With the help of the lens of fame, LA-based author/director Alex Russell examines why the need to belong to the worst behavior of some men in his debut film “Lurker.” Life for Matthew, a retail worker, gets an unexpected boost when the rising music artist Oliver enters his store and stops inviting him to keep up with him and his crew. Matthew’s first encounters with them are understandably difficult because Oliver and his boys, not to mention Shai, one woman in their crew that acts as a gatekeeper and fixes, is a narrow group that was around him in advance. When Matthew facilitates a role as Oliver’s video, they enter a rhythm. But when Oliver starts to pull away from Matthew, the idea of no longer being in their circle is something that Matthew cannot carry – and goes a lot to avoid.
“Lurker” includes no suicide attempts or murder as any previous projects, especially the Donald Glover-produced limited TV series “Swarm.” It doesn’t even have any open terror moments. Instead, it is an internal meditation and in some cases a slow burn on the desperate need to belong to and matter. Russell is not very interested in What happens when he’s in why It happens. Matthew lives with his grandmother and does not seem to have many friends, except for his co -worker Jamie who later enters his cross chairs. So he comes into Oliver’s course which largely a lonely. And as Russell shows, that feeling of loneliness can be overwhelming. In Matthew’s case, it causes him to hold on to his life with Oliver, even when their association with each other has clearly gone.
Théodore Pellerin and Archie Makekwe (also one of the film’s producers), perhaps recognizable from their roles in “Franklin” on Apple TV+ and the movie “Saltburn”, play Matthew and Oliver well. Madekwe’s Oliver has an enlightening quality that makes it easy to believe in him as a growth music artist with superstar potential, especially with original music from Kenneth “Kenny Beats” Blume. As the troublesome posted Matthew, Pellerin infuses his character with a feeling of loneliness and shift that causes him to do things without hesitation even when he knows that someone can be killed or seriously injured.
How subordinate does Matthew shifts power dynamics in his relationship with Oliver is more than credible, especially in social media. Russell’s direction is extremely intimate. He and Kinematographer Pat Scola maintain a hazy home view and emotion throughout the film that silently shows Matthew’s subtle violations and aggression. Russell’s script bases authentic and translates its personal interactions with this dynamics through its many music industry friends in LA. Like many real music and entertainment scandals, nothing is obvious or loud, which makes both Matthew’s power and Oliver and his team’s failure to see it quite understandable.
In his director’s statement, Russell writes about wanting to tell “this story from the perspective of one of the hangers and is trying so desperately to hang on …”, but he is also quick to note that Matthew is not only relevant to the music industry or entertainment at large. Instead, Russell Matthew sees as a portrait of today’s young men, and some may argue young White Especially men, who “draw a box around themselves and feel jealous or competitive with each other …”
In the end, “Lurker” is a deep meditation on male self -value in Joaquin Phoenix in the “Joker” franchise, just more realistic. While the film asks more questions than solutions, Russell manages to increase awareness and conversation about male shift and longing for belonging.
