Panic Fest 25' Stalkers Is a Tense, Twisted Tale of Infamy, Motherhood, and the Ghosts We Can’t Outrun - Review

Olivia Stadler plays a mother confronting her past and a town that won’t let her forget in Paul Thompson’s Stalkers.

Filmmaker Paul Thompson’s Stalkers may come wrapped in the skin of a small-town thriller, but underneath it’s grappling with far more than just who’s stalking who. This is a story about reconnection, redemption, and the unbearable weight of public identity—especially when that identity was never fully yours to begin with.

The film follows Kate (played by Olivia Stadler), a woman thrust back into the life of her estranged daughter Charlotte (Scarlet DiCarlo) after the brutal murder of Charlotte’s adoptive parents. Kate gave Charlotte up for adoption years ago, a decision rooted in a chaotic youth—and a past she’s spent her life trying to distance herself from. But when Charlotte becomes the only family she has left, Kate returns to fulfill a role she long abandoned.

Here’s the twist: Kate isn’t just a former teen mom. She’s infamous. Known to the public as Tabitha Swan, a porn star whose name still stirs a reaction in the worst way. And in this small, quietly judgmental town, her return isn’t just noticed—it’s obsessively dissected. Harassed by a former childhood friend (Alicia Pelletier), stalked by a high school boy with violent fantasies (Sam Wexler), and silently judged by nearly everyone around her, Kate can’t hide from the life she thought she left behind.

But the film doesn’t just linger on the trauma—it digs into what happens when shame, survival, and the need for connection all crash into each other. As Kate and Charlotte try to form some sort of bond, the story weaves in themes of abandonment, sex work stigma, assault, and the emotional wreckage left behind when a girl is forced to grow up before she’s ready—and then punished for how she survived.

There are moments in Stalkers that ask real questions: What does it mean to mother a child you gave away? Can you reclaim an identity that the world has distorted beyond recognition? And what does protection look like when your own past makes you the target?

The film has its flaws. Some scenes feel disjointed, and the performances swing from grounded to slightly uneven. It’s not hard to imagine this was a project impacted by the long tail of pandemic-era production gaps or strike delays. Still, the bones of the film—the emotional throughline between Kate and Charlotte—carry it through.

At its best, Stalkers feels like a redemption song. Not for public perception, but for the self. For the version of you that got lost somewhere in the noise, the headlines, or the shame. It’s a story about a mother trying to save her daughter—and in the process, maybe save the parts of herself that the world decided weren’t worth keeping.

2.5 / 5

Director: Paul Thompson

Screenwriter: Luke Sneyd, Maryna Gaidar

Cast: Olivia Stadler, Scarlett DiCaro, Allisha Pelletier, Hannah Mae Beatty, Sam Wexler, Abbas Wahab