Film

Stalker

Name: Stalker
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Released: 2023
Cast: Sophie Skelton, Stuart Brennan, Bret Hart, Olivia J. Night, Doddi El-Gabry

Other titles called Stalker: the 1979 film.

A low-budget thriller about an actress trapped in a stalled elevator with a camera operator from her film who may be obsessed with her. It's a two-hander pressure cooker in a confined space, relying on performance and escalating tension rather than big scares. For fans of claustrophobic psychological thrillers who don't need polish or deep pockets to feel genuinely unsettled.

TMDb rating

2.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like claustrophobic two-hander thrillers where the tension comes from a stuck lift and a creeping sense that the stranger inside knows more than he says.

Skip it if you want something light, since its menace is grubby and its audience score of 5.8 hints that the stuck-in-place stretches may test your patience.

What it asks of you: Ninety-three minutes boxed into one cramped space, asking you to sit with a slow-building standoff and let the dread accumulate rather than rushing toward jump scares.

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10x102018

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The Midnight Meat Train2008

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Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Stalker

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Babadook2014

Both films use confinement and isolation to trap a protagonist with psychological threat rather than physical danger. What you don't fully understand is scarier than what you do.

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But It's a metaphor film; the ambiguity about what's real bothers some viewers. And it's relentlessly bleak with a child in genuine peril, which creates a specific kind of dread that not everyone wants to sit with.

Blue Ruin2014

A desperate man in a compact car drives toward revenge, with the vehicle becoming his only shelter and weapon. Intimate, tense, and filmed with real ingenuity on a tiny budget. Proof that constraint breeds creativity.

But It's slow and methodical, with long stretches where nothing happens. If you want plot beats and climaxes, it's a patient film that won't meet you there.

The Invitation2016

A dinner party becomes a locked-room psychological game when the host's ex arrives. Escalating paranoia, moral ambiguity, and dialogue that does the work of a thriller without needing violence.

But It's almost entirely talk and subtext. The payoff is divisive, and if you need action or clarity about who's guilty and why, the ending might feel withholding.

You're Next2013

Home-invasion film that subverts its own premise by making the victim smarter and more resourceful than the invaders. Darkly funny and genuinely exciting, with a final girl who actually has tactics.

But It's a genre deconstruction that some find clever and others find toothless. The tone shifts between thriller and satire might confuse you about what you're supposed to feel.

Circle2015

Fifty strangers wake up in a circle and must vote on who dies next. No fancy effects, no way out; just terrible choices and human nature under pressure. Made for $200k but feels far more ambitious.

But It's a conceptual thriller that relies entirely on dialogue and moral argument. If you need visual spectacle or character development, you'll find it thin and repetitive.

The Wailing2016

A Korean thriller where a village must decide if a mysterious stranger is responsible for a horrifying crime. Paranoia, mistaken identity, and slow-burn dread with multiple perspectives on the same terrible truth.

But It's nearly three hours long and refuses to confirm what actually happened. The ambiguity is the point, but if you want clarity or closure, it will frustrate you deeply.

Nocturnal Animals2016

Both are about the terror of recognizing obsession too late, and about how completely you can misread someone you thought you knew. Both use the confined space (an elevator, a reading) as a mirror.

A woman reads her ex-husband's revenge-thriller novel and begins to see her own marriage reflected back at her, warped and violent. A film within a film, formally daring, with one of Jake Gyllenhaal's best performances. Gorgeous, sick, and smart.

But It's stylish and slow, and some find it pretentious or emotionally cold. The violence is sudden and shocking, and the film never fully clarifies what's real and what's story—which is the point, but not everyone appreciates it.