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Mubi’s new Gen Y–Z psychological thriller Lurker might give A24 a run for its English degree money. Writer-director Alex Russell (The Bear, Beef) delivers a fame parable that fits the same mold as superficially jaded entertainment industry movies like The Canyons and The Neon Demon, exploring their scene’s dark side in a way that—even if they don’t always know what they’re saying, they feel plugged into their audiences’ anxieties around identity and the mortifying ordeal of being known.
Matthew (Théodore Pellerin) connects with rising pop star Oliver (Archie Madekwe) in what seems like a chance meeting at Matthew’s retail job. Impressing him with a seemingly earnest appreciation for similar music, Matthew charms his way into a backstage invite to Oliver’s concert, which musically seems loosely modeled after Khalid or someone younger. But not all is as it seems, as the meeting was hardly organic. Matthew pretends not to be aware of Oliver’s music, unlike his friend/coworker Jamie (Sunny Suljic), who later enters Oliver’s circle by being himself and upfront about his appreciation. But Matthew really harbors a deep-seated, increasingly unsettling obsession with Oliver.
The obsession is not overtly explained, nor is the rest of Matthew’s life. It’s not clear how many friends he has outside of Jamie, or why he lives with his grandmother (Myra Turley). It’s not clear whether Russell wrote him this way as a weakness or a way for audiences to project their own associations with Matthew onto the character’s motivations. Matthew could be on the autism spectrum, for example, evidenced by how often he seems not to pick up on social cues or his wholly singular, all-consuming “special interest” focus. But if someone doesn’t know about neurodiversity, then they might not make that connection.
Similarly, Lurker’s LGBTQ+ tag seems up for debate. The young men uncomfortably wrestle each other in their underpants (perhaps as Matthew wrestles with his demons like bisexuality?), and Matthew ecstatically but eerily locks eyes with Oliver during an unwelcome orgy, but there’s not much evidence elsewhere to support a fully queer reading of this movie. Music swells when Oliver and Matthew embrace, but that could represent masculine affirmation or queer desire, your pick. (Matthew does at one point deliberate between calling Oliver “daddy” over text, but that’s just a chronically online and insincere way that the kids these days talk to one another regardless of sexual orientation, right?) Marketing reminds us that what we see is not love, but obsession, so the queer subtext here is murky at best.
Pellerin uses subtle manipulation to convey Matthew’s troubled interiority in a way that makes him successfully offputting. On two different bike trips through Los Angeles, for instance, Pellerin shows Matthew both on top of the world from the high of being in Oliver’s circle, to his crushing lows after being rightfully rejected from it (the balance of natural and city lighting in these scenes is gorgeous, by the way). His expressive, often unblinking eyes give Matthew an extended release of creepiness that works up to the closing frames.
Lurker’s ending is a slow-burning thinker. If mainstream modern fame doesn’t interest you, then there’s not really enough action or stakes to keep you invested. But the movie’s climax seems to explain how our favorite celebrities can get caught up in unsavory partnerships with patently gross people. Matthew’s lack of talent as a videographer and Oliver’s lack of taste made the immediacy of their connection feel unrealistic. Basic creative concepts like Oliver’s album cover and music videos don’t seem worth the movie’s hype, a real-world fear for anyone who loves music but remembers when the art was better for being better funded.
On the other hand, Matthew and Oliver’s dynamics will feel chillingly authentic enough to anyone who’s survived a homoerotically charged bad friendship or a directionless creative team. Lurker might have needed more time in the kitchen, but Russell’s movie is far from half-baked. R. ANDREW JANKOWSKI. AMC and Regal locations.
