Archie Madekwe Archives

Review: ‘Lurker’ (2025), starring Théodore Pellerin, Archie Madekwe, Zack Fox, Havana Rose Liu, Wale Onayemi, Daniel Zolghadri and Sunny Suljic

September 3, 2025

by Carla Hay

Archie Madekwe and Théodore Pellerin in “Lurker” (Photo courtesy of MUBI)

“Lurker” (2025)

Directed by Alex Russell

Culture Representation: Taking place in the Los Angeles area and in London in 2018, the dramatic film “Lurker” features a racially diverse cast of characters (black, white, Asian) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A clothing retail clerk inserts himself into a pop star’s “inner circle” entourage and schemes up ways to rise through the ranks by any means necessary.

Culture Audience: “Lurker” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and psychological thrillers about the ruthless and obsessive things that people do to get close to celebrities.

Olawale “Wale” Onayemi, Zack Fox and Havana Rose Liu in “Lurker” (Photo courtesy of MUBI)

“Lurker” is an unsettling portrait of ambition, fame, and the blurred lines between fandom and obsession. The movie skillfully shows who is being used and manipulated in a relationship between a pop star and a member of his entourage. Some viewers might not like how the movie ends, but the movie’s last scene is a searing commentary on what is more likely to happen in real life instead of a typical Hollywood ending.

Written and directed by Alex Russell, “Lurker” (which had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival) is Russell’s feature-film directorial debut. Russell has been a writer on the Emmy-winning TV series “The Bear” and “Beef.” Both series have themes of obsessiveness and how people with insecure egos pursue admiration and respect from strangers, sometimes to extreme levels. “Lurker” explores similar themes, but the story is told from a more intimate perspective of a smaller group of people, one of whom is a mysterious loner.

“Lurker” takes place in the Los Angeles area in 2018. The movie is told in non-chronological order, with some of the story shown as home videos to give the impression that some of this story could have been outtakes from a documentary. The first scene in “Lurker” is one such “home video” clip.

A singer/songwriter named Oliver (played by Archie Madekwe) in his mid-to-late 20s asks a question to an entourage member named Matthew Morning (played by Théodore Pellerin), who is about the same age as Oliver: “Where do you see yourself in five years?” Matthew is visibly uncomfortable about how to answer this question and then he eventually replies, “I already have everything I want.”

The movie then flashes back to the day that Oliver and Matthew met. Oliver (who is originally from England) has been living in Los Angeles since he was 18. Oliver relocated to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of becoming a respected music star. Oliver performs music that’s a combination of dance/electronic and R&B.

When Oliver and Matthew met, Matthew was working in the type of sparse clothing boutique that has casual but probably overpriced shirts and trousers for people who want to look “cool” without trying too hard. Oliver is a rising star on the music scene, with some hits that have made him famous to pop music fans, but he’s not famous enough to be a household name. During the course of this movie’s story, Oliver is shown working on his second album.

As soon as Oliver comes into the store, Matthew’s co-worker Jamie (played by Sunny Suljic) immediately knows who Oliver is. Jamie gets star-struck, but Matthew plays it cool. Other customers in the store notice Oliver and act like people usually do when they see a celebrity: They stare or approach to say a quick hello. A few people take out their phones to get photos, film videos or post about it on their social media.

Matthew sneakily puts Nile Rodgers’ 1983 track “My Love Song for You” on the store’s sound system because Matthew knows that Oliver is a fan of the song. Oliver reacts enthusiastically and says out loud that he wants his next album to sound inspired by “My Love Song for You.” Oliver asks who chooses the music for the store. Matthew sheepishly says he chose the song because “My Love Song for You” is a song that Matthew’s grandmother likes.

Matthew tells Oliver that he’s not familiar with Oliver’s music or any current music. Oliver is intrigued by Matthew because he thinks Matthew is a “real person” who will give honest opinions to Oliver. And so, Oliver invites Matthew to Oliver’s upcoming live performance at a large nightclub.

Oliver and Matthew exchange phone numbers, while Jamie observes this interaction with noticeable envy. As Oliver is leaving, Matthew calls Oliver’s phone number to verify that it’s really Oliver’s personal phone number. Oliver answers his phone immediately and glances back at Matthew, who looks happy and relieved that he has Oliver’s personal phone number.

At the concert, Matthew learns some realities of being a new hanger-on/possible friend of an attractive celebrity. People in Oliver’s entourage have unspoken rivalries and ambitions about being at the top of the entourage’s hierarchy. Matthew, who seems shy and nerdy, is not perceived as a threat but as an innocuous curiosity. Later in the movie, it becomes obvious that Matthew’s geeky image is a mask for his true personality of being ruthless and conniving.

It should be noted that all of Oliver’s entourage members are in the same age group as Oliver. If Oliver has any agents, managers or attorneys (who would usually be older than Oliver), they are not seen in the movie. It’s a choice for “Lurker” to have the members of Oliver’s inner circle consist of only people in his age group because there are many scenes where Oliver and his entourage seem to goof off and live in a perpetual state of adolescence. For example, Oliver and the people in his inner circle think it’s hilarious to film themselves riding bicycles into garbage cans on the street.

Backstage before the concert, two of Oliver’s entourage members—Swett (played by Zack Fox) and Bowen (played by Olawale “Wale” Onayemi)—are sitting on a couch and immediately test Matthew on what type of character he has and how far he’s willing to go to fit in with this entourage. Oliver and a female fan are on the couch and observe this spectacle.

Also on the couch is entourage member Noah (played by Daniel Zolghadri), who is later revealed to be someone who was hired to direct and edit Oliver’s music videos and a documentary about Oliver. Some of the footage is used for clips to upload on Oliver’s social media. Swett and Bowen don’t seem to have real jobs but are hanging out with Oliver as “professional friends” who live with Oliver.

