Close Menu

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    What's Hot

    Hari Hara Veera Mallu Field Workplace Assortment Day 3: Recovers Solely 21% Of Its Complete Finances, Robust Days Forward Of Pawan Kalyan Starrer!

    July 27, 2025

    'The Incredible 4: First Steps' Simply Broke a Horrible 20-Yr-Previous Film Streak

    July 27, 2025

    Offset Will get Caught Off Guard When His Celeb Crush Is Revealed

    July 27, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    8881199.XYZ
    • Home
    • Holly
    • Bolly
    • TV Shows
    • Music
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    8881199.XYZ
    Home»Hollywood»‘Lurker’ Overview: Archie Madekwe Shines in a Transfixing Story of L.A. Obsession Gone Awry
    Hollywood

    ‘Lurker’ Overview: Archie Madekwe Shines in a Transfixing Story of L.A. Obsession Gone Awry

    David GroveBy David GroveJanuary 29, 20256 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Tumblr Email
    ‘Lurker’ Overview: Archie Madekwe Shines in a Transfixing Story of L.A. Obsession Gone Awry
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email


    A transfixing morality story cleverly turned on its head, “Lurker” opens with an overture: its protagonist, Matthew (Théodore Pellerin), goofing round for a camcorder wielded by a pal. When the individual holding the digital camera jokingly asks Matthew the place he sees himself in 5 years, Matthew replies sincerely. “I have already got every part I would like,” he says, stealing a look into the lens.

    Rewind to the earlier than occasions, when Matthew resides together with his grandma and dealing as a retail worker at a hip clothes retailer in Los Angeles. In walks Oliver (Archie Madekwe), a pop music artist well-known sufficient to trigger a murmur among the many retailer patrons. Matthew, abuzz with anticipation, pops on a observe that impresses the VIP, and the subsequent factor he is aware of he’s being folded into the small, sycophantic entourage of not-quite buddies and not-quite collaborators lucky sufficient to accompany Oliver on his excursions.

    Spike Lee, Jeffrey Wright
    John Magaro attends the Dropbox/IndieWire Studio at Sundance 2025

    So begins a parable of obsession and loneliness associated with such immediacy that even its comparatively low stakes begin to really feel like life or demise. In his debut characteristic, the author/director Alex Russell (who has written for the sequence “Dave” and “The Bear”) viscerally captures the complicated dynamics of hierarchical friendships, during which a concern of alienation and longing for belonging can drive individuals to the brink. The film’s best feat is its consideration to the nuances of how these males use mocking or scorn to ascend a rung on their slender social ladder — and if “Lurker” ultimately succumbs to sure style tropes and a handful of story bumps, it makes up for its limitations in perspicacity and the general energy of its filmmaking.

    After Matthew catches Oliver’s consideration within the retailer, he ingratiates himself rapidly. Quickly, he’s making himself helpful across the star’s Los Angeles pad, performing chores and sucking as much as his circle of buddies. At this level, Matthew remains to be on the backside of the pecking order, an appendage and acolyte who understands the delicacy of his station. We witness his wild desperation to take care of his standing in scenes at dwelling, the place he screams at his grandma to not interrupt him whereas he’s on the telephone and replays Oliver’s movies to check his style and habits. There’s a by-product feeling to those latter moments; we’ve seen portraits of blind obsession earlier than, and at this level within the film, chances are you’ll surprise the place Russell will take the comparatively acquainted story.

    See also  Marvel's Subsequent Massive Spin-off Collection Will Be Unleashed on Disney+ Even Earlier Than Anticipated
    Lurker
    ‘Lurker’Courtesy the filmmakers

    These social hierarchies shift in a robust scene set in a pasture. Oliver’s crew has gathered to make a music video, however quickly into the shoot, the group’s videographer Noah (the proficient up-and-comer Daniel Zolghadri), realizes that he’s misplaced his digital camera batteries. Sensing a chance, Oliver whips out his grandma’s previous camcorder and means that he connect it to a sheep’s head for a point-of-view shot. It’s a middling concept at greatest, and the composition is completely off. However that’s irrespective of to Oliver, who takes to the thought and whose approval is the one one which issues. Darkly humorous and efficient, the scene proves a degree that Matthew appears to intuit: any energy construction is versatile for those who’re keen to problem its shibboleths.

    All through, Russell and the cinematographer Pat Scola (“Pig,” “Sing Sing”) reveal a eager understanding of the place to place the digital camera to greatest calibrate perspective and emotion. One memorable instance happens after Matthew has ascended to the place of Oliver’s righthand man, and has even invited his personal pal, Jamie (Sunny Suljic of “Mid90s”), to a music trade occasion. A relative harmless, Jamie finally ends up profitable over Oliver’s entourage, a lot to Matthew’s chagrin. As Oliver and his buddies fawn (fairly ridiculously) over Jamie’s ugly handmade sweater, Scola trains his digital camera on Matthew’s face, capturing shades of envy, quiet rage and panic. These aesthetic prospers discover an auditory corollary in Kenneth Blume’s swelling, spectral rating, which toggles between sinister and ecstatic.

    Oliver — a Gen-Z-cusp singer-songwriter a la Dominic Fike — begins the story as a fairly simple character. He enjoys the affect he workouts over these round him, which explains his tendency to hand-pick followers and convert them into lackeys. But because the story unfolds, Russell reveals how Oliver’s fame is an alienating expertise. Via small appears to be like and line deliveries, Madekwe shines as he imbues Oliver with the real vulnerability of a younger man who tends to doubt himself and his work, and who distracts himself from unease by incessant pleasure-seeking.

