“Lurker” (2025) begins with Matthew “Matty” Morning (Théodore Pellerin) positioning himself so an up-and-coming pop star, Oliver (Archie Madekwe), will seek him out and invite Matthew into his inner circle. The trick is finding a way to stay there. Director and writer Alex Russell makes his first feature after becoming a television success with such series as “Beef” and “The Bear.” While Russell avoids taking the familiar path that stories about star stalkers normally takes, it probably goes on a beat too long and strains suspension of disbelief, but with a strong ensemble cast and an unhinged story, Russell earned enough grace from the audience not to lose moviegoers in the final act.
Pellerin is a chameleon. If you were fortunate enough to see him starring in “Solo” (2023) as the protagonist, then you still will not recognize him here. He is Quebecois, and there is no trace of his accent. It feels like Pellerin becomes his characters on a cellular level so hopefully he knew how to exorcise Matthew from his body once “Lurker” was done shooting. Matthew is the kind of guy that probably played the long game and worked at the clothing store just to meet Oliver one day, neg him and act aloof once Oliver arrived. Once he gets his shot, he missteps, which makes him seem more human: a willingness to do anything that betrays that he cares, taking what people say at face value when they are trying to sabotage him and keep their spot secure, inviting more competitors into the inner circle and taking his sabotage too far.
If “Lurker” was an elaborate infomercial to launch Madekwe’s music career, congratulations, you got us! One of the music videos for the soundtrack played before the movie, and it was actually good. Is it good enough to have so many screaming fans going crazy for him? No, but good. Plus, he is tall and a Brit so that will get him far. Madekwe has been putting in the work and plays men who seem as if they are at the top of their game, but are vulnerable: the engaged man who is the first to die in “Midsommar” (2019), the effortlessly cool student who belongs on the estate in “Saltburn” (2023) and now Oliver, a man who knows exactly how to get people to dance to his beat when he is not singing. It is one of the perks of the job. The scenes with Pellerin are brilliant because Oliver and Matty engage in a verbal, mutual masturbatory way that Matty believes is genuine, but is meant to keep Matty on the hook to continue to serve Oliver’s ego and the entourage’s practical needs because Oliver is not paying. There is a reprise of these scenes in a recording booth when Matty is wiser to the con, and it just is not working. The tension of “Lurker” is what happens when the jig is up, and everyone knows what’s up.
Every supporting actor does a deft job of projecting emotions on their face. Swett (Zack Fox) and Bowen (Olwale Onayemi) start off as the typical guys in an entourage who are there for fun and games, and the trajectory of their demeanor underscores the story’s serious beats. They turn into silent, disapproving spectators. Noah (Daniel Zolghadri), who normally makes the videos, tries to seem chill but guards his territory while still being deferential to Oliver’s wants even when those requests are at war with his own. Jamie (Sunny Suljic), Matty’s former coworker, is probably the biggest surprise as an adoring fan who turns into an admirer sharing Matty’s ability to get what he wants.
A large part of “Lurker” is seeing the footage that Matty shot, and it is the least engaging part of the movie. He is not that good, and it is impossible to see what Oliver sees in him until late in the proceedings. The choice of having a creepy cameraman shoot rough camerawork explains the comparisons to “Nightcrawler” (2014), but it actually feels like a more realistic, less pretentious “Hurry Up Tomorrow” (2025) with more consistently enjoyable, original music (no disrespect intended to The Weeknd who has some good songs that were not featured in his film). While the amateur home video film style may have been a deliberate decision to show how high these two guys are on their own supply, losing the audience cannot be part of the bargain. Russell’s choice to pick up the pace to frenetic levels when Matty is alone worked really well to reflect his anxiousness. Russell worked well with editor David Kashevaroff in weaving a tapestry of differing personalities and allowing each actor an opportunity to seize the spotlight.
Russell’s story is really engrossing. I watch horror movies to relax, but secondhand embarrassment films are my version of everyone else’s horror movies. “Lurker” is like an emotional horror movie in which the moviegoer will keep taking turns telling either Matty or Oliver to stop taking it too far and walk the other way, but they never do, and it is like watching a train wreck that people want to be in. Sure, it is about fame, but it is also about the naked willingness to do whatever it takes to get there even if that means hanging out with people who are not good for you or you kind of can’t stand. My favorite scene is when Matty’s Grandma, Christine (Myra Turley), drops her grandson off. He tells her to go, but she just stays knowing it is not going to work out. It is not her first rodeo. Oliver’s version of grandma is Shai (Havana Rose Liu), the practical person in the entourage who acts like an audience surrogate reacting like a normal person and noticing the speed bumps long before they become full blown problems. These two characters respect their person’s space but also want to protect them from themselves, but it proves impossible.
There is a turning point in “Lurker” when Matty levels up in a way that is plausible but seems like a dramatic leap.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
The film lost me when he got the backstage passes for the girls. How? Is it a blink and miss it scene where he goes to Kinkos and manages to fake them? Oliver and his crew have completely exiled Matty, but he can get backstage passes? Russell clearly wanted to build a bridge between Matty before and after exile, but it is so Big Bad that there almost is not a way of coming back from that. To be clear, life after exile is riveting, and without the “I drink your milkshake” scene, cinema would be poorer, but it turns Matty into someone who just magically becomes good at his job and gets everyone else to buy it outside of the entourage. Within the entourage, everyone acquiesces to protect what they have, but outside, no. Russell makes it possible in this universe that their tense partnership helps both level up their performances and catapult them into the stratosphere. Really? I don’t want a longer film, but I do want to believe in Matty’s artistic vision. Still, it was brilliant to find a way out without someone dying before their original expiration date.