In this backstage area, Swett and Bowen play mind games with Matthew and say that they have a ritual of pulling down their trousers in tribute to a deceased friend named James. It’s a lie, of course, and they mock Matthew for not following this “ritual” and then mock him for being too gullible. The mockery prompts Matthew to not only pull down his trousers but also his underwear. This stunt gets a big laugh out of Oliver, Swett and Bowen, who now know that Matthew won’t hesitate to embarrass himself for their amusement.

Backstage at the concert, Matthew also meets Oliver’s house manager/personal assistant Shai (played by Havana Rose Liu), who looks at Matthew as a hanger-on who won’t last long, but she gives him this advice anyway: “You should make yourself useful if you want to stick around.” Matthew ends up taking this advice with a vengeance.

Shai, Swett, Bowen and Noah all live in Oliver’s house. Noah is the quietest member of the entourage and is the one least likely to play mind games with Matthew. For example, when Noah was in the same room when the trouser prank was pulled, Noah didn’t instigate the prank and just played along.

During the concert, Matthew looks at Oliver in such an adoring way, it becomes evident that Matthew knew who Oliver was all along. Later, there are more indications that Matthew is an obsessive fan who wants to be as close to Oliver as possible. Not much is revealed about Matthew’s personal life except that he lives in a house with his grandmother Christine (played by Myra Turley), who adores Matthew and lets Matthew come and go as he pleases. Matthew doesn’t have a car and travels by bicycle.

After the concert, Oliver invites Matthew to hang out with Oliver and Oliver’s entourage in Oliver’s hillside home. When Oliver and the entourage have a “house meeting” that excludes Matthew, Matthew uses it as an opportunity to quietly look around in Oliver’s bedroom and take photos with a professional camera that Matthew has brought with him. Matthew also notices that Oliver leaves the meeting looking annoyed.

A short while later, Oliver and Matthew have a private conversation in Oliver’s bedroom. Matthew gushes to Oliver: “I really think you’re going to be the biggest artist in the world.” Oliver loves the flattery and confesses that he’s frustrated because the people in his entourage think that Oliver’s current fame is as good as it’s going to get. Oliver has bigger ambitions and wants to become a superstar.

Oliver notices that Matthew has a professional camera. Oliver tells Matthew that he thinks Matthew has a “good eye” that matches Oliver’s artistic tastes. And so, Oliver invites Matthew to hang out for a few weeks to take photos and videos of Oliver. Payment is not discussed because Oliver correctly assumes that Matthew will willingly work for free under these circumstances.

The next time that Matthew is invited to Oliver’s house, Oliver isn’t there yet. Matthew is left to awkwardly hang out with Swett and Bowen, who are playing a video game in the living room. Swett is harsher than Bowen, when it comes to whatever teasing, criticisms and hazing “tests” that Matthew is put through to gain acceptance.

Shai, who is very observant and somewhat wary of Matthew, has Matthew do housekeeper duties of cleaning up and doing laundry, as a way to test Matthew’s willingness to do whatever is asked of him. Matthew acts so eager to please around Oliver, Oliver tells Matthew that Matthew can help Noah with the documentary work. Oliver makes this decision without consulting with Noah first.

Matthew doesn’t know anything about filmmaking, but he can operate a hand-held video camera, and he can come up with resourceful and creative ideas. Matthew uses these skills to his advantage. Just like Shai, Noah is tolerant but slightly cautious about Matthew and how Matthew’s presence might affect their status in Oliver’s entourage.

There’s a memorable scene where “Lurker” shows how Matthew is skilled at flipping a power dynamic. Oliver is filming a music video outdoors, with Noah as the director. The members of Oliver’s entourage (including Matthew) are at this video shoot when Noah finds out that a necessary camera battery was left behind at Oliver’s house.

Noah blames and scolds Matthew about it, but Matthew comes up with an idea to remedy the situation. Oliver loves the idea and lets Matthew take the lead in filming the rest of the music video, while Noah has to assist Matthew. In the end, it doesn’t matter if Matthew deliberately left behind the camera battery or not, because Matthew was able to convince Oliver that Matthew was more “useful” than Noah in this situation.

As Matthew spends more time with Oliver and appears in Oliver’s social media, Matthew sees how Oliver’s fame starts to rub off on Matthew. Many of Oliver’s social media followers also start to follow Matthew on social media as soon as Oliver follows Matthew on social media. Matthew is sometimes recognized in public by Oliver’s fans.

Matthew eventually quits his job at the clothing store to work for Oliver, who is presumably paying Matthew at this point. Matthew begins to get more respect from Oliver, who sees Matthew as worthy of a position higher than assistant videographer/photographer. Matthew’s quick ascension in Oliver’s entourage will inevitably rub some people the wrong way.

Oliver’s personal background is mentioned briefly, but it explains why Oliver lives the way that he does. In a scene where Oliver opens up to Matthew, he tells Matthew that Oliver is estranged from his mother. Oliver describes Oliver’s father as someone who didn’t believe Oliver could be successful in music, but Oliver’s father likes the money that Oliver sends to him. Oliver says he moved to Los Angeles so Oliver could live somewhere where Oliver could choose his own family.

Without giving away too much information, it’s enough to say that “Lurker” shows how Matthew’s ascent in Oliver’s entourage hierarchy has a lot to do with Matthew’s scheming that goes undetected because he presents himself as a harmless and dorky person. Oliver is charismatic but fickle about which member of the entourage will get Oliver’s biggest approval in any given situation. Tensions begin to grow between the entourage members.

