Borderline

Borderline is one of those films that seems instantly destined to become a cult classic, not because it's perfect, but because it's messy, daring, and impossible to ignore. Directed by Jimmy Warden, whose screenplay for Cocaine Bear demonstrated his taste for absurd interpretations of real-life horrors, the film is loosely based on the true story of Madonna's famous stalker in the 1990s. But what could have been a biting psychological thriller about obsession and celebrity culture instead becomes a wild cocktail of kitsch, horror, and dark humor that swings wildly between tones. The film feels like it's zapping between a late-night slasher, an MTV sketch parody, and a Lifetime glamour thriller: frustrating at times, sure, but often perversely entertaining.

In the role of Sofia, the fictional pop superstar clearly inspired by Madonna, Samara Weaving once again finds herself in the role of a scream queen, even if the character she plays is underdeveloped. Sofia is a diva who attracts attention but rarely reveals what lies beneath her glamorous exterior. However, Samara Weaving infuses her character with small flashes of humanity and humor, especially in moments when her reactions to the madness around her become punchlines. It's a role that seems tailor-made for someone with her charisma: she shines when she's forced to fight her captors or when she finds herself in surreal comic scenes, such as a crazy duet to Celine Dion's “It's All Coming Back to Me Now.” Yet for a film that relies on her star power, Sofia never really feels like a pop icon in her own right, which means Samara Weaving has to work harder than she should to hold our attention.

The real gravitational pull of the film is Ray Nicholson as Paul Duerson, a stalker who sees himself as Sofia's husband-to-be. Ray Nicholson plays Paul with a manic unpredictability that echoes his father Jack Nicholson, particularly in those unsettling smiles directly at the camera, but he adds his own pathetic charm. His Paul is terrifying precisely because he is absurd: a man in a crumpled tuxedo who dances like Tom Cruise in Risky Business one minute and brandishes a knife the next. Ray Nicholson is so committed that even when the script loses its thread, you can't look away. It's clear that he understands the paradox of the character, namely that Paul is both ridiculous and dangerous, and it's this tension that makes him magnetic.

But perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the film is Alba Baptista as Penny, Paul's girlfriend, also an escapee from a psychiatric institution, who thinks she's Harley Quinn. Alba Baptista races through the film with a manic, chaotic energy, delivering a performance that instantly electrifies the screen. Whether she demands that Sofia join her in singing a Céline Dion song at karaoke or escalates violence with gleeful sadism, Penny embodies the caricatured chaos that the film often hints at but rarely sustains. Alba Baptista throws herself unhesitatingly into the absurd, and in many ways, she is the true spark of the film. Alongside her, Jimmie Fails brings a mischievous, deadpan humor to the role of Rhodes, Sofia's basketball-playing boyfriend, who steals the show with his vulnerability and comic timing. And then there's Eric Dane as Bell, Sofia's bodyguard, who brings the chaos back to reality with his stoic presence and becomes the film's unlikely moral compass.

What prevents Borderline from achieving true cult status is Jimmy Warden's inability to find the right tone. The film swings so abruptly between parody and thriller that it often undermines its own suspense. One moment we're watching a tense home invasion that could easily fit into a 1990s stalker thriller like The Fan; the next we're plunged into a surreal gag involving police officers on bicycles rehearsing theater auditions in the street. These digressions may be amusing in isolation, but strung together, they make the film feel like a series of sketches rather than a coherent narrative. The 1990s setting is also strangely underutilized. Aside from a few musical references and visual gags, such as a puzzle featuring Junior, the film never immerses us in the cultural fabric of the era. For a story that clearly draws inspiration from 1990s celebrity culture, this lack of specificity feels like a missed opportunity.

However, it's impossible not to admire the film's audacity. Jimmy Warden directs with a sensitivity worthy of a music video, filling the screen with brilliant images and dynamic editing that maintain the energy even when the story falters. The actors, totally invested in this madness, elevate a script that could have collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions. And while the film stumbles in its treatment of mental illness, too often playing on delusions and obsession for laughs, it at least forces viewers to confront the uncomfortable question of how far fanaticism can go when clouded by a sense of entitlement and obsession. Watching Paul, played by Nicholson, orchestrate his grotesque fantasy of marriage, one can't help but think of how celebrity culture in the 1990s—and even today—feeds on parasocial relationships that, in their darkest extremes, can become dangerous.

After watching Borderline, we are reminded of those strange VHS discoveries from our teenage years, those films we weren't sure were any good, but couldn't forget. This film has that same found object quality, both disposable and unforgettable. Samara Weaving, Ray Nicholson, Alba Baptista, Eric Dane, and Jimmie Fails all throw themselves into the chaos with such enthusiasm that we get carried away despite the flaws in the story. Borderline is by no means a refined or profound film, but it's the kind of cinematic curiosity that feeds on its contradictions: ridiculous but violent, kitsch but disturbing, superficial but strangely self-aware. In other words, it's a film that, like its deranged antihero, demands attention even when it doesn't fully deserve it.

Borderline
Written and directed by Jimmy Warden
Produced by Tom Ackerley, Josey McNamara, Hadeel Reda, Brian Duffield
Starring Samara Weaving, Ray Nicholson, Jimmie Fails, Alba Baptista, Eric Dane
Cinematography: Michael Alden Lloyd
Edited by Joe Galdo
Music by Mondo Boys
Production companies: LuckyChap Entertainment, Red A Entertainment, Jurassic Party, Roscoe Pictures, Productivity Media
Distributed by Magnet Releasing (United States)
Release date: March 14, 2025 (United States)
Running time: 95 minutes

Seen on August 18, 2025 (press screener)

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