Stalker

Where to watch Stalker (US)

Checked 21 Oct 2026 · Streaming availability information provided by Streaming Availability API by Movie of the Night

A year of footage, thrown away

Stalker follows a guide leading two men into the Zone, a forbidden wasteland where a room is said to grant your deepest wish. The shoot was a disaster. After a year of filming, the footage came back ruined by faulty film stock, and Andrei Tarkovsky had to start again almost from scratch. They filmed near abandoned chemical plants in Estonia, and the sound designer later said he believed the location contributed to the cancers that killed Tarkovsky and several of the crew.

Slow, haunting and unlike anything else

It's slow, and that's part of the spell. Long takes drift through flooded tunnels and overgrown ruins, and the Zone feels alive in a way no special effect could manage. It came out years before Chernobyl, and the resemblance is eerie. Few sci-fi films have been this influential. Give it your full attention and turn the lights off.

Cast and crew

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky

Cast: Alisa Freyndlikh, Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy, Anatoliy Solonitsyn