Jamie wants to join the entourage too. Not surprisingly, Matthew sees Jamie as competition for Oliver’s attention and Oliver’s approval. Matthew and Oliver engage in various power struggles. And there’s an undercurrent of homoeroticism because Matthew (whose sexual identity is never explicitly declared in the movie) seems to be sexually attracted to Oliver.

“Lurker” can at times be repetitive in hammering home its points about the parasitic aspects of fame. However, there is a very intriguing tone to the movie because it’s not a typical film about the relationship between a celebrity and an obsessed fan. In a formulaic scripted movie, the fan’s obsession usually turns into stalking and becomes over-the-top, with the obsessed fan and/or celebrity getting physically hurt. “Lurker” invites viewers to think about a different type of toxicity that can happen when a celebrity knowingly or unknowingly makes an obsessed fan part of the celebrity’s trusted entourage, and the damage is more psychological than physical.

Pellerin and Madekwe elevate “Lurker” with their believable performances, with Pellerin having the more difficult role as the opaque and disingenuous Matthew. Even though “Lurker” is set during an era when social media platforms have changed how fame is marketed and exploited, the movie’s most elemental themes remain timeless. “Lurker” ultimately asks this provocative question: Rich and famous people might have wealth and power, but for those whose celebrity status entirely depends on support from fans, who’s really in control?

MUBI released “Lurker” in select U.S. cinemas on August 22, 2025. MUBI’s streaming service will premiere the movie on October 10, 2025.

Review: ‘Saltburn,’ starring Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver and Archie Madekwe

November 17, 2023

by Carla Hay

“Saltburn”

Directed by Emerald Fennell

Culture Representation: Taking place in England, mostly in 2006, the comedy/drama film “Saltburn” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few black people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A mysterious Oxford University student becomes infatuated with his rich male classmate, who invites him to spend the summer with him at his family’s sprawling estate, where mind games and chaos ensue.

Culture Audience: “Saltburn” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and movies that skewer the upper class of society.

Jacob Elordi in “Saltburn” (Photo courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios)

“Saltburn” seems inspired by “Brideshead Revisited” and “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” with a touch of “Absolutely Fabulous. “Although not as great as these inspirations, “Saltburn” has memorable performances and eye-catching scenes. The ending has a major plot hole. This plot hole might be easily overlooked during the sequence of events that are meant to shock viewers, but it’s a plot hole that nearly ruins what could have been a completely believable conclusion. Hint: “Saltburn” ignores the fact that coroners exist.

Written and directed by Emerald Fennell, “Saltburn” is her second feature film as a writer/director, following her 2020 feature-film directorial debut, “Promising Young Woman,” which won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. “Saltburn” has many recycled plot points from other movies, so “Saltburn” is not really all that original, but it does have some scenes that are fairly unique. “Saltburn” had its world premiere at the 2023 Telluride Film Festival.

“Saltburn” (which takes place mostly in 2006) begins by showing the arrival of a new student at Oxford University in England: Oliver Quick (played by Barry Keoghan) has joined the graduating Class of 2006 sometime in December 2005, close to the Christmas holiday season. Oliver is a loner who is the type of overachieving student who will read every book on a professor’s recommended list, even though he doesn’t have to do all that work.

One of the first people Oliver meets at Oxford is one of his roommates: Michael Gavey (played by Ewan Mitchell), who wants to be Oliver’s friend and is even nerdier and more socially awkward than Oliver is. Michael is the type of dork who will bark out demands that Oliver prove his knowledge of answers to random questions that Michael verbally throws at him. Michael likes to feel intellectually superior to almost everyone, even though he secretly craves acceptance from the popular students in the school.

The most popular clique in the class is led by a wealthy heartthrob named Felix Catton (played by Jacob Elordi), who uses his good looks and charm to get whatever he wants. The Catton family’s opulent and sprawling estate is called Saltburn. The other students in Felix’s clique are also affluent and/or come from prominent families.

The opening scene of “Saltburn” shows Oliver saying, “I wasn’t in love with him. I loved him, of course, Everyone loved him … I protected him … But was I in love with him?” Before he answers that question, the movie shows Oliver’s arrival at Oxford.

The “him” in Oliver’s opening monologue is Felix, of course. Oliver seems instantly infatuated with Felix the moment that he sees Felix. Oliver admires Felix from afar, until one day, Oliver is riding his bike on campus, when he sees Felix looking dejected as Felix is sitting near a tree-lined bikeway path. Oliver stops and asks Felix what’s wrong. Felix says that his bicycle has a flat tire.

Felix explains that he’s already late for a class, which is too far away for him to walk in order not to miss most of the class session. Oliver generously lets Felix borrow Oliver’s bike. A grateful Felix later invites Oliver to hang out with Felix and his inner circle at a local pub. It’s the beginning of a friendship between Felix and Oliver, who quickly shuns Michael after Oliver is accepted into Felix’s clique. Michael isn’t too happy about this rejection and later makes some hilarious cutting remarks to Oliver about Oliver’s social climbing.

Someone who also isn’t happy about Oliver joining the group is Felix’s American cousin Farleigh Start (played by Archie Madekwe), who sees Oliver as a socially inferior interloper. Farleigh already had a grudge against Oliver, who embarrassed Farleigh in front of one of their teachers named Professor Ware (played Reece Shearsmith), when Oliver showed he knew more than Farleigh about the topic of discussion.

However, Farleigh still has some clout with the professor, who confesses that Farleigh’s mother (a famous actress named Fredrika Start, who’s never seen in the movie) was his crush when he and Fredrika were students at Oxford. People who watch “Saltburn” shouldn’t miss the first 15 minutes of the movie, which quickly explains the backstories of Farleigh and Oliver, who end up having a rivalry over Felix’s attention.

