# Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky

9 Hacker News commenters recommended Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Praised as a fabulous, philosophical art film. Main caveat: it is very slow, and can baffle viewers who have not read the book.

## Why people recommend it

- Acclaimed as a fabulous, amazing film (3 comments): "It's a fabulous film but presumably completely baffling to anyone who hasn't read the book" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48084606)) "I definitely recommend Stalker as an amazing film." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46369070)) "I love the movie though, it's one of my favorites." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50035033))
- Deep philosophical art film (2 comments): "rather watch an art film like stalker instead of these absolute meandering snooze fests" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46842722)) "the film takes it to a whole other philosophical level" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48395540))
- Strong among Tarkovsky's films (2 comments): "Stalker and Solaris (Not Cloonie, the Russian version) are also great." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50207369)) "The Tarkovsky film wasn't bad either" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49911676))

## What people warn about

- Very slow pacing (1 comments): "I love some of Tarkovsky, but some of it is very slow e.g. Nostalgia and Stalker." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46840208))
- Baffling without having read the book (1 comments): "It's a fabulous film but presumably completely baffling to anyone who hasn't read the book" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48084606))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Shawshank Redemption](https://hackerapproved.com/p/shawshank-redemption.md): 18 recommend
- [Good Will Hunting](https://hackerapproved.com/p/good-will-hunting.md): 10 recommend
- [The Lives of Others](https://hackerapproved.com/p/lives-of-others.md): 8 recommend
- [Margin Call](https://hackerapproved.com/p/margin-call.md): 7 recommend
- [Fight Club (1999 film)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fight-club.md): 7 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky", https://hackerapproved.com/p/stalker/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).