Review: Lurker

Image courtesy of MUBI.

Those who find it challenging to watch movies about people with whom they wouldn't want to spend time might struggle through director Alex Russell's "Lurker," a psychological thriller of sorts that took a while to grow on me, but ultimately made its case. This is a movie about people who are mostly intolerable, but the story in which they are involved becomes increasingly interesting as it goes on.

It's been said that there's something about being in the room where something great is born. While the music in "Lurker" primarily comes off as the type of pop radio music that I'd flip through while channel surfing, clothing store clerk Matthew (Theodore Pellerin) is instantly drawn to pop star Oliver (Archie Madekwe) when he drops into the shop to pick up some outfits. 

It's unclear whether Matthew is telling the truth when he says he's unfamiliar with Oliver's music - whereas Matthew's star-struck fellow employee Jaime (Sunny Suljic) is almost drooling - but he jumps at the opportunity when he makes some comments on music that Oliver likes and is soon thereafter invited to drop by his concert in town (the film is set in Los Angeles). 

Upon arriving backstage, where he is at first ignored and then ridiculed by Oliver and his entourage, Matthew is encouraged by Shai (Havana Rose Liu), who appears to be Oliver's manager, to find something that he can do to make himself useful. We soon learn that what she means is that to stay in Oliver's orbit, one must do something to impress him or risk being quickly forgotten.

At first, Matthew must contend with the other members of his entourage, which include Swett (Zack Fox), who goes out of his way to poke fun at Matthew, and a videographer (Daniel Zolghadri) who seems wary of having to work with Matthew.

But Matthew is a master manipulator and convinces Oliver that he can provide great insight into the videos he is making for his upcoming album as well as photo shoots and a documentary about the making of the album. When Jaime tries to insert himself into the entourage as well, Matthew becomes just as overprotective - and even more fearsome - than the previous members.

The group takes a trip to England, where things begin to go south for Matthew, who had since ingratiated himself into the group. The second half of the film turns into somewhat of a stalker movie in which Matthew, who becomes more and more sinister and Oliver becomes more vulnerable, goes to great lengths to keep his place in the pecking order.

At first, the picture only appealed to me moderately. Admittedly, I found most of the characters to be obnoxious, but it becomes obvious that this is intentional. It becomes increasingly more interesting as we get a glimpse at how Matthew, in some respects, torments Oliver, but how he also seems to provide him with valuable collaboration. He's both good and bad for him. As Oliver sings at one point in the film, "What's the difference between love and obsession? I can never tell them apart." 

Pellerin gives a solid performance as Matthew, who's both nakedly desperate not to fall out of favor with the rich and famous person onto whom he has latched himself like a leech. He's also a bit of a cypher, which makes the film at times more mysterious and unsettling. All in all, "Lurker" doesn't say much that's new, but it does so in a compelling way.