Farleigh’s mother moved to the United States, where Farleigh was born and raised. She had some kind of mental breakdown and has financial problems, so she sent Farleigh to live at Saltburn, because her brother is Sir James Catton (played by Richard E. Grant), who is Felix’s father. Farleigh’s father is not in Farleigh’s life. It’s mentioned Farleigh has been expelled from many schools for getting sexually involved with male teachers. Farleigh feels a lot of resentment and shame for having to ask his uncle James for money.

As for Oliver, the word has gotten around to many students at the school that he’s on a scholarship. Oliver tells people that he is an only child, and his estranged parents are heavily involved in drugs. According to Oliver, his father is a drug dealer who’s been in and out of prison. His mother is a drug addict and an alcoholic. Oliver hints that he experienced a lot of abuse and trauma in his childhood. Oliver makes it clear that he wants nothing to do with his parents.

“Saltburn” breezes by the academic year to show the graduation of Oxford’s Class of 2006. With no immediate plans after graduation, Felix invites Oliver to stay for the summer with the Catton family at Saltburn. The best parts of the movie take place at Saltburn, which is not only a playground for the family’s indulgences but also a prison of bottled-up resentments, sexual manipulation, and psychological warfare. Oliver gets swept up in it all.

The other members of the Catton family at Saltburn are Felix’s self-centered and vapid mother Elspeth Catton (played by Rosamund Pike) and Felix’s jaded and insecure late-teens sister Venetia Catton (played by Alison Oliver), who have some of the best lines in the movie. Elspeth is the type of person who will smile and pretend that her insults are compliments. Venetia, who has an eating disorder, is both rebellious and needy.

All of the Catton family members don’t do much at Saltburn except smoke, drink, eat lavish meals, lounge around, and have parties. When the younger members of the family play tennis, they wear tuxedos and party clothes. The family has a longtime butler named Duncan (played by Paul Rhys), whose “stiff upper lip” mannerisms suggest that he’s heard and seen a lot of unmentionable things at Saltburn, but he is loyally discreet.

Carey Mulligan (the star of “Promising Young Woman”) has a small supporting role in “Saltburn” as Elspeth’s tattooed friend Pamela, who is staying at Saltburn after getting out of drug rehab. Pamela has overstayed her welcome, but Elspeth won’t come right out and tell Pamela to leave. The snappy rapport between redhead Pamela and blonde Elspeth will remind “Absolutely Fabulous” sitcom fans of the rapport between “Absolutely Fabulous” substance-abusing fashionista friends Edina “Eddie” Monsoon (the redhead) and Patricia “Patsy” Stone (the blonde).

“Saltburn” unpeels the layers of Oliver, who at first seems in awe and somewhat overwhelmed to be in the presence of the Catton family’s wealth. Slowly but surely, it’s revealed that there’s a lot more to Oliver than what he first appeared to be. And there are some things he does in the movie (especially those involving bodily fluids) that are intended to make viewers uncomfortable.

Keoghan gives a fascinating performance as Oliver, who is quite the chameleon. Madekwe is compelling in his depiction of the very snarky Farleigh, Oliver’s main adversary. Pike and Oliver are also standouts for their portrayals of a mother and daughter who are caught between smug vanity and crippling self-doubt. Look beneath the physically attractive surfaces of Elspeth and Venetia, and you’ll see two women who hate that their worth is defined by how they look and how much wealth they have.

Elordi is also quite good in his role as Felix, who is shallow but is a less-toxic member of the Catton family. “Saltburn” plays with viewers’ expectations of whether or not ladies’ man Felix will acknowledge Oliver’s obvious infatuation with Felix. And if so, what will be done about it? And what if Oliver gets rejected?

“Saltburn” has some stunning cinematography (by Linus Sandgren) that alternates between bright hues of idyllic luxury and the shadowy darkness of secrets and decadence. The movie’s production design and costume design are also noteworthy. “Saltburn” has some intense emotional scenes that are well-acted with clever dialogue.

Where “Saltburn” stumbles the most is in the last 20 minutes of the movie, which will be divisive to viewers. The concluding part of “Saltburn” is very suspenseful, but when answers to mysteries are finally revealed, they are rushed through the story and just create more questions that the movie never bothers to answer. Still, there’s no denying that the cast members’ performances are worth watching. And the movie’s flaws are outnumbered by the areas where “Saltburn” excels.

Amazon MGM Studios released “Saltburn” in select U.S. cinemas on November 17, 2023, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on November 22, 2023. Prime Video will premiere “Saltburn” on December 22, 2023.

Review: ‘Gran Turismo’ (2023), starring David Harbour, Orlando Bloom and Archie Madekwe

August 2, 2023

by Carla Hay

Archie Madekwe in “Gran Turismo” (Photo by Gordon Timpen/Columbia Pictures)

“Gran Turismo” (2023)

Directed by Neill Blomkamp

Culture Representation: Taking place in Europe and in Asia, the action film “Gran Turismo” (based on a true story) features a racially diverse cast of characters representing the middle-class, working-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: British video gamer Jann Mardenborough, an expert in playing the racing car video game “Gran Turismo,” is recruited to become a professional race car driver, but he faces naysayers, critics and his own self-doubt.

Culture Audience: “Gran Turismo” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the “Gran Turismo” video games, the movie’s headliners, and stories about sports underdogs.

David Harbour in “Gran Turismo” (Photo by Gordon Timpen/Columbia Pictures)

Based on true events, “Gran Turismo” offers crowd-pleasing action and capably acted drama in this story about a video gamer recruited to become a professional race car diver. This well-paced movie is a little hokey but not entirely predictable. If “Gran Turismo” hadn’t been based on many things that happened in real life, a lot of it would be hard to be believe.

