Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Steve Johnson
Starring: Sophie Skelton, Stuart Brennan, Bret Hart
If you're shooting a movie on a limited budget, keeping your cast as
small as possible and confining them to a single location always makes
sense from an economic perspective. The trouble is, such movies can
often feel stagy, as though we're watching a filmed play rather than a
movie. Films of this nature rely heavily on captivating dialogue and
performances. Director Steve Johnson's single location thriller
Stalker certainly boasts captivating performances but the
dialogue is functional at best, cringey at worst, and is too often
relied on to move the story forward.
Johnson puts his cast of two in a confined location, in this case a
broken hotel elevator. Actress (or as she insists, "actor") Rose (Sophie Skelton) has had a tough day on the set of a horror movie dealing with a
"hands-on" director (played in flashback by wrestling legend
Bret Hart). Entering her hotel lift alongside her is a nervous
man, Daniel (Stuart Brennan), who it turns out is the b-roll
camera operator on Rose's film. When the lift gets jammed, the two begin
to awkwardly bond over on-set stories, particularly that of the actress
whose role Rose took over when she mysteriously disappeared.
The longer the pair remain trapped, the more abrasive their
interactions become however. Initially shy and awkward (this is
signified with lazy shortcuts like spectacles and an asthma inhaler),
Daniel begins to stand up for himself in a manner Rose seemingly isn't
accustomed to. He appears to be hiding something, but then Rose doesn't
seem entirely innocent herself. Just what are these two up to, and who
is the stalker of the title?
Unfortunately you can see the late twist coming from a mile away,
meaning Stalker drags somewhat in its middle portion as it
slowly teases a reveal that you're all too aware is coming. Amid Rose
and Daniel's cat and mouse squabbling, Johnson and writer
Chris Watt strive for timely Me-Too relevance with some clunky
speechifying from Rose about her lot as a woman in a man's industry.
Some of her lines on the subject read like a bad Twitter thread.
Thankfully, Skelton and Brennan possess enough talent to convincingly
inhabit their roles and add an extra dimension to the functional script.
Skelton is particularly skilful in conveying her character's gradual
personality transformation. Stalker may be lacking in
innovation behind the camera but the two faces before it have come away
with an impressive acting showreel.
Stalker is on UK/ROI VOD/DVD from October 10th.
