Matthew (Théodore Pellerin) has a cold, vacant, calculating stare that morphs suddenly, and consciously, to friendliness when pop star Oliver (Archie Madekwe) enters the Los Angeles clothing store where he works.
Any trace of that transformation, or hint that he recognizes the singer, quickly vanishes behind a façade of naivete once Matthew puts on a song that charms Oliver, who’s disarmed by the clerk’s supposed ignorance about who he is. It’s in sharp contrast, after all, to the legions of fans who want to photograph or fawn over him, including Matthew’s buddy Jamie (Sunny Suljic)—so Oliver invites Matthew to that evening’s concert.
With a cunning that’s bracing for being so casually and confidentially pulled off on the spot, Matthew seizes his opportunity, and an A-list relationship is born.
Written and directed by Alex Russell (producer of The Bear and Beef), Lurker—which hits theaters Aug. 22, following its premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival—is a stalker saga cut from a recognizable cloth, charting Matthew’s efforts to weasel his way into Oliver’s orbit and, then, to maintain the position for which he’s sneakily fought.
If reminiscent of numerous forebears in terms of general premise and structure, however, this disquieting thriller distinguishes itself by putting a distinctly 21st-century spin on its time-honored template, as well as via a black sense of humor about the neediness, manipulativeness, and sociopathic ambition—for the spotlight, and those who already inhabit it—that defines modern celebrity.
Furthermore, in Pellerin’s ace performance, it announces the arrival of a promising new big-screen presence.
Showing up at that evening’s show, Matthew is ushered into a green room where Oliver and his buddies are sitting about with their pants around their ankles. Ordered to do likewise, Matthew freezes, unsure of whether he’s being pranked or not, and the fact that he’s laughed at when he complies, and then scolded when he retreats, only heightens the uncomfortable mood.
Nonetheless, no amount of embarrassment will dissuade the young outsider from trying to become an insider. When he trumps his tormenters by completely dropping trou, he wins them over, especially Oliver, who upon exiting the stage receives a less-than-sycophantic assessment of his performance from Matthew and is enamored with his frank candor.
Matthew lives with a grandmother whom he both loves (as evidenced by him dancing with her in her bedroom) and resents (proven by him snapping at her for daring to speak while he’s on the phone), and he’s happy to spend all his time at Oliver’s Hollywood Hills home. Oliver’s coterie is less excited about having him around; assistant Shai (Havana Rose Liu) eyes him with a wariness that’s seemingly born from experience with prior hangers-on, and documentarian Noah (Daniel Zolghadri) instantly considers Matthew his competition.
He’s not wrong, as Matthew is soon making in-roads with Oliver by shooting his day-to-day escapades with an old DV camcorder. That grainy “Spike Jonze” footage isn’t as impressive as Oliver believes, but its chaotic herky-jerkiness is an apt reflection of Matthew’s inner life, just as its in-your-face immediacy parallels his desire to get close to the crooner.
Lurker affixes itself to Matthew, providing an intimate view of his understated scheming, seething jealousy, and passive-aggressive nastiness, which truly flourishes when—having achieved his own level of minor online renown courtesy of appearances on Oliver’s social media—he agrees to bring Jamie to a party, and the young kid proves such a hit that Matthew lies in order to keep him from rejoining the group the next day.
That ruse doesn’t work, and is the beginning of the end for Matthew’s blissful time with Oliver. Having previously told Matthew that he was his “best friend,” Oliver begins gravitating toward Jamie, culminating with a trip to London where Matthew’s desperate attempts to preserve his place in the clique lead to tension, calamity, and rejection.
By proceedings’ conclusion, Matthew is claiming that he’s merely the most committed version of Oliver’s other pals, who will all do anything to remain by the singer’s side, and additionally that Oliver is an attention whore who loves playing his acolytes against each other in a competition for his favor. Russell’s script doesn’t dispute those notions, instead choosing to have bleakly comedic fun flipping this milieu’s power dynamics to illustrate how everyone involved is engaged in a battle for attention, affection, and validation.
This isn’t exactly a bombshell revelation about the entertainment industry, but Pellerin’s turn is so wily and wacko that it feels, if not fresh, then certainly alive. The 28-year-old actor commands Lurker from start to finish, casting every facet of Matthew—his easygoing sociability, his homosexual flirtatiousness, his deranged iciness—as a manifestation of his baseline hunger for fame.
As Oliver, the excellent Madekwe radiates charismatic warmth and cheer that, at a moment’s notice, might melt away into indifference—a fickleness that speaks to the thinly veiled narcissism fueling his actions. Oliver knows that he’s the king of his fiefdom and rules it by doling out blessings (his time and consideration) and punishments (demotions, exile) with spur-of-the-moment nonchalance.
While Pellerin is its magnetically unhinged center of attention, Lurker doesn’t work without Madekwe’s canny, multifaceted performance, and the pair’s chemistry—whether Matthew and Oliver are on good terms or suffering through a late-stage rapport poisoned by treachery—props up the film even when it traverses somewhat familiar territory.
Sex, love, camaraderie, and collaboration are all tools to be wielded to one’s personal ends in Lurker, which excuses none of its characters for their kindred appetites and the lengths to which they’ll go to satisfy them—and, moreover, to secure a future where they’ll continue to be satisfied.
That makes Russell’s feature directorial debut a portrait of shallow, pathetic strivers engaged in games that can’t ultimately be won; the best Matthew, Oliver, and the rest of their gang can hope for is extending this transitory high life for as long as possible. And that, in turn, casts the film as not simply a suspenseful tale of stardom and the psychos who want a taste of it, but a tragedy about the depressing emptiness and amorality of today’s contemporary celebrity culture.
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