Directed by Neill Blomkamp and written by Jason Hall and Zach Baylin, “Gran Turismo” (which takes place in Europe and in Asia) is named after Sony’s popular “Gran Turismo” video game series, where players can simulate being race car drivers. (Sony is also the parent company of Columbia Pictures, the distributor of the “Gran Turismo” movie.) The movie’s chief protagonist is a Brit named Jann Mardenborough (played by Archie Madekwe), a character based on the real Jann Mardenborough. Jann is a “Gran Turismo” gaming expert in Wales. He has his life changed forever when he is recruited to become a professional race car driver.

The movie shows that Jann’s introduction to being a professional race car driver had many setbacks, challenges, naysayers and supporters. The two men who make the biggest difference in Jann’s racing career are optimistic motorsport executive Danny Moore (played by Orlando Bloom) and jaded racing trainer/engineer Jack Salter (played by David Harbour), who is a former race car driver. These two mentors also get a lot of backlash for working with Jann and other video gamers who are recruited to try out for professional racing. Jack is a fictional character created for this movie, but Danny is based on real-life GT Academy founder Darren Cox.

In the beginning of the movie, Jann (who is in his early 20s) is a university dropout who has taken a job as a construction worker at the same place where his stern father Steve Mardenborough (played by Djimon Hounsou) works. Jann and Steve often have to work side by side on construction projects. Steve knows that Jann has wanted to become a race car driver since Jann was a child. However, Steve is doubtful that this dream could ever come true for Jann.

Meanwhile, Jann’s mother Lesley Mardenborough (played Geri Halliwell Horner—yes, she’s Ginger Spice of Spice Girls fame) is entirely supportive of whatever Jann wants to do with his life. Jann lives with his parents and with Jann’s younger brother Coby Mardenborough (played by Daniel Puig), who is in his late teens. Steve tells Jann that Jann has to decide to go back to school or continue working with him in construction. “There’s no future in racing,” Steve firmly tells Jann.

Near the beginning of the movie, Danny is shown in Tokyo at Nissan headquarters. He is pitching a skeptical Nissan board member (played by Sadao Ueda) on the idea that the best “Gran Turismo” video game players in the world can also be the best race car drivers in the world. Danny’s idea is to have Nissan sponsor the winner of a worldwide contest where the “best of the best” Gran Turismo players in the world will train at GT (Gran Turismo) Academy. Of these trainees, only one will be chosen to go on the professional racing circuit and will be sponsored by Nissan.

Danny also goes to London, where he meets with Jack, a mechanic who works on the professional racing circuit. Danny tells Jack that he wants to hire Jack to be the chief trainer and chief engineer at GT Academy. Why? Because Jack has the skills, and he used to be a promising young professional racer about 20 to 25 years ago, until he quit after a fateful race at Le Mans.

Jack later reveals the details to Jann about what happened at that race. The story is exactly what you think it might be. When Danny initially approaches Jack about the GT Academy job offer, Jack thinks GT Academy is a terrible idea and immediately rejects the offer.

Back in Wales, Jann hears about this GT Academy contest from his best friend Persol (played by Nikhil Parmar), who encourages Jann to enter the contest. Meanwhile, Jann has a flirtatious crush on a local student named Audrey (played by Maeve Courtier-Lilley), but he’s too shy to ask her out on a date. Jann and his father continue to argue about what Jann wants to do with his life.

One night, after Jann, a friend named Percy (played Lloyd Meredith) and Coby have been out drinking alcohol at a nightclub, they are about to head home in a car that Jann is driving. Jann isn’t drunk, but he’s consumed enough alcohol to be over the legal limit. He could be arrested for driving under the influence. Jann is supposed to enter the GT Academy contest in just under 12 hours.

Jann, Percy and Coby are in a very good mood, until they see that police officers have put a checkpoint in their way and are stopping all drivers to check for anything suspicious. Jann, Percy and Coby get nervous, because they know that whichever cop stops them can probably smell the alcohol on Jann’s breath. It’s a one-lane checkpoint, and there’s a car behind them, so they can’t reverse and leave.

At first, Jann decides to play it cool and thinks he can get past the checkpoint without any problems. But as their car gets closer to a police officer who is stopping and questioning the drivers, Jann impulsively cuts in front of the other drivers and speeds away. The police give chase in their cars. Part of this scene is in one of the “Gran Turismo” trailers showing that Jann gets away with this driving stunt. It’s also shown in the “Gran Turismo” trailers that Jann gets into GT Academy. Jann’s father Steve obviously disapproves.

Jack ends up taking the job to be GT Academy’s chief trainer/chief engineer, after an incident where he was insulted by one of the young hotshot racers whom Jack had to work with as a mechanic. The guy who insulted Jack is Nicolas “Nic” Capa (played by Josha Stradowski), who is a sports movie cliché of being a “too cocky for his own good” main rival to the story’s underdog protagonist. Nic called Jack a “flamed-out has-been,” so Jack quit his mechanic job on the spot and then took Danny’s job offer to be the chief trainer/chief engineer for the GT Academy rookies.

Jack isn’t exactly the type of leader to give uplifting pep talks. The first time he meets Jann and the other GT Academy trainees in a group meeting (with Danny also in attendance), Jack tells all of the trainees that they will fail. In addition to Jann, the other GT Academy trainees are Matty Davis (played by Darren Barnet) from the United States; Avi Bhatt (played by Harki Bhambra) from Great Britain; Leah Vega (played by Emelia Hartford) from the United States; Chloe McCormick (played by Lindsay Pattison) from Great Britain; Henry Evas (played by Mariano González) from Spain; Klaus Hoffman (played by Maximilian Mundt) from Germany; Sang Heon Lee (played by Joo-Hwan Lee) from South Korea; and Marcel Durand (played by Théo Christine) from France.

