Lurker

When shades of the series Entourage meld with Killing Eve and Saltburn to create a slow burn, low-key erotic thriller and character study.

This may be the feature debut for Alex Russell (a writer on series The Bear and Beef), but his cast ensemble and production team have had plenty of set time (his AC worked on Avatar). In a non-linear visual narrative with a straight-through character study of a young, lonely, LA wanna-be named Matthew, played with remarkable skill by Théodore Pellerin, a well-crafted manipulative mask of innocence compels the story. Matthew's lurker love interest is Oliver, a young British singer whose star is on the rise, played by Archie Madekwe who effortlessly does all his own soulful vocals. Madekwe's adept enigmatic presence is no less than it was in Midsommer or Saltburn - it's just a different shape.

Russell admittedly knows the LA music scene - with its determined strivers, affable hangers-on, and adulating desperados in a frenzied orbit around a carefully curated alpha. Everyone in Oliver's entourage wants to benefit from his success, but no one worriedly wants it more than Matthew. Social class disparities in Oliver's beehive are not an issue, but they are for Matthew, which affords him the despair he needs for a disturbing character arc.

DP Pat Scola (Pig, Sing Sing, and A Quiet Place: Day One) offers colorful visuals that move with vitality aided by video interludes, and the overall aesthetics are boosted by Kenny Beats' lively synth score.

While many films would serve up a suitable karma for a deviant lurker, Russell didn't want an obvious resolution, relying instead to explore how the barriers to obsessive fandom can be breached with cunning and a monstrous fear of alienation as a first driver.

We were not ready for this.

Walking out of 'Lurker', hubby and I turned to each other in that stunned, slightly giddy way you do when a film completely floors you. We were blown away. Like - how is this a debut?

Directed by Alex Russell (a producer on 'The Bear' and 'Beef'), 'Lurker' is slick, unsettling, and deeply absorbing. It starts with a simple premise: Matthew (Théodore Pellerin), a lonely retail worker in LA, slowly inserts himself into the life of rising music star Oliver (Archie Madekwe), but what unfolds is a razor-wire dance of admiration, control, and obsession. You think you know where it's going - and then it shifts. And shifts again.

There's definitely DNA from 'Saltburn' in there - rich people behaving badly, blurred power lines - but this felt more grounded. Sadder, even. And if you're a fan of the emotional claustrophobia of 'The Bear', you'll feel right at home.

The performances are knockout. Pellerin is magnetic - equal parts fragile and unhinged - and Madekwe walks that fine line between charisma and detachment perfectly. The film sits in discomfort without ever overplaying it. Every beat feels intentional.

Lurker is a character study, a cautionary tale, and a coming-of-obsession wrapped in one. I haven't been able to shake it since.

Highly, highly recommend catching this one if you're into character-driven psychological drama that actually has something to say.

"I want the same as everyone else. I just want it more," someone says here in the third act. These days, for young people, the heartfelt desire is often no longer to become a star as an artist. Being famous, becoming an influencer, or gaining influence within an entourage - that is the new grail.

Matthew works at a trendy boutique. There, he meets the popular musician Oliver. Using a trick, he manages to catch Oliver's attention and earn his respect. (Tellingly, the film leaves open whether Matthew even likes Oliver's music.)

He is invited backstage to Oliver's concert, but is left confused by Oliver's erratic behavior: sometimes affable and jovial, sometimes distant and dismissive. Still, Matthew manages to tag along with the clique and eventually gains access to Oliver's "crib"-where a small court of crew, assistants, and musicians surrounds the star.

Matthew's resourcefulness and cunning, both here and later, are almost uncomfortably compelling to watch. Oliver's manager, Shai, eyes the schemer with suspicion. But for Oliver (who may crave affirmation as much as our protagonist) and his fellow musicians, Matthew soon becomes indispensable - the whisperer who turns into a supposed talisman.

Yet just as he outmaneuvers most of the others in Oliver's entourage, Matthew's former boutique colleague soon enough pushes into the picture. As this colleague's talents rise and he threatens to become the next golden boy, the carousel of ambition, envy, and resentment spins out of control.

Maybe it's a prerequisite for artists to believe their own hype. When flatterers and hangers-on start to believe it too, things get tragic - or, as in this cleverly staged drama, bizarre.

A directorial debut, by the way!

Special praise goes to the nervous, simmering energy that lead actor Théodore Pellerin brings to the screen, as well as the skillfully constructed story by writer-director Alex Russell.