Lurker is the debut feature by Alex Russell. He is an Emmy winner for his work as a supervising producer in Netflix’s miniseries, Beef. Besides the show with Ali Wong and Steve Yeun, the young screenwriter penned episodes of FX’s Dave and The Bear. In 2017, Russell wrote a feature film, Billy Star, based on the work by Kevin Abstract and his popular boy band, Brockhampton. This latter experience in his resume might be the most vital inspiration for Lurker, a thriller set in the music universe. Michael (Théodore Pellerin) is a frustrated retail salesman who hides a secret obsession for the popular singer Oliver (Archie Madekwe). They meet in the famous streetwear shop where Michael works, and he impresses the singer by playing one of his inspirations on the store’s speakerphones. After Oliver invites him to watch the concert he is playing that night, they develop a friendship, and Michael becomes a visual artist in his crew. Their relationship escalates to an unhealthy level, changing their connection.
The director studies in Lurker the evolution of artists’ obsession in the 21st Century. In the current period, social media plays a principal role in the relationship between artists and their fandoms. Consequently, TikTok and Instagram are central sources for gathering older and newer fans through viral videos that engage them. Russell understands the dynamic by establishing the singer’s lack of intimacy in the first minutes, when he is buying a hoodie, and fans are snapping pictures of him without his consent. Nowadays, the paparazzi are not only photographers who seek celebrities in the streets. The fans are also displaying the paparazzi role through their smartphones, once the camera’s possibilities are infinite, where the timeframe from snapping pictures to posting is a matter of seconds. It is where the lurkers appropriate themselves; they know everything about the artist and their crew.
Matthew sees himself as a failed dropout, living in his grandmother’s house, and working at a retail job, which he is doing solely for the money. Suddenly, he may access a world that frees him from the insecurities and the judgments of the world. Consequently, as he starts to hang out with Oliver’s team, which includes his manager, Shai (Havana Rose Liu), his producer, Sebastian (Cam Hicks), the jokester, Swett (Zack Fox), and the filmmaker, Noah (Daniel Zolghadri), he finds a place where he belongs. The routine of hanging out in a massive mansion in the LA hills, playing Call of Duty, and talking nonsense, enchants him. At the same time, working with Oliver means having few feasible responsibilities, and a horizon filled with opportunities.
The film structure itself is the discovery of Matthew in that space, and his relationship with Oliver. In this sense, Theodore Pellerin delivers a majestic performance portraying a nuanced individual who surprises us constantly in how he manipulates a situation if necessary. Hence, the actor supplies an emotional profundity to the character, whether it is an eminent anger or a perfect idea that will save him from melancholy and the bottom of the social pyramid. Matthew is a silent manipulator; he takes punches from anyone, but he will stand still in the end.
Even though the lead character is a highly fascinating study subject, the film lacks the development of a few other characters, such as Shai, portrayed by the rising star, Havana Rose Liu. Even though we know she is the right arm of Oliver, we do not get to comprehend her much more than that. She plays a motherly role in that house, where she is around a group of immature adults blinded by the marvels of stardom. Even so, other characters, such as Noah, the videomaker, suggest a feud with Matthew, but it does not go much further than that. There are a variety of engaging individuals in the intimacy of a rising popstar, playing both the roles of friends and groupies. It becomes a unidimensional subplot, where the crew has little to do, until the very end, when the film assumes a thriller-like conclusion, and the crew plays a crucial role in it.
Ultimately, the debut feature by Emmy-winning Alex Russell, Lurker, is a portrayal of the obsession and how social media impacts the artist’s relationships with fans and their crew. Hence, it features a superb performance by Théodore Pellerin, who plays a silent manipulator utilizing his fame and clout to compensate for his frustrations with himself. It is a fascinating study of the lead character and his desire to partake in the intimacy of a rising pop star, even though the supporting characters around him are not as compelling.
Lurker recently played at the Fantasia International Film Festival.
Learn more about the film at the Fantasia site for the title.
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