From the beginning, Matty stands out as the most confident and skilled trainee. In practice races, he usually wins against the other trainees. And therefore, Matty is considered the frontrunner to be the GT Academy trainee who will be chosen to go on the professional racing circuit. Matty also excels in GT Academy’s media training classes, where he shows a knack for being charming in media interviews.

By contrast, Jann is insecure about his abilities and starts off being one of the average trainees in the group. In media training, Jann is awkward and timid in mock interviews. However, Jann is a very hard and determined worker, and he begins to improve until Jann and Matty are nearly equal in racing skills. It’s a somewhat friendly, somewhat tense rivalry.

Even with Jann’s progress on the racetrack, Danny privately tells Jack that Matty is Danny’s top choice to win the contest, because Danny thinks that Matty is more skilled at public relations. As far as Danny is concerned, Matty is the “perfect package” to represent GT Academy. Jack sees a lot of himself in Jann, because Jack also used to be an underdog who was insecure about his abilities.

Of course, you all know where this is going, because it’s already been revealed in the “Gran Turismo” trailers. Even if you already know the outcome, “Gran Turismo” does a very good job of creating suspenseful racing scenes, due in large part to talented cinematography from Jacques Jouffret. In the race that will determine who will be chosen to represent GT Academy on the professional racing circuit, Jann and Matty are the frontrunners and finish the race within a fraction of a second of each other. It’s up to Jack to decide who’s the winner.

Jann is far from being a star when he starts out on the professional racing circuit. He comes in last or close to last in several of his races, which take place in various countries, such as Austria, Germany, Turkey, Spain and United Arab Emirates. And he gets a lot of criticism from people who think racers should get to the professional level through the traditional way. Jack’s nemesis Nic is one of these haters. Nic’s father Patrice Capa (played by Thomas Kretschmann) owns the team where Nic is a star racer.

Even though Jack started off as very cynical about GT Academy, Jack is won over by Jann and some of the other trainees. In the face of all the backlash about video-gamers-turned-racers, Jack becomes Jann’s biggest supporter and champion. If the thrilling racing scenes are the heart of “Gran Turismo,” then the mentor/protégé relationship between Jack and Jann is the soul of the movie. As already shown in the movie’s trailers, Jann and Audrey begin a romance, but that relationship isn’t nearly as interesting as the Jann/Jack relationship, where Jack almost becomes like a surrogate father to Jann.

“Gran Turismo” has a running joke about Jann having a ritual of listening to Kenny G’s “Songbird” and Enya’s “Orinoco Flow” to get him relaxed and ready for races. (An epilogue in the movie says that in real life, Jann Mardenborough actually does have this music ritual of listening to Kenny G and Enya.) Jann gets some teasing and curiosity about it from his colleagues, but he’s easygoing and shrugs it off.

“Gran Turismo” isn’t all fun and games. The movie gets into some heavy emotional territory when Jann experiences a life-altering race that causes a lot of trauma. One of the best parts of “Gran Turismo” is how people deal with the aftermath of what happens in this race. Madekwe and Harbour have standout scenes during this part of the movie. If anyone thinks that “Gran Turismo” is like the most recent mindless schlockfest movies in the “Fast and the Furious” franchise, then think again.

That doesn’t mean that “Gran Turismo” doesn’t have its share of mawkish moments. There are several scenes with slow-motion and freeze-frame shots that are a bit corny. Likewise, viewers might have mixed reactions to how director Blomkamp makes the racing scenes look like the “Gran Turismo” video games, with achievement levels shown in big letters on the screen. But when you’re making a movie for the same company that owns the “Gran Turismo” games, it seems like almost a requirement to make the movie look like the video games.

Fortunately, the “Gran Turismo” screenplay and the performances from the principal cast members don’t make it a soulless corporate movie, even though there’s plenty of product placement. No one involved in the racing circuit is presented as a nearly perfect hero in “Gran Turismo.” And even the “villains” have a realistic point of view, because they think racing is a sport that should be for people who trained in the traditional ways.

It’s not said out loud, but observant viewers of “Gran Turismo” can see that this type of gatekeeping has elitist overtones, because car racing has traditionally been a sport for people who can afford to train for it. By allowing video gamers to enter the sport, it makes it a more even playing field for people from more diverse economic backgrounds to participate. And that type of diversity is perceived as a threat to many people who have been accustomed to having only certain types of people involved in this sport.

Jann’s father Steve isn’t depicted as a terrible parent who degrades Jann. He’s a concerned parent who doesn’t want to see Jann get hurt physically or emotionally in Jann’s attempts to become a professional racer. Hounsou and Halliwell Horner don’t have a lot of screen time in the movie, but they give effective performances. They have a few tearjerking scenes in the movie.

Bloom gives a serviceable performance as Danny, whose character could have used more development. At times, Danny fades into the background of the movie, as the Jann/Jack relationship becomes the central storyline. The “Gran Turismo” movie could have been more realistic in showing Danny’s wheeling and dealing behind the scenes—it’s over-simplified, by having Danny being able to convince people to do what he wants after just one or two meetings.

“Gran Turismo” is by no means a masterpiece. It won’t be widely considered as one of the best car racing movies of the decade. But in terms of entertaining viewers with adrenaline-packed racing scenes and by having some meaningful humanity in the story, “Gran Turismo” delivers, and it’s a movie that can be enjoyed by people who know nothing about the “Gran Turismo” video games.

