Jimmy Warden, the writer behind Cocaine Bear (2023), takes on a directorial role in this deranged 90s-set thriller comedy about a delusional celebrity stalker.
★★☆☆☆
Borderline follows Duerson (Ray Nicholson), a stalker obsessed with pop star Sofia (Samara Weaving). Believing that he and Sofia are in love, Duerson intends to marry her by any means necessary.
The film is allegedly based on a stalking case involving Madonna from 1996, the celebrity was stalked by a man who threatened to slit her throat if she did not marry him. He was convicted, sentenced to 10 years then subsequently escaped from a mental hospital in 2012 according to the BBC.
On the surface, it’s an entertaining film. The jump scares are fantastic, the sound and visual effects are supremely gruesome, and the visuals propel audiences into the world of 90s Los Angeles. You feel the heat, the bustle, the aura of fame, and there are moments of real beauty.
But there’s a real issue with Borderline’s plot. The crazy mental health patient is now a tired trope in horror and thriller cinema, and this film does nothing to add or further explore its deranged central character. On the other side of the equation, we never feel the true depths of fear of what it means to be a woman stalked by a man, Sofia’s awful suspense of waiting to be killed.
The dialogue within the film is quite weak. The majority of the jokes don’t land, because of both cheap content and poor comedic timing. The writing doesn’t reveal anything new about Duerson. We begin and end the film feeling the same way about him, and while we’re given breadcrumbs about his backstory, all this does is further confuse the audience on his motivations. Why is he attached to this celebrity in particular?
As a thriller, the stakes never feel high enough. The muddled tone means that Sofia’s life never really seems at risk, and Nicholson comes across as a caricature of the ‘escaped asylum patient’ rather than a dangerous stalker. He’s creepy, but never threatening.
The real issue of this film, though, is that things happen just for the sake of it. In one scene they are singing, the next fighting. It’s chaotic, absurd and confusing, taking you out of the film completely at times. There is an imbalance between the thriller, horror and comedic elements, the tonal shifts so all over place that the audience is never given the time to absorb events.
The Verdict
If you need a funny, silly horror film, then this might be for you. But if you’re looking for something scary or socially aware, give it a miss.
Words by Ayomide Asani
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