There have been a lot of movies over the years that have dealt with musicians/singers. Some of them are biopics, and others are fictional stories. Music in one fashion or another has been a focal point of Hollywood for many years. The latest film about a singer is Lurker. It mainly focuses on a British pop singer in modern times. The lead actor, Archie Madekwe, has done something similar in the past, so he might be pretty familiar with this type of role. When I was watching it, I thought about that exact thing. There’s slight differences between the two movies, though.

Matthew (Theodore Pellerin) is a lonely man who works at a clothing store. When a celebrity singer Oliver (Archie Madekwe) walks into his store and starts talking to him like they are genuine friends, it changes his whole outlook on life. He is invited over to his home, and they become friends. The problem is that Oliver’s friends don’t like the new guy. Things start to get interesting as Oliver invites Matthew to make a documentary about his life. The Pallerin character tries to fit into this man’s lifestyle, but his awkward nature constantly causes him problems. His drive to be included and part of something makes him desperate, though. This could be his downfall or lead to the path of his success.

Archie Madekwe has had a good career so far with his breakout role in Gran Turismo. He then worked on other movies, but the one that is most interesting to me is his performance in Saltburn. He starred opposite Jacob Elordi as the son of rich parents, and his character was like a distant cousin or something like that. Why it’s so interesting is that he is now playing a similar role to the Elordi type of character and Pellerin is playing his type of character while Barry Keoghan is playing the Pellerin type of character in Saltburn. It’s weird how these two films have so much in common. Obviously, both with different endings and somewhat different subject matter. That’s what I was thinking about the whole time while watching this movie.

I understand wanting to be liked by others. Being alone and not having many friends. It can be a pretty rough situation for people to be in. Being alone and left to your own devices leaves a person with their own thoughts, and one’s thoughts can be misleading. Sometimes, one thinks negative thoughts or that someone is out to get them or are jealous of them. It happens to the best of us. I know because I’ve felt this way. It’s not a fun experience to be a part of. The Pellerin character gets a little bit of fame via social media, and it goes to his head. He doesn’t want to lose it, so he does whatever it takes to keep it. Including doing dishes and cleaning around the house. No matter who he has to hurt on the way. It’s a pretty sad scenario. 

The filmmaker uses multiple different ways to show how infatuated the Pellerin character is with the Madekwe character. Texting, calling, and even showing up uninvited to places and his home. The worst part is hurting someone because they are getting closer to him than they are. This story uses all the typical stalker tropes to get the jist across to those watching the film. It’s pretty cringe at a few points. I don’t know why anybody would hurt another person over being friends with them or popularity. It’s just not that important in the end. Now, trying to do a good job at whatever you’re tasked to do and not getting the recognition you deserve is another thing. People deserve credit for doing a good job. Celebrities can be self-centered at times. This movie  shows that.

The music was more of a pop kind of song, which wasn’t exactly my thing, but it attracted women and celebrities to the Madekwe character. Hangaroners are bound to happen. Usually, they are women who are in love with the singer or band. In this case, it’s a man. It just shows that being famous isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. There are a handful of problems that come with celebrity. I think this could have been done a bit better, though. The script didn’t take this idea as far as I would have gone with it. Both the Pellerin characters and the Madekwe characters were a bit underdeveloped for my liking. One scene where they were wrestling was good, though. I wanted more of that type of thing, though.

Lurker is a good movie with good performances from the cast, specifically Pellerin and Madekwe. It took an idea I’ve seen before involving Madekwe in a way and did a decent job with it. There was a creepy factor to the story, but it could have gone further to show the creepiness as far as I am concerned. The camera shots and texts and calling were good,  just not good enough for my liking. If you’re going to have a stalker type character,  you need to go to the full extent of what could be done. Russell, the director, did a good job, just not a great job with this story. 

3 stars

Dan Skip Allen