Critics reviews

Russell realizes Lurker’s riveting, slippery narrative on 16mm film, a choice that cinematographer Patrick Scola uses to grainy, maximum impact.

Russell keenly analyzes Los Angeles’ lecherous atmosphere and the glitzy parties where everyone has their own agenda... By focusing on the frightening ways a fan can collect information and seize an opportunity to get a leg up in the right circumstances, Russell prioritizes believability over spectacle. The decision pays off in the film’s third act...

Misery for the Instagram age and features authentic characters who call to mind the hangers-on, posers, and self-styled sirens whom everyone hate scrolls on the ’gram.

Lurker is a largely excellent film, and its excellence is partially owed to its aesthetic confidence. Cinematographer Pat Scola works wonderfully in tandem with Russell’s tight, uncomfortable close-ups, and creates a photographically mysterious Los Angeles, one of sun-bleached halation, as if what we’re watching were raw, un-processed celluloid strips that had been discovered in the woods.

Despite how embedded it is in its contemporary visual language and digital buzz words, Lurker doesn’t feel like it runs the risk of becoming dated; instead its portrayal of the thin line between friendship and fame feels like it will stand the test of time.

"Lurker" is a sure-footed debut from a filmmaker illustrating the psychology of a specific group dynamic with the build of a suspenseful thriller.

Alex Russell‘s riveting thriller “Lurker,” which feels like “Nightcrawler” for starfuckers in the best possible way.

Amidst its quietly intense drama, the movie is often morbidly funny too, with a number of scenes pointedly satirizing modern entertainment culture and star-worship, in an era where you can become someone’s hero just by making the right posts on your socials.

Lurker... is the impishly uncomfortable directorial debut from Alex Russell... [and] While Lurker never lets its sense of suspense slacken, there are times when what it evokes is less The Talented Mr. Ripley and more The Idea of You...

Fame and celebrity are old concepts, but gaining attention for merely being banal used to be a lot rarer than it is now. In 2025, it’s a career path. In his feature debut, Lurker's writer and director Alex Russell gets this paradox just right, on top of a lot of other icky facets of human existence.

While Pellerin is its magnetically unhinged center of attention, Lurker doesn’t work without Madekwe’s canny, multifaceted performance, and the pair’s chemistry—whether Matthew and Oliver are on good terms or suffering through a late-stage rapport poisoned by treachery—props up the film even when it traverses somewhat familiar territory.

“Lurker” is a tight and wicked little film, a promising debut feature for the writer and director Alex Russell, a kind of minimalist counterbalance to the maximalist dissipation of “Saltburn.”