The first time we see retail employee Matthew (Théodore Pellerin), it’s by way of the eyes of his new pal Oliver (Archie Madekwe), because the up-and-coming popstar movies him with a camcorder. It’s an arresting opening picture, given how a lot the remainder of Lurker finds Matthew gazing at Oliver in adoration as an alternative. “I need a real person,” the fickle musician says, quickly after their probability encounter. He’s speaking about searching for the sincere opinion of a daily particular person on his music, not the blind adoration of a fan. Little does he know simply how meticulously crafted Matthew’s character actually is. Having secured a job taking pictures a documentary for Oliver and ingratiated himself into his internal circle, Matthew’s dedication to maintain his place there takes on more and more determined and darkish dimensions.
A story of shifting energy dynamics and put-on personas, Lurker charts Matthew’s standing from irksome parasite to sinister puppeteer. At first, he comes throughout as somebody so determined to do and say the proper factor, the awkward desperation wafts off him all of the extra. The digital camera focuses on him, capturing glints of emotion as Oliver and his staff have conversations simply close by in a circle he’ll by no means actually be a part of. By the top, nonetheless, he has thrillingly, terrifyingly, arrived.
I spoke to Russell about Lurker’s good use of social media, taking pictures its handheld camcorder parts and the underlying homoeroticism inextricable from this sort of movie. The movie opens August 22 from MUBI.
Filmmaker: You’ve described Lurker as Mean Boys. While watching it, I used to be additionally considering of movies like All About Eve, The Talented Mr. Ripley and Ingrid Goes West. What had been your cinematic influences?
Alex Russell: Ripley was positively one. A giant one was Whiplash (2014). That film is basically about two individuals, with one determined to impress the opposite. The poisonous evolution of that dynamic results in increasingly more excessive penalties. When I used to be writing, I wished the primary half of Lurker to really feel like Almost Famous (2000) after which the second half to really feel like Nightcrawler (2014), nevertheless it ended up being rather more tonally constant quite than having an enormous shift within the center. Almost Famous is basically good at making you’re feeling such as you’re stepping right into a fantasy world, this insider view of the music world. That film felt prefer it understood the setting it was speaking about. I didn’t see these different motion pictures [All About Eve and Ingrid Goes West] till after scripting this film. It’s cool to see how individuals have spun this right into a style and the methods during which they make it their very own. In my case, I actually wished it to be humorous, and this marriage of excessive stress and comedy in a approach I hadn’t actually seen with this kind of film. Often, these tales of obsession have one thing in them that I believe may be very humorous—when a personality takes issues approach too significantly. It’s additionally one thing I discover humorous in individuals, when there’s one thing that needs to be foolish and so they take it extraordinarily personally.
Filmmaker: You’re a author and supervising producer on Beef and The Bear, that are additionally tales about obsession, whether or not a fixation on revenge or getting a really particular form of restaurant service proper. They too have characters that self-sabotage and spiral. What experiences of engaged on these reveals did you draw on for Lurker?
Russell: I truly wrote this film earlier than I labored on both of these reveals. So, in a approach, it’s the reverse—having written Lurker helped me get these jobs within the first place. Maybe the creators of these reveals noticed one thing kindred within the form of obsessive, spiralling narcissist I had written. I personally love pressing tales of people who find themselves determined and unhealthily bent on one thing. They actually take you alongside for the trip even when I can’t relate to going that arduous about something. It simply feels good to observe when a personality has a singular, converging mission, as a result of then you possibly can inform a narrative about what meaning and may layer in issues. When you perceive what a personality goes for, what they’ve sacrificed and what they’ve grow to be in doing these issues, it provides the story rails. Ambition is a pervasive theme of every part I’ve labored on.
You don’t at all times get to decide on what reveals you’re employed on, however I ended up on issues that embraced my sensibilities and what I discover attention-grabbing. If I do one other film, there’s in all probability going to be a personality who’s obsessive about one thing. So lots of the finest tales take completely different types of this. Every romcom is about somebody preoccupied with getting somebody again. Even a conventional story like Rocky (1976) may be very clear about what the stakes are. He has to win that combat and then you definitely’re rooting for him to take action. But what occurs when the factor that your characters are pursuing begins to unravel, or is possibly not even a worthwhile endeavour?
Filmmaker: There are administrators who’ve spoken about not eager to {photograph} cellphones and social media as a result of they don’t see their cinematic potential. Even although you employ closeups of texts and emails sparingly in Lurker, they’re such an ideal device of stress and deception. There’s a smiley that’s terrifying.
Russell: I actually recognize you saying that. I essentially disagree with the notion that it’s not additive or cinematic, or that it may’t be. It simply must be particular and it has to imply one thing. Earlier, whenever you’d see texts onscreen, it will simply be exposition. Stuff like:
“Hey, what are you doing tonight?”
“Nothing.”
“Want to hang out?”
This is just not additive. Now take your instance of the smiley face—it’s so particular. Matthew sorts, “I just want to finish my documentary.” Then there’s an exclamation level, then he deletes that, then provides the smiley. Everyone will get what’s humorous and tense about it. These are very sparingly chosen moments. To simply ignore any display stuff would’ve been a mistake. Lots of people in all probability assume there’s a ton of display stuff on this film, given how a lot they’ve talked about its relationship to social media, nevertheless it actually is concerning the human-to-human stuff. Anytime a display does pop in, it’s supplying you with info you couldn’t get with simply somebody’s face or by way of one thing stated out loud. I prefer it. When performed properly, it’s actually enjoyable, nevertheless it must be thought-about and purposeful. It’s just like how voiceovers could be very cool or pointless. We additionally shot all of these social media scenes virtually. Those are actual telephones and emails. I can at all times inform when it’s digital or greenscreen so we did it this fashion, nevertheless it was bizarre and foolish after we had our complete crew taking pictures smiley face inserts on a telephone. That’s whenever you actually begin to really feel like this can be a waste of time.
One of my favorite scenes is when Matthew is on the trip dwelling and he’s texting the pal Oliver simply invited to a celebration and saying, “You don’t have to come back tomorrow.” The music is so loud and you’ll inform that he’s freaking out however he’s making an attempt to behave calm and textual content. I believe individuals will perceive that.
Filmmaker: In tales of males making an attempt to ingratiate themselves into the circles of somebody extra widespread or rich—Ripley or Saltburn (2023)—there’s a component of homoeroticism to their pursuit, as there’s in Lurker. Why do you see that as essential to this sort of film?
Russell: I need individuals to have their very own interpretations of how homosexual or not homosexual Oliver and Matthew are, as a result of the best way this comes into play is possibly not what persons are anticipating. There are two scenes that mirror one another, during which one character gives themself to the opposite and is both rejected or diverted away from that. The level is that there is this homoerotic stress, nevertheless it’s not all about that. That’s not why the story is occurring. It’s not about both being interested in the opposite, it’s that each of them are keen to make use of their sexuality to get what they need. When they provide themselves to one another, it’s within the hope that that’s what the opposite particular person needs, and in doing so, they may get what they themselves need. In the case of Matthew, it’s continued proximity. In the case of Oliver, it’s continued success. Whatever their sexuality is or isn’t, it’s all about energy in that second. They’re keen to undertake no matter sexuality they should. But I do need individuals to interpret that themselves. In The Talented Mr. Ripley or Saltburn, it’s possibly somewhat extra clear. There’s additionally one thing inherently very homoerotic about intense male friendships. Any stress between straight males could be homoerotic.
Filmmaker: The scene during which Matthew wrestles Oliver on his bed room ground is a really literal manifestation of him wrestling along with his feelings but in addition such a tense, uncomfortable sequence. How did you method that on the script stage and on set?
Russell: The “let’s wrestle” scene is certainly one of my favorites within the film. By this time, the strain between these two characters has gotten to the purpose the place you’re like, “Are they going to have sex? Are they going to die? One of those things has to happen now.” And it’s like, “Actually, there’s a third thing — they’re going to wrestle.” [Laughs] It’s so humorous nevertheless it additionally is sensible for Matthew’s internal baby to need to do this. It’s not about eager to be Oliver’s boyfriend; he needs to be doing this energy play with him.