    See also  ‘Mom of Flies’ Wins the Cheval Noir at Fantasia Competition 2025 — Learn the Full Listing of Winners

    Pellerin, maybe greatest recognized for his memorable flip in “By no means Hardly ever Generally At all times,” is a worthy match for Madekwe. He’s a gifted bodily performer, together with his gawky body and huge, fidgety fingers helpful instruments as he shifts from anxiousness to anger and again once more. Matthew and Oliver’s alignment as characters is thrown into sharp reduction as soon as the movie reaches a fairly far-fetched turning level. The occasions — which the movie all however skips by, lest the viewer begin to query its plausibility — flip the tables such that Oliver turns into beholden to Matthew’s whims, fairly than vice versa. In an on-the-nose flourish, Russell scores this about-face with the James & Bobby Purify track “I’m Your Puppet.” Later, the filmmaker takes the literalization development even additional when Oliver and Matthew’s jockeying for dominance is made visible in a homoerotic wrestling match.

    These later scenes of energy wrestle endure from some unevenness in comparison with their earlier counterparts, which seize the subtleties of social maneuvering higher than most. Nonetheless, when the third act lastly arrives, Russell deserves credit score for making the audacious choice to disclaim his characters their comeuppance and as a substitute finish the movie on a cynical notice. “Lurker” is a film about lonely younger males who know that, on the high of their social ladders, extra vacancy awaits them. But they preserve climbing all of them the identical.

    Grade: B+

    “Lurker” premiered on the 2025 Sundance Movie Pageant. It’s presently looking for U.S. distribution.

    Wish to keep updated on IndieWire’s movie opinions and demanding ideas? Subscribe right here to our newly launched e-newsletter, In Overview by David Ehrlich, during which our Chief Movie Critic and Head Opinions Editor rounds up the most effective new opinions and streaming picks together with some unique musings — all solely accessible to subscribers.



    Supply hyperlink

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Tumblr Email

    Related Posts

    'The Incredible 4: First Steps' Simply Broke a Horrible 20-Yr-Previous Film Streak

    Sophie Turner Wore A Attractive Yellow Costume To A Marriage ceremony That Was ‘Giving Main Kate Hudson In How To Lose A Man In Ten Days’ Vitality

    10 Greatest TV Comedies Like 'It’s All the time Sunny' That Make You Fall in Love With Really Terrible Folks

    What Travis Kelce’s Taylor Swift Photograph Dump Allegedly Says About Their Relationship, In accordance To An Insider

    Don't Miss
    Bollywood April 1, 2025

    Solo Leveling: Ragnarok Chapter 47 Reveals Suho’s New Class; Recap, Launch Date, The place To Learn And Extra

    The final Solo Leveling: Ragnarok chapter noticed Suho face an unknown, dual-wielding model of himself…

    Pandya retailer actor Akshay Kharodia declares separation from his spouse Divya; asserts about co-parenting their daughter Ruhi : Bollywood Information – Bollywood Hungama

    November 30, 2024

    Rating Each Struggle Film Clint Eastwood Ever Made

    March 22, 2025

    Excessive Potential Season 1: All The Information In Morgan’s Thoughts

    December 20, 2024

    Coachella 2025: What You Didn't See on the Livestream

    April 14, 2025

    Jude Legislation and Andrew Garfield Solid as Siegfried & Roy in Apple TV+ Sequence ‘Wild Issues’

    May 13, 2025

    GloRilla Secures Main Bag As Fenty's First-Ever Joint Companion, Stars In “Glo Up Shut” Marketing campaign

    March 1, 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from SmartMag about art & design.

    Stay In Touch
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram

    8881199.XYZ is your source for the latest Hollywood news, movie reviews, TV show updates, celebrity gossip, and music industry insights. Get daily updates on trending movies, popular series, and exclusive stories straight from the entertainment world. Whether you’re a film fan, TV show follower, or music lover, we deliver fresh, engaging content to keep you in the loop on all things Hollywood. Supported by third-party ads, 8881199.XYZ offers free, high-quality entertainment news without intrusive experiences. Explore Hollywood’s best with us for your daily dose of celebrity and industry buzz!

    Our Picks

    All 5 Willem Dafoe Vampire Films, Ranked In keeping with Rotten Tomatoes

    December 26, 2024

    I Requested Man Of Metal’s Author What He Thought Of James Gunn’s Superman, And His The Darkish Knight Analogy Made Good Sense

    July 22, 2025

    ‘I Nonetheless Have To Apologize To Jason Blum Each Time I See Him,’ Admits Mike Flanagan After Getting Requested About Ouija Franchise

    June 11, 2025
    Exclusive

    Flying Lotus – Let Me Prepare dinner (ft. Daybreak Richard)

    November 20, 2024

    Producer/Multi-Instrumentalist Boyan Returns with New Uplifting Jazzhop Single “Avenue Groove” | Stereofox Music Weblog

    March 13, 2025

    Sam Jaeger on Reworking for Wolf Man and the Closing Season of The Handmaid’s Story: Podcast

    January 28, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
    • Home
    • DMCA Policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
    © 2025 8881199.XYZ / Designed by MAXBIT.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.