Stalking is not a new phenomenon by any means, but it’s a fairly ‘new’ crime. California was the first state to pass an anti-stalking law in 1990 after the murder of actress Rebecca Schaeffer by an obsessed fan. Even though every state has followed suit since, stalking is still a difficult crime to prove. Since there are different definitions of stalking, it’s estimated that 1 in every 4 to 6 women will be a victim of stalking while 1 in every 13 to 19 men will be stalked. Living in the information age that we do now, stalking is easier than ever and the thought has crossed most of our minds.

The Perfect Guy is the latest Hollywood offering to delve into the topic. In The Perfect Guy, Leah Vaughn (Sanaa Lathan) is in a relationship with Dave (Morris Chestnut), her longterm boyfriend. AA bit commitment phobic, his misgivings lead to a painful break up. Enter Carter Duncan (Michael Ealy), a handsome, charming stranger whose path keeps crossing with Leah’s. Caring and solicitous of Leah and her family and friends, their relationship rapidly progresses. It seems Leah has met the perfect guy. But it may be too good to be true. And when Dave suddenly re-enters her life, she must come to learn who she can trust and who she should fear.

Director David M. Rosenthal talked about the appeal of the script. ‘You’ve been watching these two people come together and fall in love, this woman thinks she has met the most amazing man and then something happens, something very violent and out of the blue and her whole world turns upside down. And then from that point forward we and she see this guy shift and turn into this very dangerous, strange psychopathic character. It’s a sexy cat and mouse between these two people that unravels and the roles ultimately reverse, the stalker becomes the stalked.’

I was able to speak with Rosenthal about his first studio feature.

Since the movie’s about stalking, did you do any research or talk to anyone who has been a victim of a stalker?

It’s sort of life imitating art and art imitating life. There were a couple people, I don’t want to name names, but there were people involved with the film who were dealing with being stalked in the course of making the movie. It made it hit home that much more strongly for both Michael [Ealy] and Sanaa [Lathan]. We were able to put some authentic angles in [the film] in terms of some things we were able to delve into.

It wasn’t just research, it was touching people as well. It’s not just celebrities that get stalked. It happens a lot now on the Internet and with social media. It’s easy for people to overstep boundaries on Instagram or Facebook. Or get out of hand on dating sites sometimes. People can identify with this subject matter.

With social media and the Internet, all of our information is everywhere now. Is stalking one of the primal fears in the cultural zeitgeist now? For example, during the Cold War, there were a lot of alien movies.