A feel-bad cautionary tale of parasocial rot in the music biz, like Entourage as seen through the eyes of one of Paul Schrader’s antisocial loners – only without the charisma.
Matthew (Théodore Pellerin) is a boutique shop worker with a fixation on British pop star Oliver (Archie Madekwe). Stalking his socials has given him a deep knowledge of his likes, dislikes and background – enough to be able to carefully engineer a meet-cute, by casually dropping one of the singer’s favourite tracks on the shop playlist, while feigning not to know who he even is. This earns him a throwaway invitation to come by that night’s gig and hang backstage, and so begins his journey to edge his way into the singer’s life. But while Matthew has quiet determination of someone who’s studied what it takes to be wanted, his fundamental duplicity means he will never quite belong, and when his position in the clique comes under threat, his response is unsettlingly haywire.
Alex Russell’s Lurker a parasocial horror story within the trappings of an LA hangout film – poolside goofing, with an influencer house full of ego-stroking bodymen. But everything is seen through Matthew’s stiff posture and nervous stare, and he’s never charming, never magnetic, just uncomfortable to be around. Paul Schrader might’ve shaped this needy outsider into something tragic or seductive, but here he’s all ick, no intrigue. Still, the film commits to its mood, with Madekwe hinting at Oliver’s own emotional damage and neurosis, and the supporting cast (including Havana Rose Liu and Sunny Suljic) flesh out a bleak world in which every relationship is a transaction.
The third act turns bitter, schematic, and too neatly ironic, but that cynicism fits. Matthew wants to be someone in a world of nobodies and Russell doesn’t ask us to feel sorry for him. It just lets us sit with our discomfort, and wonder how close this actually is to the way things work. Lurker follows through on its vision with discipline and sharp performances, but it’s a draining watch – deliberately so – and offers little in return beyond the discomfort it cultivates. For all its craft, it just left me miserable.
Lurker played at the Fantasia International Film Festival
Whitlock&Pope 