Columbia Pictures will release “Gran Turismo” in U.S. cinemas on August 25, 2023. A sneak preview of the movie was shown in select U.S. cinemas on August 2, 2023. Several other sneak previews of “Gran Turismo” will take place in U.S. cinemas before the movie’s official U.S. release date.

Review: ‘Voyagers,’ starring Tye Sheridan, Lily-Rose Depp, Fionn Whitehead and Colin Farrell

April 14, 2021

by Carla Hay

“Voyagers”

Directed by Neil Burger

Culture Representation: Taking place primarily in a spaceship from Earth, the sci-fi drama “Voyagers” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some black people, Asians and Latinos) who portray American scientists and crew members involved in exploring a new planet where human beings can possibly live.

Culture Clash: A power struggle erupts among the crew members, and it turns deadly.

Culture Audience: “Voyagers” will appeal primarily to people who don’t mind watching derivative sci-fi movies that borrow heavily from dystopian young-adult novels with “survival of the fittest” themes.

Quintessa Swindell, Reda Elazouar, Fionn Whitehead, Archie Madekwe and Lou Llobel in “Voyagers” (Photo courtesy of Lionsgate)

“Voyagers” is a disappointing space travel movie that’s the equivalent of being stuck on a pointless road trip with bickering 20-somethings from a bad soap opera. “Voyagers” is not an adventure story about exploring a new planet. The movie is really about a group of young people isolated on a spaceship in a bland ripoff of “Lord of the Flies.” The cast members’ overall serviceable performances can’t quite save “Voyagers” from the movie’s annoying “bait and switch” in its story, which has too many plot holes and not enough originality for it to be a truly enjoyable film.

Written and directed by Neil Burger, “Voyagers” begins with a captioned intro that explains why this space voyage is taking place: “As the Earth grows hotter, and drought and disease ravage the population, scientists look for a new planet—one that can support human life. In 2063, they find it. The human voyage to the planet will take 86 years.” Although the movie never says which government is spearheading this voyage, viewers can assume it’s the United States because all of the people involved have American accents.

Leading this experimental voyage is a scientist named Richard (played by Colin Farrell), who tells people in a meeting that the plan is to have 30 qualified crew members—all who were born and bred to live on a spaceship. These crew members (who were born from artificial insemination) will have a pre-determined number of children and grandchildren during this 86-year journey in outer space. During this time, these voyagers and their descendants are supposed to learn enough about this new planet to return to Earth and bring back this knowledge so that other humans from Earth can possibly start relocating to this new planet.

From the start, there are some major problems with the story. Richard is the only person who’s shown interacting with and educating the children who were selected to be born and and bred for this program. He has been involved in raising them since birth. The movie should have had more scientists and government officials involved in this training. Just because “Voyagers” is a low-budget independent film is no excuse for this lack of credibility. If you can afford Colin Farrell to be in your movie, you can afford to hire some more cast members to portray the people training the children.

The children, who are in the same age group, are first seen as 4-year-olds in a sterile spaceship simulation environment where they are solving puzzles on computers. Richard interacts with them while wearing a hazmat suit. He is kind and patient with the kids, who have deliberately been raised indoors their entire life. The reason for always keeping the children indoors is because if the kids knew what it was like to be outdoors on Earth, it could have negative effects on their mental health while they’re in outer space if they knew what they were missing on Earth.

There’s a scene early in the movie that completely contradicts what happens later in the story. During a teaching session, all of the kids are happy to see Richard when he enters the room. Most of the kids run up to him and hug him, and he hugs them back. But later in the story, when the children begin the voyage when they’re 24 years old, they act as if they’ve never expressed public displays of affection before. It doesn’t ring true at all, but it’s the basis for a huge turning point in the movie.

Richard, who is a bachelor with no kids of his own, has grown attached to these children. He’s so attached that he wants to go with them on this voyage. His supervisor Marianne Sancar (played by Veronica Falcón) is very reluctant to allow it. However, Richard tells her that he really won’t miss living on Earth at all. And the next thing you know, Richard is the only adult over the age of 30 who’s with the crew members who were bred for this voyage. Once Richard and the crew members live on the spaceship, he no longer has to wear a hazmat suit when he’s around them.

Here’s another problematic part of the story: No government would realistically allow a bunch of 24-year-olds who don’t have any life experience outside of a spaceship environment to be on their own to explore a new planet. It’s what would have happened if Richard had not insisted on going on this voyage too. Any scientific exploration like this one would require people who would know what it’s like to live on Earth (indoors and outdoors), to make informed decisions on whether or not a new planet could be inhabitable by human beings whose biology was wired to live on Earth through centuries of evolution. It’s basic science for any scientific exploration to have that comparison point.

The “bait” part of “Voyagers” starts off misleading viewers into thinking that these young people, who’ve been trained specifically to explore this new planet, will get to do this exploring in the movie. But no, here comes the “switch” part of the movie: “Voyagers” has absolutely zero screen time of these so-called explorers doing any exploring. It’s not really spoiler information to reveal this fact about “Voyagers.” It’s a fair warning to viewers that this so-called “new planet” is never seen in the movie. Instead, “Voyagers” is essentially a predictable and often-dull soap opera on a spaceship.

Out of the 30 young people who are the crew members, three are the main focus of the story. It’s telegraphed early on that these three are the main characters, in a scene with the future voyagers as 4-year-olds. They are the only three characters Richard is shown tucking into bed and calling them by their names when he says good night to them.

The three main characters at 24 years old are:

Christopher (played by Tye Sheridan), who is even-tempered and analytical.
Sela (played by Lily-Rose Depp), who is the group’s assertive and intelligent chief medical officer.
Zac (played by Fionn Whitehead), who is the group’s rebellious chief surveillance officer.

