Lurker (2025)
Directed by: Alex Russell
Premise: An aspiring photographer (Théodore Pellerin) ingratiates himself into the inner circle of an up-and-coming musician (Archie Madekwe).
What Works: Movies about fame, celebrity, and fan obsession are nothing new. These ideas have been explored in movies like All About Eve and The King of Comedy. Lurker revisits these familiar themes in a contemporary way. The story focuses on Matthew, an isolated young man who works in retail and has an interest in photography. Matthew’s chance encounter with a musician named Oliver results in Matthew working on a behind-the-scenes documentary. Their relationship becomes strained as Matthew reveals his needy and covetous nature. Lurker succeeds as a character study but also as an examination of fame. Matthew is a fascinating and fully realized character. Actor Théodore Pellerin plays Matthew just right. He’s sociable enough to credibly penetrate Oliver’s inner circle but his character defects make him a time bomb. Archie Madekwe is also convincing as Oliver. He’s charismatic but also inconsiderate of other people’s needs and regards everyone as an assistant. Lurker is partly about the allure of fame but it’s also an incisive look at the economics of the entertainment industry which relies on unpaid labor and parasocial relationships. Matthew is being exploited but he craves to stay in Oliver’s spotlight. That exploitation later gets turned on its head in ways that play with the audience’s sympathies. That mix of the personal and the economic adds another layer to the familiar show business story and Lurker is an effective distillation of contemporary media culture. The filmmaking is extremely efficient. Character and plot beats are understated but completely understandable and communicated visually through the action and the film editing. The moviemakers create an intense feeling of paranoia.
What Doesn’t: Lurker is reminiscent of films such as Nightcrawler and Taxi Driver in that it follows an unlikable protagonist. That’s not a flaw of Lurker. The filmmakers do this well insofar as they make Matthew interesting. But Lurker is more challenging than the average Hollywood picture. There are a few details of Lurker that seem unusual. Oliver is releasing an album and he has a passionate fan following but his entourage lacks some of the people we might expect, namely music label staff or any kind of security.
Bottom Line: Lurker brings a contemporary perspective to the show business tale. It allows for empathy with abrasive characters and raises critical questions about the economic and social aspects of contemporary media. It’s also a tense drama of paranoia and obsession.
Episode: #1082 (January 11, 2026)