Lurker
"Lurker" is a tale of a young man completely devoid of shame who is desperate to "make it" despite having no talent or skills himself. Matthew (Théodore Pellerin) lives with his grandma and works at a trendy clothing store in Los Angeles. He is aware that cool celebrities frequent the store and seems to be waiting for his moment to pounce. When Oliver (Archie Madekwe), an up-and-coming pop sensation, walks in the door, it's implied that Matthew has done his research. He knows just the song to play on the store's speakers to attract the attention of Oliver, and before you know it, he's invited backstage at Oliver's next concert, starting his slow integration into Oliver's entourage of friends and managers.
It's not hard to imagine an endless stream of willing volunteers to be the yes-man for a celebrity these days; just look at the hysterical social media comments under any young pop star's posts. It seems that, for many people, it's not even the dream to be the pop star anymore -- it's the dream to be associated with the pop star and use that for clout. Matthew initially seems happy just being "friends" with Oliver, developing his own social media following just by being the guy that is always around the famous guy. Oliver's crew is definitely aware of how lame Matthew is, constantly giving him shit and making him do menial tasks, but it soon becomes apparent that their connection to Oliver is just as tenuous, and they are just as eager to try and please their #1 man.
The movie is a bit tough to watch in these early moments, as Matthew is being so pathetic that it's hard to stomach, made worse by the fact that we've likely all seen behavior like this in real life. Matthew quits his job and starts yelling at his grandma, becoming obsessed with doing whatever it takes to get closer to Oliver. The geeky Pellerin is really quite excellent at packing his face with creepy intensity, and the camera knows it, constantly holding on his gaze for long stretches as he smiles euphorically at Oliver or boils with rage when other members of the entourage receive any kind of praise or attention. It's the look of absolute obsession, of maniacal devotion. At one point, Oliver's manager (Havana Rose Liu) catches Matthew staring at Oliver like he's just seen the face of God, and you can see the alarm written all over her face. This is a situation that is not going to end well.
Efforts are made to get rid of Matthew, but he manufactures a way to ensure that he sticks around, kicking off a third act that switches up the power dynamic and moves things into real thriller territory. It's a shift that feels a little awkward, as most of the movie operates as more of a realistic character study and cautionary tale of celebrity worship. Once Matthew decides to go for the jugular, the movie starts to feel like the origin of a comic book villain, plot logic be damned. I guess it's meant to show that even if someone like Matthew gets everything he wants, it's still extremely shallow and empty, but the clearly unwell Matthew is constantly grinning like the Joker at this point, and it's hard to take things too seriously anymore.
Still, it's a captivating story about online celebrity worship and the lonely lurkers who attach too much of their personality to a person they will never meet. Alex Russell (who wrote for "Beef" and "The Bear") succeeds in taking a topic that could've been milked for easy laughs and turns it instead into a well-observed and human story that goes to some unsettling places.
