Lurker

Is "Lurker" the cringiest movie of 2025? It's gotta be a contender.

We've seen similar stories play out a million times before, but due to an energetic style and terrific performances, this version manages to feel fresh. And there's a cynical message in the film's ending that sets it apart from other movies like it, and feels very much of the moment in our cultural climate. That message being: bad behavior is often rewarded.

Grade: A.

Lurker is superb visually and musically. It's almost worth a watch for that part of the experience alone. I thought this was a fresh take on an interesting idea. That said; after a strong first half, the writing gets pretty lazy in the second half - particularly around a critical plot device mid-film - and the characters flatten out. The story labours in its final chapters. It didn't ruin the movie for me, but I thought a sharper finish would have really elevated this film to what it deserved to be.

LURKER (2025). Alex Russell's debut feature is an unsettling portrait of fandom. Theodore Pellerin plays Matthew, a hip clothing store employee, who befriends new up and coming singer Oliver (Archie Madekwe), and gets invited to "hang". Matthews initial interractions with Oliver and his crew are awkward, but he eventually falls in with the artist and his gang, helping out doing odd chores and using his video camera to shoot behind the scenes footage for a planned documentary.

Russell (who also wrote) does a good job of creating the uncomfortable atmosphere a hanger on like Matthew feels when being in the shadow of a budding pop star. The interactions never feel natural, and the others in the entourage are also always angling to be the new 'Bestie' of the moment. Oliver can be capricious, taking and giving attention at will. Pellerin is good at delivering the cringe, and Madekwe, as he did in SALTBURN, has a strong screen presence.

As the title suggests, Matthew isn't really a stalker in the traditional sense. He's not even really a fan of Oliver's music. He just wants to belong. Of course, being in Oliver's glow does transfer a tiny bit of his fame to Matthew via social media. When he gets shunned, Matthew can't accept that either and will do anything to be let back in.

Russell's ending may be a bit too clever for it's own good, forsaking the power of the message for an easy bow on top. The ambigiuity of the tale is still its strongest assett along with the actors and makes LURKER the kind of small, but impressive movie to seek out.

When shades of the series Entourage meld with Killing Eve and Saltburn to create a slow burn, low-key erotic thriller and character study.

This may be the feature debut for Alex Russell (a writer on series The Bear and Beef), but his cast ensemble and production team have had plenty of set time (his AC worked on Avatar). In a non-linear visual narrative with a straight-through character study of a young, lonely, LA wanna-be named Matthew, played with remarkable skill by Théodore Pellerin, a well-crafted manipulative mask of innocence compels the story. Matthew's lurker love interest is Oliver, a young British singer whose star is on the rise, played by Archie Madekwe who effortlessly does all his own soulful vocals. Madekwe's adept enigmatic presence is no less than it was in Midsommer or Saltburn - it's just a different shape.

Russell admittedly knows the LA music scene - with its determined strivers, affable hangers-on, and adulating desperados in a frenzied orbit around a carefully curated alpha. Everyone in Oliver's entourage wants to benefit from his success, but no one worriedly wants it more than Matthew. Social class disparities in Oliver's beehive are not an issue, but they are for Matthew, which affords him the despair he needs for a disturbing character arc.

DP Pat Scola (Pig, Sing Sing, and A Quiet Place: Day One) offers colorful visuals that move with vitality aided by video interludes, and the overall aesthetics are boosted by Kenny Beats' lively synth score.

While many films would serve up a suitable karma for a deviant lurker, Russell didn't want an obvious resolution, relying instead to explore how the barriers to obsessive fandom can be breached with cunning and a monstrous fear of alienation as a first driver.

Lurker is a sharp and compelling psychological drama about ambition, power, and the fragile line between admiration and intrusion. Character development is one of the film's strongest qualities, even though Oliver's music is so bad that it almost makes sense for Matthew to not recognize his sudden artistic superiority, or to stalk him out of fear that he might ruin his career and end the partnership that has worked for a lifetime. And then things get incredibly awkward, but it works.

The film builds its tension slowly, focusing on small, uncomfortable interactions that reveal insecurity, longing, ego, and the hunger to matter. Théodore Pellerin is fantastic as the anxious and meticulously polite Matthew, while Archie Madekwe leans into Oliver's mix of charm, detachment, and creative volatility. Their dynamic is the core of the film: a messy blend of friendship, dependency, and performance, where every gesture feels like it could tip into affection or collapse into violence.

Beyond the psychological tension, it also explores work dynamics, artistic hierarchy, obsession, and the strange, blurry forms of love that grow in imbalanced relationships. It shows how fame can be intoxicating and how creative partnerships can become traps when one feeds off the other's validation. The film's final musical moment is easily Oliver's best song, but it's built on a relationship with no clear boundaries: a reminder that "greatness" comes from collective contribution, dealing with criticism and sometimes accepting that other people's vision can be better than yours, even when it hurts. Adoration feeds and destroys.

Not every narrative choice lands, and it feels like we've already seen this dynamics happen in other films, but it certainly reaches a more realistic approach in this one. Lurker is smart, unsettling in the right ways, and far more layered than its premise suggests.