When Clout Becomes a Weapon
Théodore Pellerin just declared war on boundaries—and Sundance is still recovering.
That's the vibe from the official trailer for Lurker, a hypermodern psychological thriller from debut filmmaker Alex Russell. This thing didn't just debut at Sundance 2025—it stalked the festival. Critics whispered about it like a dangerous crush: magnetic, unpredictable, possibly unhinged. And now, thanks to Mubi, the rest of us get to watch the meltdown starting August 22.
Because make no mistake—this isn't just another fame-is-toxic PSA. This is Single White Female by way of TikTok For You pages and Kenny Beats bass drops.
Mark Your Calendars—Or Stay Offline Forever
It hits U.S. theaters August 22, 2025—Mubi's summer curveball right before the fall festival rush. A drop date engineered to snatch Gen Z's dopamine-drenched brains before Oscar bait season sucks all the air out of the room.
Remember when Bodies Bodies Bodies had everyone arguing about who counts as a “real friend”? Yeah. Expect Lurker to do that—but messier.
So… What the Hell Is This?
Here's the premise: Pellerin plays Matthew, a lonely Los Angeles retail worker with zero clout and one lethal ambition—to be near rising pop god Oliver (Archie Madekwe). Not like him. Not inspired by him. Near him. Physically. Constantly. Desperately.
They meet. They click. Matthew wiggles into Oliver's entourage (featuring chaos agents like Zack Fox and Sunny Suljic), and slowly, the masks slip. What starts as idol worship curdles into identity theft, emotional manipulation, and maybe worse. The trailer drops a chilling kicker: “Keep your friends close.” But what if your “friend” is a fan who's writing the sequel to your life—and he didn't ask for permission?
Russell's writing credentials (he's penned episodes of Beef, The Bear, Dave) shine in the trailer's razor-sharp tone. This isn't a morality tale—it's a vibe check. And a brutal one. The editing hums with paranoia, the cinematography stalks like a handheld obsession, and the score by Kenny Beats? Like scrolling through your ex's stories at 3AM—moody, sleek, borderline dangerous.
This Isn't Just a Movie—It's a Warning
Here's the wildest part: Lurker isn't trying to shock you. It's trying to expose you.
In 2014, Nightcrawler gave us the bloodthirsty news vulture. In 2021, Spree tried to TikTok-ify that formula. But Lurker feels more insidious because it's not about cameras—it's about closeness. Access. Parasocial hunger. That quiet, obsessive lurking we've normalized into dopamine rituals.
And in casting Pellerin, Russell might've unlocked the next great face of quiet menace. His performance in Genèse showed emotional volatility. In Lurker, he weaponizes it. Think Jake Gyllenhaal in Enemy—but instead of doppelgängers, it's influencers.
As one critic at Sundance put it: “It's not about being famous anymore—it's about being adjacent to fame. That's where the horror lives.”
So—Cursed Classic or Twitter Thread Fodder?
You tell us. Is Lurker the next Black Swan for the clout age? Or just an elevated cautionary tale wrapped in indie drip?
Would you watch this… or unfollow humanity instead?
No judgment. (Okay, some judgment.)
