The new sequel to Shudder’s smart, sexy social media psycho-thriller promises to go bigger, darker, and meaner.
Like and subscribe to this: Influencer, the sharp, sun-drenched psychological thriller from Kurtis David Harder, was one of 2023’s smartest genre surprises—a seductive, sunburnt tale of shifting identities, curated personas, and murderous ambition in the age of social media. Now, Harder is returning with Influencers, a follow-up that promises to deepen the concept while expanding its scope, with franchise newcomer Georgina Campbell joins returning star Cassandra Naud. The project has just wrapped, and it’s headed to Cannes for international rights.
Spoilers for Influencer below:
Released quietly on Shudder in 2023, Influencer earned strong word-of-mouth for its deceptively simple setup and twisty, deceptive structure. The film follows Madison (Emily Tennant), a travel influencer on a trip to Thailand, who’s hiding the fact that her picture-perfect solo journey is a lie—she was stood up by her boyfriend. When she meets the enigmatic CW (Cassandra Naud), things take a dark turn. CW is no ordinary fan: she seduces and dispatches influencers with clinical precision, assuming their identities online and erasing them in real life.
Influencer had a sharp eye for how people curate and perform identity in digital spaces. It wasn’t just about killing beautiful people, much as that’s always a good selling point. It was also about exploiting the hollowness of online connection, and the way performance can become a mask that eats away at the face. Harder, who co-wrote the script with Tesh Guttikonda, structured the film with bold narrative pivots—characters introduced as protagonists vanish mid-film, identities shift, and Naud’s performance as the chilling, charismatic CW held it all together. A smart, sexy, stylish thriller, Influencer knew exactly how to use its low-fi tech – phones, Instagram, GPS pings – as instruments of both connection and control.
The sequel looks to up the ante with the arrival of Georgina Campbell, one of the most exciting talents working in horror today — grounded, expressive, and capable of balancing emotional vulnerability with steely resolve. Her standout turn in Barbarian (2022) as the cautious-yet-curious Tess helped elevate that film from shock-horror to meme-worthy cult classic. But Campbell’s horror résumé runs deeper, with appearances in Black Mirror (“Hang the DJ”), All My Friends Hate Me, Watchers, and Lovely Dark And Deep.
Pairing her with Naud—who was magnetic and terrifying in the original—suggests Influencers could lean even harder into character-driven tension, with the potential for a complex cat-and-mouse dynamic. As for whether Campbell’s character a new target, a rival predator, or something else entirely, we’ll find out at the end of the month.
In the meantime it’s fun to picture Harder doing the famous James Cameron pitch move—walking into the boardroom, writing “INFLUENCER” on a whiteboard, and adding a dollar sign at the end to applause all around.
“With INFLUENCERS, I wanted to revisit the themes of control and illusion, but from a new angle — one that’s more seductive, more dangerous, and more unhinged,” said Harder. “It’s a film that plays with perception. Fans of INFLUENCER will feel something familiar beneath the surface, but the real fun is discovering just how deep those connections run.”
“Kurtis has once again crafted a film that’s both sharply contemporary and deeply unsettling,” said Shudder SVP Emily Gotto. “INFLUENCERS seduces the viewer with atmosphere and aesthetic before cutting into something darker, smarter, and much more dangerous. It’s exactly the kind of visionary genre storytelling we’re proud to support.”
Added Jackrabbit CEO Jack Campbell, “We couldn’t be more excited to share INFLUENCERS with the world. Kurtis has elevated his vision in every way — the film is more elegant, more unsettling, and more twisted. We’re confident it will be one of the most talked-about titles at Cannes.”
Read the original report via Deadline here: Georgina Campbell & Cassandra Naud To Star In Shudder Sequel ‘Influencers’
So ready your ring lights and burner phones. It’s time to once again put the dark in ‘dark web’.
Influencers is expected to come to Shudder later in 2025.
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