This New 96%-Rated Tense Drama Is Sam Levinson's The Idol We Deserved
This movie has been compared to Saltburn, but it's more like a successful version of The Idol.
Alex Russell's debut feature, Lurker, will draw comparisons to Emerald Fennell's 2023 hit, Saltburn. The topic of social struggle, where working class people try to steal a piece of the rich's fortune through cunning and trickery, can be found in both films, but the movies follow different traditions.
Lurker is much less concerned with class and sexuality than Saltburn, as Russell tries to understand the architecture of the entertainment industry and how people achieve fame.
What Is Lurker About?
When pop star Oliver walked into the store, salesman Matthew casually put on one of the singer's favorite songs. A conversation started: Matthew said he had never heard Oliver's songs before and received an invitation to a concert.
Oli liked Matthew's relaxed approach to music and invited him to become part of his creative team. Although Matthew's duties initially include running small errands, the guy casually shows off his hobby – he likes to shoot videos with a VHS camera.
Oliver likes the original view of the world, and offers Matt the chance to become a music video director and make a documentary about the life of a celebrity.
Lurker Is The Idol We Deserved
Sam Levinson wanted to make a series about the horrors of show business, The Idol, but it failed miserably, producing glamorous and misogynistic torture porn.
Levinson was curious about how people change under the pressure of others, how they lose themselves and become a toy in the hands of others.
Director Alex Russell's approach to the subject is different: unlike The Idol, his Lurker is devoid of any shock value, pathos, or prettiness. Oliver is an utterly talentless artist, serviced by mediocre people who were just lucky that the public liked the music of their cash cow.
Lurker Is a Socially Acute Story about Hypocrisy and Lies
Matthew's simple struggle for Oliver's love has no romantic overtones; it represents the toxic co-dependency of people who fill each other's spiritual and creative void. Neither Matthew nor Oliver nor his team have much talent; they all try to steal the show, knowing that they can be exposed at any moment.
Instead of creating the image of a brilliant artist in need of a sensible manager, Alex Russell shows the ordinariness of hypocrisy.
Russell does not so much accuse his characters of cowardice as he is saddened by the commonness of such stories. They are part of a world where lies are truth and violence is called love.