Lurker
When they say “don’t meet your heroes”, it’s usually because the hero might not live up to your idealised expectations of them. What they should add as an addendum to the motto is “because you might be weird and make them uncomfortable.” And while that may be the nightmare of most fans, it’s the starting point for Lurker, the debut feature from The Bear and Beef’s Alex Russell about a weird little man and his parasocial turned parasitic obsession with a rising musician.
Matthew Morning (Théodore Pellerin) gives credence to the idea that weirdos have alliterative names. By day he works in a high-end LA clothing store and by night, he scrolls the socials of his favourite rising pop star Oliver (Archie Madekwe) to learn more about him and to carefully orchestrate a meet cute that appears organic. Such activities seem cringe and embarrassing to witness but who among us hasn’t tried to impress someone with a curated playlist?
The next day, who should walk into his store but Oliver and his entourage. What luck! With the opportunistic hijacking of an aux cord, Matthew covertly connects his phone and plays an aptly titled Nile Rodgers track intended to capture Oliver’s attention. The move immediately pays off and Matthew, acting sickeningly casual, pretends their shared taste in music is by pure coincidence and earns himself a backstage pass to Oliver’s concert in the process.
After some awkward social missteps with Oliver’s entourage (made up mostly of his childhood friends), Matthew finds himself with a job capturing videocam footage for the documentary that Oliver wants to release alongside his upcoming album. Despite having no training in the field nor experience with editing software, he’ll work with/take suggestions from existing filmmaker Noah (Daniel Zolghadri), manager Shai (Havana Rose Lui) and sound engineer Bowen (Wale Onayemi), as well as Swett (Zack Fox), who doesn’t seem to have an actual job other than Official Best Friend.
As Matthew ingratiates himself with Oliver et al. and starts growing a small social media following of his own by pure association, others look to him for advice on how to follow in his footsteps. One such disciple is his clothing store workmate Jamie (Sunny Suljic), whose fandom is much less hidden and yucky-feeling and whom Matthew now views as a threat. As tensions in the group rise and multiple sycophants vie for Oliver’s attention and praise, Matthew starts to learn that, unless you’re one of the core members, time in this inner circle often has an expiration date. He’ll need to be ruthless to hold onto the spotlight.
Lurker – as it’s so aptly titled – is essentially Ingrid Goes West for lads. It’s The Idol with a more palatable brand of cringe and Entourage with a more interesting group dynamic. Matthew shares some DNA with the Rupert Pupkins and the Lou Blooms and the Tom Ripleys and the Oliver Quicks of the cinematic world but he’s also just a very clever opportunist. The most enjoyable aspect of Lurker is the hatred you feel towards Matthew and the entertainment you get from his creepy, calculated behaviour.
Théodore Pellerin is the strength of the film and Alex Russell knows it, lingering on close ups of Matthew’s slightly terrifying facial expressions as we’re left wondering what fresh hell he’s going to unleash next. The film’s tagline states that “Your biggest fans are always behind you” and like a tick that latches onto some unreachable part of your back after you frolicked too long in some tall grass, Matthew is one of those reprehensible losers whose persistence and tenacity you can’t help but admire.
Lurker is a film that stands on the shoulders of so many other films and while it’s engaging throughout and deliciously uncomfortable, it doesn’t necessarily add much more to the genre. The promotion for the film calls it “a psychological thriller made for this moment”; the curious thing is that none of these words are quite correct. Lurker veers into thriller territory but doesn’t commit to staying there and there’s a throwback quality to its depiction of an artist and his entourage that feels more like the 2010s than ‘this moment’.
What I enjoy most about Lurker is the evolving symbiosis between Matthew and Oliver that starts to develop towards the end of the film. They’re both people who seek validation to different degrees and we know as much about Oliver as we do about Matthew, which is to say we know very little about either of them. It’s clear that Matthew is a freak. But his arguments for Oliver keeping him around after he’s done so many questionable things kinda do make sense. I just wish the film explored this dynamic a little more thoroughly.
Small gripes aside, Lurker is a competent debut that entertains for its respectable 101 minute duration and, unlike Matthew, never overstays its welcome.
Verdict
☆☆☆½
Lurker is in cinemas November 27. Go alone and sit creepily in the back.
