SummaryA retail employee infiltrates the inner circle of an artist on the verge of stardom. As he gets closer to the budding music star, access and proximity become a matter of life and death.
Directed By:Alex Russell
Written By:Alex Russell
Lurker
Metascore
Generally Favorable
78
User score
Generally Favorable
7.3
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
87% Positive
20 Reviews
20 Reviews
13% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Aug 28, 2025
91
Films about stalkers and obsession tend toward on-the-nose titles like Crush, Watcher, Creep or, well, Obsession, and Stalker. Lurker is thus, right from the title card, a refreshingly original take on the genre.
Sep 5, 2025
88
Writer-director Russell, a producer and co-writer of TV’s “The Bear” and “Beef,” knows his Hollywood existentialism — the dread that you’re not anybody unless you know a Somebody, the easy California vibe that hides gnawing insecurity, the understanding that a friend today can and certainly would cut your throat tomorrow.
User score
Generally Favorable
76% Positive
13 Ratings
13 Ratings
18% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
6% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Oct 14, 2025
10
It was such a good movie. Really good cinematography. Gives you second-hand embarrassment. 100% recommend.
Sep 19, 2025
6
Overstays its welcome in many scenes, unbearably difficult to watch in terms of social discomfort, yet the studio-booth interaction scene between the two leads is so jaw-dropping self reflective and potent, along with the spectacular music video finale, as to render the overall impression of the film a rather good one
Jan 31, 2025
83
If Lurker eventually succumbs to certain genre tropes and a handful of story bumps, it makes up for its limitations in perspicacity and the overall strength of its filmmaking.
Aug 21, 2025
80
It takes its time at first, but once it really gets going, Lurker is snaky and disconcerting and smart.
Jan 31, 2025
80
A tight, nifty, and unsettling little parable of the pathology of fame in our time.
Feb 19, 2025
75
The artist and audience member are coequal—and codependent—in this perceptive drama about a parasocial relationship that enters the realm of reality.
Aug 21, 2025
42
The film doesn’t work as a thriller for this reason, stretching credulity in how it finds new ways to keep Matthew returning to the fold, and doesn’t succeed particularly well in critiquing the vapidness of modern fame.
Sep 10, 2025
6
The first half uses a tightly curated collection of shots to paint a rich portrait of the politics and tensions within the bubble of tenuous fame that is the entourage. Cause and effect, hierarchy and emotion are so realistic that dialogue is almost superfluous. The second half requires a sudden suspension of disbelief and seems to exist to support a single monologue that can’t overcome the sudden shift in realism, despite Théodore Pellerin’s flawless delivery.
Production Company:
- High Frequency Entertainment
- MeMo Films
- Twin Productions
- Arts and Sciences Department
- Adler Entertainment
- Case Study Films
- Wise Pictures
- Va Bene Productions
Release Date:Aug 22, 2025
Duration:1 h 40 m
Rating:R
Tagline:Keep your friends close.
Awards
Film Independent Spirit Awards
• 2 Wins & 4 Nominations
San Sebastián International Film Festival
• 2 Nominations
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards
• 2 Nominations
