Archie Madekwe Shines in Tale of Obsession – ryan

Editor’s Note: This Review was original published During the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. “Lurker” opens from Mubi in Select theaters August 22.

A Transfixing Morality Tale Cleverly Tourned on Its Head, “Lurker” opens with an overture: its protagonist, matthew (théodore pellerin), goofing around for a camcorded by a friend. When the person Holding the Camera jokingly asks Matthew where he himself in five years, Matthew replies Sincelely. “I already have everywing of Want,” he Sayys, Stealing a Glanca into the Lens.

Rewind to the before Times, we have matthew is living with his grandma and working as a retail employs at a hip clothing store in los angeles. In Walks Oliver (Archie Madekwe), a pop music artist Famous Enough to cause a murmur among the store patrons. Matthew, abuzz with anticipation, pops on a track that impresses the VIP, and the Next Thing he knows and being folded into the small, sycophantic entourage of not-quite Friends and not-Quite collaborators fortunate Enough to accompany Oliver on his excursions.

So Begins a Parable of Obsession and Loneliness Related With Such Immediacy That Its Relatively Low Stakes Start to Feel Like Life or Death. In his debut featuree, the Writer/Director Alex Russell (who has writes the series “dave” and “The Bear”) viscerally Captures the Complex Dynamics of Hierarchical Friendships, in Which a Fear of Alieding and Craving Can Drive People to the Brink. The Movie’s Greatest Feat is It It Its Attention to the Nuans of How These Macking or Scorn to Ascend A Rung on Their Narrow Social Ladder – and if “Lurker” eventually succumbs to Certain tropes and a handful of storys, its up for it Overall Strengh of Its Filmmaking.

After Matthew Catches Oliver’s Attention in the Store, he ingratiates Himself Quickly. Soon, he’s Making Himself Useful AROUND The Star’s Los Angeles Pad, performing chores and sucking up to his Circle of Buddies. At this point, matthew is still at the bottom of the Pecking Order, An Appendage and Acoyte Who Undersands the Delicacy of His Station. We were witness his way desperation to the maintaine his in Scenes at home, where he screams at his grandma not to interrupt her while he’s on the phone and replays oliver’s videos to do and habits. There’s a derivative Feeling to these latter moments; We’ve seen portraits of blind obsession before, and at this point in the movie, you may Wonder where russell will take the relatively family.

These social hierarchies shift in a strong scene set in a pasture. Oliver’s Crew has gathered to make a music video, but soon into the shoot, the Group’s video paper noah (The talents up-and-comer Daniel Zolghradri), realizes he’s my misplaced HIS Camera Batteries. Sensing an Opportunity, Oliver Whips Out His Grandma’s Old Camcorder and Suggests that he attach it to a sheep’s head for a point-of-view Shot. It is a middling idea at best, and the composition is entirely off. But that no matter to oliver, who took the idea and whose appproval is the only one that matters. Darkly Funny and Effective, The Scane Proves a Point That Matthew SEEMS to Intuit: Any Power is flexible if you’re willing to challenge its shibboleths.

Throughout, Russell and the Cinematographer Pat Schola (“Pig,” “Sing Sing”) Demonstrates Do Keen Understanding Where to Position the Camera to Best Calibrate Perspective and Emotion. One Memory Example Occurs after Matthew Has Ascended to the Position of Oliver’s Righttand Man, and Has Invited HIS OUT, JAMIE (SUNNY SUMJIC OF “MID90S”), TO A Music Industry Party. A Relative Innocent, Jamie Ends Up Winning Over Oliver’s Entourage, Much to Matthew’s Chagrin. As Oliver and His Friends Fawn (Rather Ridiculously) Over Jamie’s Ugly Handmade Sweater, Schola Trains His Camera on Matthew’s Face, Capturing Shades of Envy, Quiet Rage and Panic. These aesthetic flourishes find an auditory corollary in Kenneth Blume’s Swwelling, Specral Score, Which Toggles BetWene sinister and ecstatic.

Oliver-a gen-z-cusp singer-stagwrior a la dominic fike-Begins the story as a Rather straightforward character. He enjoys the influence and the exercises over Those Around Him, which Explains His Trends to Hand-Pick Fans and Convert to InTo Lackeys. Yet as the story unfolds, russell shows how oliver’s fame is an an allienating experience. Through Small Looks and Line Deliverias, Madekwe Shines as IMBUSES OLIVER WITH THE GENUINE VULNERABILITY OF A YOUNG MAN WHO TENS TO DOUBT HIMSELF AND HIS WORK, AND WHO DISTRACTS HIMSELF FROM INCESSANT PLEASUREE-SEEKING.

Pellerin, spreads Best know for his memoory turn in “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” Is a Worthy Match for Madekwe. He is a gifted Physical Performer, with his gawky frame and far, fidgety hands useful tools as he shifts from anxiety to the ager and back again. Matthew and Oliver’s Alignment as Characters is Thrown Into Sharp Relief Once the Film Reaches a Rather Far-Fetched Turning Point. The events – which the film all but skips through, lest the viewer start to the questioning its plausibly – Turn the tables Such that oliver beholden to matthew’s whims, Rather than vice versa. In an on-the-nose flourish, russell scores this about-face with the James & Bobby purify song “i’m your puppy.” Later, The Filmaker Taks The Literalization Trend Further Well Oliver and Matthew’s Jockeying for Dominance is made visual in a homoerotic wrestling match.

These late Scenes of Power Struggle Suffer from some unvenness compared to their Earlier Counterparts, which Capture the Subtlets of Social Maneuvering Better than Still, when the third act finally arriva, russell deserves Credit for Making the Audacious Decision to Deny His Characters Their Comeuppance and Instead the Film on a Cynical Note. “Lurker” is a movie about lonely young men who know that, at the top of their social ladders, more emptiness awaits. Yet they kep climbing say all the sun.

Grade: B+

“Lurker” Premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. MUBI RELEASE The Film August 22.

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