Lurker, 2025.
Written and Directed by Alex Russell.
Starring Théodore Pellerin, Archie Madekwe, Havana Rose Liu, Sunny Suljic, Daniel Zolghadri, Zack Fox, Cam Hicks, Chaize Macklin, Brian Niles, Sean Wang, Myra Turley, Jonas Gindin, Hannah Christine Shetler, Mikaela Poon, Willa Shaw, and Rene Leech.
SYNOPSIS:
A retail employee infiltrates the inner circle of an artist on the verge of stardom. As he gets closer to the budding music star, access and proximity become a matter of life and death.
In theory, rising popularity is exciting, but it also means anyone from closest friends to business partners to lose associates might gradually become yes-men sycophants who are far removed from understanding what the art is about. In writer/director Alex Russell’s scarily realistic celebrity-stalking digital age psychological thriller Lurker, Archie Madekwe’s R&B musician Oliver wants his art to be understood. During a visit to a celebrity clothing shop he comes across Théodore Pellerin’s socially awkward but coldly composed Matthew, who knows all of Oliver’s influences and immediately makes himself compelling to invite into the friend group, especially since he knows his way around a camera and could serve as a photographer on an ongoing documentary project, which is another attempt to cut through to the core of the musicians identity.
Unsurprisingly, Matthew is an obsessed weirdo, but there is a more fascinating case study regarding why. The longer Lurker goes on, the more it begins to feel as if he doesn’t know what Oliver wants to say through his music or what he is about. He isn’t stupid, though, which makes him unpredictable and dangerous. Matthew makes solid points about the nature of fame and attention in a one-on-one conversation during a recording session (when a mess has been made of this dynamic involving a parasocial fan getting far too close). Like some infamous sociopaths, he is observant and has self-awareness, even if he can’t control his obsession.
There is also uncertainty surrounding whether Matthew is doing this more for the unhealthy connection he craves or for the dopamine of absorbing some of the social media popularity through becoming an on-screen presence in Oliver’s life. It could also solely be a twisted means to an end for his photography career to take off. The most likely answer is that it’s all three.
On top of feeling fully convincing, Alex Russell, working with editor David Kashevaroff, has a tightly constructed thriller that smartly knows what’s relevant to the story and characters and what to gloss over (it could also simply be a clever way of distracting from one convenient plot point). The film’s most unsettling aspect might be that the closer Matthew slimes his way into Oliver’s life, with more control through dastardly methods, the supporting cast almost feels entirely stripped away to further focus on this seemingly inescapable and increasingly toxic dynamic. Not every wild swing Lurker takes works (certain aspects of the final 10 minutes or so feel like a copout, as if Alex Russell didn’t know where to take certain plot threads) and, while the performances are utterly captivating and believable, there are some logic gaps in how dicey situations could be handled.
Théodore Pellerin walks a fine line between unreadable and predictably dangerous as Matthew (the latter is not a negative), ready to harm anyone who draws Oliver’s attention away from him. Such a scary situation arises when Oliver likes Matthew’s friend, who demonstrates a mutual understanding of what the music is about and what the upcoming album cover should display. It also helps that the songs, particularly an arresting final number in lockstep with Lurker’s themes, are catchy and memorable, with refrains inseparable from the disturbing heart of the story. It’s a chilling work from a filmmaker with his finger on the pulse of these times and dynamics.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association, Critics Choice Association, and Online Film Critics Society. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews and follow my BlueSky or Letterboxd
