Writer Alex Russell is taking talents he honed creating anxiety-inducing dramedy on The Bear and Beef and bringing them to the horror sphere for his new film. MUBI just dropped the trailer for Lurker, his directorial debut about what happens when a cult of personality becomes just that: a cult with entirely too much influence.
Written and directed by Russell, Lurker stars Théodore Pellerin, Archie Madekwe, Sunny Suljic, Havana Rose Liu, Zack Fox, and Daniel Zolghadri. The film’s synopsis is as follows:
When twenty-something Los Angeles retail clerk and loner Matthew encounters rising pop star Oliver, he takes the opportunity to edge his way into the in-crowd. But staying there isn’t easy. With an entire entourage vying for attention, Matthew must prove himself to Oliver as more than just a follower. As their bond grows strained and mainstream fame appears within reach, access and proximity become a matter of life and death.
Online fixation meets reality in this parasocial, paranoid cat-and-mouse film driven by star-making performances. With an incisive view to contemporary culture and a brilliant score from Kenny Beats, LURKER presents an exhilarating take on the music industry, the blurred line between friend and fan, and our universal search for validation.
Shot in uncomfortable close-up, the new trailer gives us an inside look at Matthew’s slow descent into madness — from what it feels like to be accepted into Oliver’s crowd, as one of his “best friends,” to what happens when he pushes things too far. But the question remains; can any of them ever come back from it?
Lurker is produced by Alex Orlovsky, Duncan Montgomery, Galen Core, Charlie McDowell, Jack Selby, Marc Marrie, Francesco Melzi d’Eril, Olmo Schnabel, and Madekwe. The film is Madekwe’s first since his appearance in Emerald Fennell’s unsettling thriller Saltburn, and Pellerin’s first since working with director Ari Aster on Beau Is Afraid.
Lurker hits theaters on August 22. Check out the new trailer below:
