“Mean Boys” | Alex Russell, Lurker
When twenty-something Los Angeles retail clerk and loner Matthew (Théodore Pellerin) encounters rising pop star Oliver (Saltburn’s Archie Madekwe), he takes the opportunity to edge his way into the in-crowd. But staying there isn’t easy.
With an entire entourage (Bottoms’ Havana Rose Liu, Abbott Elementary’s Zack Fox, Y2K’s Daniel Zolghadri, mid90s’ Sunny Suljic) 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 (known for his work with Vince Staples), LURKER presents an exhilarating take on the music industry, the blurred line between friend and fan, and our universal search for validation.
Screening May 2 at 9:45 p.m. at the Music Box Theatre, as part of the Chicago Critics Film Festival, ahead of a wider North American release on August 22 via MUBI, LURKER is a screw-turning psychological thriller made for the moment; it’s a razor-sharp directorial debut from The Bear and Beef writer-producer Alex Russell.
Ahead of the festival, Russell graciously took the time to answer this year’s CCFF filmmaker questionnaire. Below, his individual responses.
How did you first become interested in filmmaking? What was your path toward directing your first film?
I was transfixed by my own nightmarish claymations as a kid.
What inspired you to make the film you're bringing to the festival?
I wanted to purge everything I felt ashamed of both in my own impulses and in the groups of male friends around me.
Tell us about a film that you consider a guiding influence (whether it has informed your overarching vision as a filmmaker, directly informed the title you're bringing to the festival, or both).
There are the obvious ones of course: Whiplash, The Social Network, Almost Famous, etc. but I feel like one of the guiding lights for me was Mean Girls. That script taught me how to write, it’s pretty elegant in how it unfolds. I wanted to make Mean Boys, I guess.
Tell us about a location that's held significance to the film you're bringing to the festival: a setting where filming took place, a geographic area that provided a source of inspiration, or another type of space that comes to mind for you in thinking about the film. What made this place so special?
Well, the house we shot the movie at has since burned down in the Altadena fires. I’m honored that it will live on in the form of Oliver’s house.
The theatrical experience brings us together to celebrate artistic experience and expand our horizons as human beings. Tell us about a memorable theatrical experience from your life.
I wish I had a different answer but nothing will top The Dark Knight in theaters.
LURKER screens May 2 at 9:45 p.m. at the Music Box Theatre, as part of the Chicago Critics Film Festival.