller.
Solid, if somewhat empty-feeling
This movie works as stand-alone, if you can do with the exposition. I can remember the predecessor, as I watched it when it came out, but the details blur.
This movie is just a scathing critique on the influencer-culture, and dismantles many of its tropes (sometimes with a cleaver). It isn't clever, or particularly scary, but it is entertaining, and competently made.
The ending is a mess, which I guess is there to open for a "Influencers 3 - This time it's personal!" or something, but it just makes very little sense overall.
