Retail worker Matthew ingratiates himself with popstar Oliver by filming him and securing a job shooting a documentary, cultivating a meticulously crafted persona to stay close. His eagerness reads as awkward neediness while he watches conversations he cannot join, masking deliberate emotional labor. Matthew's tactics escalate into increasingly desperate, darker behaviors that shift power within the inner circle until he moves from parasitic presence to manipulative puppeteer. The production uses handheld camcorder footage and social media elements to blur authenticity and performance, with an undercurrent of homoerotic tension informing character dynamics and viewer unease.
The first time we see retail worker Matthew (Théodore Pellerin), it's through the eyes of his new friend Oliver (Archie Madekwe), as the up-and-coming popstar films him with a camcorder. It's an arresting opening image, given how much the rest of finds Matthew gazing at Oliver in adoration instead. "I need a real person," the fickle musician says, soon after their chance encounter.
Having secured a job shooting a documentary for Oliver and ingratiated himself into his inner circle, Matthew's determination to sustain his place there takes on increasingly desperate and dark dimensions. A tale of shifting power dynamics and put-on personas charts Matthew's status from irksome parasite to sinister puppeteer. At first, he comes across as someone so eager to do and say the right thing, the awkward neediness wafts off him all the more.
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