Lurker: MUBI to release black comedy psychological thriller in August (2025)

Earlier this year, JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray had the chance to watch Lurker, the boundary-pushing debut feature from writer/director Alex Russell, at the Sundance Film Festival. Describing the film as “a terrific blend of black comedy and psychological thriller” and “exactly the kind of movie I want to see when I hitSundance,” Bumbray gave Lurker a 9/10 review that can be read at THIS LINK. Now, it has been announced that film distributor MUBI (which is also a streaming service and production company) is planning to give Lurker a North American theatrical release on August 22nd. Hopefully we’ll be seeing a trailer for this one very soon.

Here’s the official synopsis: When a twenty-something retail clerk encounters a rising pop star, he takes the opportunity to edge his way into the in-crowd. But as the line between friend and fan blurs beyond recognition, access and proximity become a matter of life and death. The directorial debut from The Bear and Beef writer-producer Alex Russell, Lurker is an exhilarating cat-and-mouse thriller made for the moment. Online fixation meets reality in this parasocial, paranoid film driven by a brilliant score and star-making performances.

The film stars Théodore Pellerin (Beau is Afraid), Archie Madekwe (Saltburn), Sunny Suljic (Mid90s), Havana Rose Liu (Hal & Harper), Zack Fox (Abbott Elementary), and Daniel Zolghadri (Eighth Grade).

Lurker was produced by Alex Orlovsky, Duncan Montgomery, Galen Core, Charlie McDowell, Jack Selby, Marc Marrie, Francesco Melzi d’Eril, Olmo Schnabel, and Archie Madekwe. Production companies include High Frequency Entertainment, MeMo, Arts & Sciences, TWIN Pictures, and Case Study Films.

MUBI was behind the release of The Substance (which also got a 9/10 review from Bumbray) last year, so now we wait to see if they’ll have a similar level of success with Lurker. Bumbray mentioned in this review that this is “the kind of movie that could readily crossover to a mainstream audience if handled appropriately.”

Does Lurker sound interesting to you? Does this seem like the sort of movie you’d like to check out on the big screen during its theatrical release? Let us know by leaving a comment below.