And because “Voyagers” is really a soap opera in space, you know what that means: love triangle. There are some other crew members whose personalities are given some notable screen time. They include:

Kai (played by Archie Madekwe), a mischief maker who likes breaking the rules.
Julie (played by Quintessa Swindell), a flirtatious engineer who has a mutual attraction to Kai.
Peter (played by Viveik Kalra), who becomes a rival to Kai for Julie’s affections.
Phoebe (played by Chanté Adams), who is the group member most likely to stick to the rules and protocol.
Edward (played by Isaac Hempstead Wright), a nerdy control room officer who’s the most “book smart” one in the group.
Anda (played by Madison Hu), a level-headed type who is good at negotiating.

All of the crew members except Richard are given a blue liquid called (unimaginatively) The Blue as part of their dining routine. Christopher finds out through some computer hacking that The Blue is really a drug that dulls human senses. It contains a toxin called T56j, which makes people docile and eliminates sexual desire and other sensual urges.

Zac is with Christopher when this information is discovered. Christopher then confronts Richard about it. Richard admits that The Blue is a medication that was given to the crew members to make them less likely to rebel or get distracted.

It’s also explained in the movie that the outer-space program doesn’t want the crew members to conceive children naturally. All conceptions are supposed to be by artificial insemination. It’s been pre-determined how many children and grandchildren each voyager will have, in order to prevent over-population.

Not surprisingly, it doesn’t sit too well with Christopher and Zac to find out that their lives have been strictly controlled and manipulated by being given The Blue drug without their knowledge and consent. They decide to stop taking The Blue. And eventually, Christopher and Zac tell some other crew members that The Blue is really a drug to keep them complacent. And, of course, the word gets out to everyone else, and they also stop drinking The Blue.

Remember that scene of the cute and cuddly kids running up to Richard and hugging him? Well, the filmmakers of “Voyagers” want people to forget that scene, because (plot hole alert) they want viewers to think that these kids have now grown up to be people who don’t know what it’s like to express affection. It’s unclear how long the voyagers were taking The Blue, but it doesn’t matter because it’s not a drug that causes amnesia where they would forget childhood memories.

There’s a scene on the spaceship where Christopher sees Richard and Sela talking, and Richard has his hand affectionately on Sela’s shoulder, like a father would for a daughter. Christopher gets a little freaked out and acts as if Richard is one step away from being a sexual predator because Christopher can’t believe that someone is actually touching Sela in this way. When Christopher asks Sela in private if there’s anything inappropriate going on between her and Richard, she denies it, but Christopher doesn’t look completely convinced. It’s all just sloppy and contradictory screenwriting.

Keep in mind, these voyagers are the same people who, when they were children, were jumping up and hugging Richard and letting him tuck them into bed. It’s quite an unrealistic stretch that Christopher, now in his 20s, would suddenly act like he’s never seen Richard touch Sela in a fatherly way before, when Richard is essentially the only father these kids have ever known. By the way, this movie never shows the young voyagers being curious about who their biological parents are, even though Christopher mentions in a conversation that they’ve inherited physical and personality traits from their unknown parents.

After certain characters in “Voyagers” stop taking The Blue, the movie makes a big deal of showing them acting out as they lose their inhibitions. For Zac, that means a touch can’t just be a touch. When he touches Sela’s face affectionately, it quickly turns into fondling her breasts without consent. Zac and Christopher suddenly get the urge to wrestle each other a lot. And there are multiple scenes of the crew members running playfully through hallways, as if they’ve never done it before in their lives.

Through a series of circumstances, the voyagers also learn about violence. And the rest of the movie plays out as predictably as you think it would. Christopher and Zac go from being friends to being bitter enemies. And in true “Lord of the Flies” fashion, people take sides, and there’s a battle over who’s going to be in power.

And what about the mission to explore this new planet? That gets lost in the arguing and fights that take up almost all of the last third of the movie. And there’s some nonsense about a possible alien that’s invaded the ship, which is a fear that Zac uses to manipulate people to do what he wants.

While all of this childish drama is going on, no one seems to be operating the spaceship. It must be on auto-pilot, just like this formulaic, substandard sci-fi flick is on auto-pilot for almost its entire duration. Out of all the actors portraying the young voyagers, Whitehead seems to be the one having the most fun (probably because he’s playing a villain role), and he smirks it up to the hilt.

Unfortunately, the scenes in the movie where the voyagers have been taking The Blue drug require them to talk in almost-robotic monotones. And so, there are long stretches of “Voyagers” that are quite boring because the actors are supposed to be portraying “numb” people. Richard is the only character on the spaceship who maintains a strong sense of lucid humanity, but the power structure ends up changing on the spaceship, so Richard isn’t in the movie as much as some viewers might think he would be.

The cinematography and visual effects for “Voyagers” aren’t terrible but they’re not outstanding either. The movie’s production design for the spaceship isn’t entirely convincing. The interior rooms often just look like a shiny and sterile cafeteria, office building or lounge space. There aren’t many exterior scenes in the movie because the voyagers spend more time quarreling or goofing off inside than actually working outside.

You know that “Voyagers” is a terrible sci-fi movie because it cares so little about this mission to explore a new planet. Not once do any of the voyagers talk about any hopes or fears that they have about what they might find on this new planet. You’d think that people who were raised to be these pioneering explorers would be curious. But no, not in this movie. “Voyagers,” just like the space mission in the movie, was badly conceived from the start and should have been aborted.

Lionsgate released “Voyagers” in U.S. cinemas on April 9, 2021.