Stalkers (2025) Movie Review: A middling but surprisingly engaging thriller about the insecurities people carry within

Paul Thompson’s “Stalkers” feels like those sleezy Lifetime movies that keep rotating around the same bush before revealing the most obvious mystery like it was a surprise you did not see coming. However, if you are also initially put off by the vibes the film draws off, stick to the film, because despite the inconsistencies, bad acting, and a few too many characters than it can handle, the film eventually comes down to a thrilling conclusion that might just help you kill off some time. 

Also, not all of it is sleezy as the film begins right off with bloodshed. Young Charlotte (Scarlett DiCaro) is left an orphan when there’s a break-in at her home in Michigan, and both her parents are brutally murdered. Before we can get a hold of this, the action moves elsewhere, and we are introduced to Tabitha Swann (Olivia Stadler) – a cult pornstar who has been having some kind of existential crisis about her career of late. 

Just in time to turn her life upside down is a phone call from back home. Her high school mate and Michigan Child Services worker, Justine (Allisha Pelletier), makes her aware that the child she had put up for adoption back in highschool before skipping town is, in fact, Charlotte, and if Tabitha would consider mothering her it would be way better than putting her in the loop of a system that is not healthy for orphaned kids, epscially the one’s with the kind of trauma that Charlotte has witnessed. 

While initially skeptical of becoming a mother, having run away from responsibilities all her life, the weight of her career and the compromises she has to make in order to stay relevant make Tabitha take an impulsive decision. So, Tabitha, who actually goes by the name Kate Swanson, returns to her small town. However, the demons of her past and the weight of being recognized as someone who is ethically not upright start to sink in on her. Her parents are not welcoming and now that she does not have a job, shade motels by the side of the highway with a traumatized child does not feel like the right way to start afresh. It also doesn’t help that Kate knew nothing about Charlotte before she had to abandon her, and the secret that she has to keep away from her will also come down as a hurdle in bringing them together. 

Now, with all of these conflicts around, director Paul Thompson rounds out half a dozen more characters into this already cramped narrative. Although not many of them hurt the overall progression, they seem to not serve a purpose beyond blindsiding the audience to what’s really going on. And while I am not fond of mysteries that only hinge on that one reveal, “Stalkers” works intermittently because of how it weaves in the themes of obsession and the insecurities that people carry within them. 

Sam Wexler, who plays Corey the young jock who goes to Charlotte’s school and recognises Kate as Tabitha, and Hannah Mae Beatty, who plays Aubrey – the young teen who is obsessed with him and would go to any heights to please him, would have been a great addition to the story had they been given more context and more than just circumstantial situations. The current caricature versions serve as mere red herrings and nothing else. The same goes for Abbas Wahab’s Mike, who ends up giving up her entire house to Kate so that she can start a new life with her estranged daughter (I mean, who does that in 2025?). 

Flaws and bad acting aside, “Stalkers” would be a good time if you are into Lifetime movies and are bored with the same format that they often throw your way. The kind of unconventional pivot that this film has in the third act might just surprise you and help you feel entertained. 

Read More: Look Who’s Stalking (2023): Movie Ending Explained – Why was Mary terrorizing Hope’s life? 

Stalkers (2025) Movie Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Letterboxd
Stalkers (2025) Movie Cast: Olivia Stadler, Scarlett DiCaro, Hannah Mae Beatty, Allisha Pelletier, Sam Wexler, Abbas Wahab, Marlo Aquilina

Where to watch Stalkers