When I wrote it, it was simply an motion line on the finish of the scene: “and then they wrestle.” It was small within the script however is substantial within the film. I went by way of a number of drafts and despatched it to the actors. One time, I by accident despatched over a draft during which the underside half of the scene had gotten reduce out. It was the primary time I obtained notes from Théo and Archie. They each independently hit me up like, “Hey, what happened to that wrestling scene? I really wanted to do that.” Both of them had been actually enthusiastic about it—it’s such a superb appearing second. That was the one time I obtained notes from both of them.
On the day of taking pictures it, the actual query for me was: Who finally ends up on prime by the top of the scene? Because they begin out on the mattress, then hit the ground, and somebody has management over the opposite by the top, however who [that person would be] wasn’t specified within the script. It might’ve been a scenario during which Matthew is on prime and has the facility and he’s pinning Oliver to the ground, however what I ended up liking was that Oliver was the one on prime on the finish, holding Matthew down, however Matthew was laughing and Oliver was pressured. So it’s like Matthew has manipulated Oliver into pinning him down, quite than pinning him down himself. I believed that was a cool approach to finish the scene. Look at Oliver’s face! You can simply inform he’s imploding.
Filmmaker: Tell me about taking pictures the camcorder parts. There’s such a straightforward intimacy to them, versus the fastidiously calibrated dynamics of the remainder of the movie. At the identical time, it establishes Matthew as somebody who’s watching the enjoyable, not a part of it.
Russell: Most of the time, my cinematographer [Pat Scola] would maintain the camcorder and I’d encourage him to be invasive with it. So, among the pictures within the film are him zooming in actually aggressively on somebody’s face in a approach that feels uncomfortable—if these characters knew how zoomed-in they had been, they wouldn’t prefer it. The remainder of the time, I’d hand it over to Théo whereas it was recording and have him use it as a prop. We did plenty of experimentation with the camcorder, figuring out that it was okay if it obtained somewhat sloppy as a result of we wished it to really feel actual. The camcorder was such a cheat code as a result of it allowed us to shoot at LAX. We simply despatched the actors in with it for half-hour. We couldn’t have performed that with an enormous crew. All the London parts transition into camcorder once they exit at night time. That’s what’s nice about Matthew having his personal documentary throughout the film—it is sensible that we might be dwelling in his POV at this second. That’s actually useful whenever you’re taking pictures a low-budget film.
Filmmaker: What had been your references when it got here to Oliver’s music? How did you envision the style he’d match into, the sorts of songs he’d write and what they might say about him as a personality?
Russell: It’s type of this DIY pop music of the late 2010s. My pal Kenny Beats, who produced all of the music for the movie, knew precisely what sort of character this was. He’s produced plenty of music for these sorts of artists. Rex Orange County wrote one of many songs and was an ideal reference, as a result of he’s a British artist who spends plenty of time in LA and may be very concerned within the LA music scene. So, I simply delegated that to Kenny and requested him to craft the form of sound that made sense for the character. If it felt off, I’d’ve requested him to vary it however he recorded two songs with Archie over a few days and after I heard them, I used to be like, “These are perfect.” It was actually easy.
Filmmaker: Matthew’s placing on a entrance for a lot of the movie, nevertheless it solely finally ends up showcasing his insecurities all of the extra. His expressions get extremely unnerving as his facade falls away. What went into constructing that efficiency with Théodore?
Russell: What was very useful to us was that he was connected to the movie for 3 years earlier than we shot it. So, we actually obtained to speak about every part and he obtained to spend a while in LA. So a lot of what he dropped at his authentic audition tape is what you see within the film. His interpretation of the character was so layered. You actually need to really feel the anomaly of his intentions—you need to see what he’s considering however not the place he’s going. There’s this different film he’s in, Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020), and that efficiency was actually useful for me to have seen earlier than casting him since you actually marvel, “Is this guy good or bad? Is he sweet or calculating?” These are all stuff you need to really feel with Matthew. There are gears turning. He’s unpredictable.
When we had been on set, it was actually essential to dial again how absurd and loopy he’s appearing within the third act. So one of many conversations we had was: Let’s tone this down. Let’s have him act like every part’s regular. That can be probably the most insidious model of this. Even although he’s crossed the road, he’s appearing in the identical tenor as earlier than. He’s pretending that nothing loopy has occurred. That was the massive dialog that I stand by. And Théo’s simply so good. He couldn’t be extra the other of Matthew; he’s simply such a candy, considerate boy.
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